REMARKS ON THE HISTORY OF THE BANYAYI (original) (raw)
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Africa, 2015
However, can we really take Kirikongo as an instance of the revolutionary triumph of egalitarianism in the savannah? A close look at the archaeological records published here shows clear evidence of deep changes at the level of a small rural community, something that is not unexpected over a period of 1,500 years. The nature of these changes suggests that communities explored, experimented with, and made choices between different models of governance, belief systems and subsistence over time. However, the revolutionary nature of such a change, although a valuable and thought-provoking working hypothesis, can hardly be demonstrated solely on the basis of the Kirikongo evidence. Too many parts are missing from the picturefor instance, evidence on the webs of alliances within the settlement, the regional historical context, and the ritual practices and beliefsfor us to surmise that change resulted from a forcible, short-term event such as the word 'revolution' implies. More archaeological research into medieval communities of the Mouhoun Bend will be requiredas is recognized by the authorto clarify the chronology and the nature of socio-political change in the area. Firstly, the chronology of change proposed here will need to be validated. Secondly, in the absence of a comparative dataset, the proposed projection onto a regional scale of the model developed for Kirikongo, a 'regional egalitarian movement', is daring. But this does not detract from the book's qualities, and I recommend it to archaeologists and historians interested in long-term socio-political developments in the Voltaic area. Although the author sometimes stretches the interpretation of available evidence, he also contributes much solid new data and stimulates fresh avenues of thought on pre-1500 West African village life.
THE HISTORY OF THE BAROLONG IN THE DISTRICT OF MAFIKENG: A STUDY OF THE INTRA-BATSWANA ETHNICITY
Is my work both in conception and execution and that information drawn from other sources has been duly acknowledged. ……………………………………………. Malose Daniel Ramoroka iii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my parents: My Pedile Johannes Ramoroka You were the pillar of strength And my mother Motshemane Melita Ramoroka You are the depository of all my knowledge iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to Dr Z.J Mashiyane, who served as my supervisor for this research. You were unfailingly available for my questions and concerns and always ready with thoughtful suggestions and insights. You unwavering commitment in reading this research and making me correct errors of editorial and topographical nature is highly appreciated. Many thanks to other experts associated with the University of Zululand including Dr Twala who encouraged me to enrol with the University and Dr Shamase who read this research meticulously and made his inputs. I am also indebted to Prof Mbenga who was my Supervisor for my Master Degree at the University of Northwest and the co-supervisor professor Manson. The two academic supervisors have patiently moulded me into becoming an academic scholar. They have encouraged me to pursuit the study of ethnicity and political culture within the Barolong. Their inputs in this research are highly appreciated. To my friends within the Barolong Kgotla including chief Matlaba, chief Motshewakhumo, and the Molema's family at Maratiwa in the Stad, I appreciate your oral tradition and primary documentation on the history of the Barolong which you provided to me. The vigour of the royalists at this Kgotla in assisting me record the reminiscences of the Barolong is pleasing. For chief Matlaba I appreciate the fact that you went an extra-mile in making available to me elders from your communities who gave an account of the past actions and activities of Barolong through oral tradition. I also wish to thank the staff at Mafikeng Museum who accommodated me almost on a dally basis and provided me with necessary information. I am also appreciative of the information that I have received from the National Archives of South Africa. The staff in this archive has supported me and I was encouraged by their commitment towards ensuring that I access valuable information regarding the Barolong National Council. I also wish to acknowledge the support of all the Barolong chiefs, head men and ordinary members of the Barolong communities who voluntarily provided valuable information for this research and this would not be been brought to fruition without your support. Lastly, I wish to thank my wife, Lizzy and my child Bontle, for your support and encouragement. I appreciate you more than words can express. v v A AB BS ST TR RA AC CT T This study focuses on, among other issues, the early 'nationalist' among the Barolong, that is, the Barolong National Council (BNC), formed by the traditional leaders and clerics in the central Transvaal and northern and central Orange Free State in the early 1900s(NASA,Vol.12,1917). Its geographic axises were centred in Kimberly, Mafikeng, Kroonstad and Johannesburg. Its role was both to combat divisive political practices among the Barolong (which alienated already established nationalist-minded leaders like Solomon Plaatje and Chief Montshiwa of the Ratshidi of Mafikeng) and to create a distinctive cultural and economic epi-centre for what they loosely defined as 'Barolong interest'. This study unravels these neglected ethnic dimensions of early Barolong politics(NASA,Vol.12,1917). The study also seeks to explore the source and the nature of the conflict between two Barolong groups, the Ratshidi and the Rapulana. Firstly it highlights the break-up of the Barolong kingdom after the death of the Barolong king Tau in about 1670 and the polarisation of the Barolong into different sections which developed ultimately into independent chiefdoms such as the Ratlou, Ratshidi, Seleka and Rapulana (Molema,1950: 3). Their relationship during the difaqane and their encounter with the Boers and British, which marked the beginning of the conflict over the Barolong paramountcy between the Ratshidi and Ratlou, are examined. The contribution of the Boers and the British to the contestation over the land of the Barolong is outlined. The consequences of the engagement of the Rapulana and the Ratshidi in the now famous siege of Mafikeng is also explored, in the context of Rapulana-Ratshidi relations. The dynamics of the power relations in Bechuanaland, is analysed. The main focus of this research is the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries because it was a period of intensified disputes that were ultimately fought in court between the Ratshidi and Rapulana. This study also deals with the rise of missionary activities among the Barolong which led to the development of the elites who contributed to the ethnic conflict.
Archaeological excavations at Bosutswe, Botswana: cultural chronology, paleo-ecology and economy
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008
Excavations at the site of Bosutswe on the eastern edge of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana have uncovered over 4 m of deposit ranging in age from CE 700 to 1700. Our research has produced quantitative and qualitative measures of the material and ecological dimensions that structured the everyday actions and behaviors through which social identities were constituted, maintained, and transformed during the period when the polities of Toutswe, Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and Khami rose to power. By examining the material dimensions that underlay shifting relations of production, exchange, and social stratification we are able to contextualize the social judgments that ascribed value to material goods and food ways, while specifying the ways these were used to create and naturalize social relationships and power differentials. Stable isotope analyses, combined with evidence of vitrified dung, further enable us to suggest changes in herd management strategies used by the inhabitants of the site to compensate for ecological changes brought about by long-term occupation, while at the same time enabling them to economically tie subordinates to them as social divisions became more rigidly defined after CE 1300. The cultural and economic changes that took place at Bosutswe thus directly impact our understanding of the social transformations that immediately preceded contemporary configurations of ethnicity in Botswana.
when Bushmen are known as Basarwa: gender, ethnicity, and differentiation in rural Botswana
American Ethnologist, 1994
, has firmly established the culminating shift in studies of San and other hunter-gathering societies from an isolationist-evolutionist model to an interactive-historical one.1 The general outline of this shift is familiar enough: the Kalahari San, who became symbols of hunter-gatherers in general, can no longer be viewed as "living fossils" who existed in a world of pristine isolation until very recently; they must instead be understood in the context of their "wider regional and international economies, polities, and histories" (Solway and Lee 1990:109, citing Wolf 1982). Recent scholarship on the San and other hunter-gatherers has attempted to move beyond this basic insight and examine processes of group formation in specific historical circumstances. From this work emerges a picture of great variety and complexity of modes of livelihood and strategies of survival of groups, both within an area and throughout changing historical times.2 This article is concerned with a group of Basarwa (a Setswana term equivalent to "Bushmen"),3 who have been permanent residents in a Tswana village in eastern Botswana since the turn of the century, and with the historical process that maintained this minority in a position of marginality visa -vis their Tswana neighbors. These Setswana-speaking Basarwa can hardly be termed "hunter-gatherers," and their particular history, as we shall see, is one of intense interaction with other groups. Yet, like the more documented population of the Kalahari desert, the small group of men and women who form the focus of this study are labeled Sarwa by the Tswana majority. This labeling process, its embeddedness in the Tswana cultural system, and its interplay with changing socioeconomic and political structures is the subject of this article. Recent scholarship on the Bushmen (San) and other hunter-gatherers calls for an understanding of the way specific historical circumstances give rise to a variety of modes of livelihood and strategies of survival of groups. However, little attention has been paid to the analysis of cultural and political dimensions of this process. This article is concerned with a group of "Basarwa" (a Setswana equivalent to "Bushmen") who have been permanent residents in a Tswana village in eastern Botswana since the turn of the century, and with the historical process that maintained those Basarwa in a position of marginality visa -vis their Tswana neighbors. I argue that to fully understand the continued marginality ofthe Basarwa in changing historical circumstances, one has to analyze the dynamic relations between the cultural definition of Sarwa identity and its material and social grounding in household reproduction. [Bushmen, hunter-gatherers, ethnic formation, gender, rural differentiation, Botswana]
2005
The paper shows that in Botswana traditional attitudes are changing allowing women to challenge old age patriarchal customs previously barring them from being appointed chiefs in their own right. The paper traces incidents in the his torical literature to reveal occasions when royal women were allowed to rule but only as regents and in many cases as influential female royals. This is fol lowed by a discussion of the recent appointment of women who have for the first time been installed as chiefs in their own right. Next, an examination of the kind of public issues the female chiefs have addressed since their appoint ment and the controversy generated by some of their pronouncements and views is made. The argument in this paper is that the recent appointment of women as chiefs should be understood within the wider context of the tremen dous and noteworthy progress the country is making in promoting the status of women in social, economic and political life.
The Invention and Perpetuation of Botswana's National Mythology, 1885-1966
Botswana has two linked myths that are central to the nation's identity. One is that the Batswana chiefs invited the British to colonize and "protect" them in 1885 from Boer aggression. The second is that Queen Victoria herself, guaranteed to continue this protection in 1895 when the Three Dikgosi ventured to England in 1895. The paper will not only demonstrate that both parts of this mythology are patently false, but will then go on to show why the Batswana went on to believe these ideas. Both parts of the myth essentially were used by the British to mask their predatory actions in annexing Botswana, but the Batswana turned the myths against the British as a political tactic during the Incorporation era. Once this happened, the myths became central to the national identity.