Robert K. Hitchcock

Tradition, Social Justice and Land Reform in Central Botswana

A close relationship holds between the goals of development planning and the notions that planners have of what already exists. Hand in hand with certain goals go appropriate notions of the status quo. Aiming to “modernise” for the sake of increased productivity, conservation of natural resources, and a fairer distribution of wealth, planners presuppose the existence of the “traditional” as the negative condition that has to be changed. It might be thought that an understanding of the status quo or the traditional condition comes first, before the choice of goals. But that is not always so. Information is often fundamentally incomplete or ignored when decisions about policy have to be made by planners. Hence they rely on their goals to guide their thinking about what already exists. In such circumstances, modernising planners reinvent the traditional as a negative stereotype; they derive it from their goals, rather than the other way round. The difficulty is, however, that their plans, when implemented, encounter the cultural realities of the continuing social arrangements. Unintended consequences result, or worse still, radically unacceptable ones. The overall pattern is familiar in nationally planned development: the reform designed by planners at the centre gets subverted by people at the periphery, and a gross disjunction arises between the policy as it is officially formulated and the policy as it can effectively be applied.

Centralization, Resource Depletion, and Coercive Conservation Among the Tyua of the Northeastern Kalahari

The colonial and post-colonial governments of Botswana and Zimbabwe pursued policies toward their indigenous minority populations which included the establishment of settlement schemes, removals of people from national parks and game reserves, and the imposition of restrictions on hunting by local people. These polices had the effect of dispossessing indigenous groups and reducing their access to resources crucial to their adaptive success. The impacts of these polices are examined using data on Tyua Bushmen in the Nata river region of northern Botswana and western Zimbabwe. It demonstrates that the kinds of conservation and development programs employed resulted in greater resource depletion, increased poverty, and social stratification. There is evidence that resource conservation programs can sometimes do more harm than good.

AFRICAN HUNTER-GATHERERS: SURVIVAL, HISTORY, AND THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY

Given the continents ongoing crises, African hunter-gathgerers have been remarkably successful at surviving difficult times. They have faced war in Namibia, Angola, and the Congo, genocide in Rwanda, and economic difficulties almost everywhere else. Through the last three decades San, Pygmy, Hadza, Okiek, Mikea, and other foragers have sought to maintain coherent societies and systems of meaning and identity in the face of great odds, at times aided by sympathetic outsiders. This paper will explore the challenges they have faced and their responses, while atempting to situate these diverse peoples within the broader historical and political currents of the Twentieth century.

Each According to Need and Fashion

Stone points were among the very first artifacts to attract scholarly attention, and they have consistently retained the interest of archaeologists. In recent years, the study of projectile points has progressed from descriptive concerns of culture history and typology (e. g., Bell 1958, 1960) to the general investigation of hunting technology (Larralde 1990; Odell 1988). As distinctive variables of hand-thrown spears and arrows have become evident, the behavioral implications of projectile alternatives have come into better focus.

WHO DRIVES RESETTLEMENT? THE CASE OF LESOTHO'S MOHALE DAM

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a joint development effort of the governments of Lesotho and South Africa, involved the construction of several large dams and other infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and power lines. The purpose of the dam and water transfer project was to provide water to the Gauteng region of South Africa and electricity to Lesotho. Phase 1B of the project, the Mohale Dam, resulted in the displacement of over 320 households and the inundation of villages, fi elds, and grazing lands. In line with the 1986 Treaty between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa, the project authorities provided compensation for losses suffered and put in place development projects in an effort to promote economic self-suffi ciency. This article assesses the degree to which project-affected people in the Lesotho highlands were actively engaged in planning and decision-making regarding their own resettlement and rehabilitation, and the extent to which public participation contributed to their subsequent welfare.

Traditional African Wildlife Utilization: Subsistence Hunting, Poaching, and Sustainable Use

This paper examines traditional African wildlife utilization activities, with particular emphasis on subsistence hunting, or the procurement of wild animals for purposes of meeting household needs. It is noted that subsistence hunting in Africa is often defined by the state as poaching (hunting outside the bounds of the laws set by the state). State conservation efforts in Africa have seen limits placed on access to wildlife resources through national legislation. Hunter-gatherers and some pastoralists and farmers in Africa exploit a wide array of wild animals for economic, social, and spiritual purposes. Three countries in Africa allow subsistence hunting: Botswana, Namibia, and Tanzania. In all three cases, subsistence hunting is limited to peoples of hunting and gathering origin and/or practice. The subsistence hunting activities of the Ju/’hoansi (!Kung) San of northeastern Namibia and northwestern Botswana from the 1960s through the mid-1990s are examined, and it argued that the offtake rates of hunters appear to be sustainable. The acquisition of surplus meat is sometimes done for purposes of storage and to share meat with other people in order to reinforce social relationships and provide food to those who do not hunt. In the 1990s community-based natural resource management programs were initiated among the Ju/’hoansi in both Namibia and Botswana. It is too early to say whether these programs will enable the Ju/’hoansi to become economically selfsufficient.

Indigenous Peoples in Southern Africa

Abstract This article considers the complex cases of indigenous peoples in three Commonwealth countries in southern Africa: Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. In terms of national-level policy, the governments of these countries do not differentiate indigenous peoples from the rest of their populations. They do, however, have programmes aimed at assisting ‘marginalised’ or ‘disadvantaged’ communities. In this article, three main dimensions related to indigenous peoples’ rights in southern Africa are discussed: national policies, indigenous peoples’ rights, and rights to representation; land and resource rights, including rights to water; and language and gender rights. The paper concludes with an assessment of where indigenous peoples stand today in southern Africa.

Tswana Hunting: Continuities and Changes in the Transvaal and Kalahari after 1600

Abstract Kalahari and Transvaal Tswana practised a mixed economy of herding, agriculture, and hunting for meat (and for skins). While faunal remains reflect higher percentage of domestic stock than of wild animals, such proportions alone do not reflect huntings importance. Hunters probably slaughtered animals in the veld and dried the meat in strips for transport home with the skins. Moreover, hunting-related vocabulary and numerous references to wildlife trophies as associated with status show that hunting was integral to Tswana life. Hunting and wildlife utilisation changed after firearms, horses, and ivory trading were introduced. Non-consumption and trade assumed greater importance. Hunters killed wild animals to obtain trading trophies and to remove predators from expanding grazing and settlement areas. In the Transvaal, hunting largely disappeared, as Tswana were dispossessed by white settlers involved in commercial cattle and cash crop farming, and as elephants retreated north of the Limpopo River. To the west, however, game remained abundant and many observers in the Kalahari noted a wide variety of Tswana hunting practices, some likely predating the nineteenth century. Some of these hunting practices yielded substantial returns of ivory, skins, ostrich feathers, and other products which were fed into a wide-ranging trade throughout southern Africa.

Beetle and plant arrow poisons of the Ju|’hoan and Hai||om San peoples of Namibia (Insecta, Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae; Plantae, Anacardiaceae, Apocynaceae, Burseraceae)

Abstract The use of archery to hunt appears relatively late in human history. It is poorly understood but the application of poisons to arrows to increase lethality must have occurred shortly after developing bow hunting methods; these early multi-stage transitions represent cognitive shifts in human evolution. This paper is a synthesis of widely-scattered literature in anthropology, entomology, and chemistry, dealing with San (“Bushmen”) arrow poisons. The term San (or Khoisan) covers many indigenous groups using so-called ‘click languages’ in southern Africa. Beetles are used for arrow poison by at least eight San groups and one non-San group. Fieldwork and interviews with Ju|’hoan and Hai||om hunters in Namibia revealed major differences in the nature and preparation of arrow poisons, bow and arrow construction, and poison antidote. Ju|’hoan hunters use leaf-beetle larvae of Diamphidia Gerstaecker and Polyclada Chevrolat (Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) collected from soil around the host plants Commiphora africana (A. Rich.) Engl. and Commiphora angolensis Engl. (Burseracaeae). In the Nyae Nyae area of Namibia, Ju|’hoan hunters use larvae of Diamphidia nigroornata Ståhl. Larvae and adults live above-ground on the plants and eat leaves, but the San collect the underground cocoons to extract the mature larvae. Larval hemolymph is mixed with saliva and applied to arrows. Hai||om hunters boil the milky plant sap of Adenium bohemianum Schinz (Apocynaceae) to reduce it to a thick paste that is applied to their arrows. The socio-cultural, historical, and ecological contexts of the various San groups may determine differences in the sources and preparation of poisons, bow and arrow technology, hunting behaviors, poison potency, and perhaps antidotes.

Vulnerable Children: Global Challenges in Education, Health, Well-Being, and Child Rights

Foreword by James Garbarino.- Preface.- Chapter 1. Vulnerable Childhood in a Global Context: Embracing the Sacred Trust.- Section I: Cultural Empowerment and Self Determination.- Chapter 2. Dilemmas of Rights-based Approaches to Child Well-being in an African Cultural Context.- Chapter 3. Undefended Children in the Classroom? Looking at Textbooks, Cultural.- Difference and Other Aspects of Indigenous Education in Mexico.- Chapter 4. The Nyae Nyae Village Schools Project: Indigenous Community-Based Education in Namibia.- Section II: Education and Schooling Experiences.- Chapter 5. Poverty and Minority Childrens Education in the U.S.: Case Study of a Sudanese Refugee Family.- Chapter 6. Boodja Marr Karl: A Whole-Community Approach to Aboriginal Education: The Development of a Cultural Framework for Aboriginal Participation in Education and Schooling.- Chapter 7. Self-Perception of Relations with Parents, Attitude Toward School, and Delinquency among African American, Caribbean American, and Ghanaian Adolescents.- Section III: Health and Well Being.- Chapter 8. Child Labor: A Child Development Perspective.- Chapter 9. Vulnerable Children?: The Heterogeneity of Young Childrens Experiences.- in Kenya and Brazil.- Chapter 10. Child Labor and Child Well-being of Children: The Case of Children in Marine Fishing in Ghana.- Chapter 11. A World Tour of Selected Intervention Programs for Children of a Parent with a Psychiatric Illness.- Section IV: Child Security.- Orphans and Fosterage.- Chapter 12. Sudanese Refugee Youth: Resilience among Undefended Children.- Chapter 13. When All the Children are Left Behind: An Exploration of Fosterage of Owambo Orphans in Namibia, Africa.- Chapter 14. Malawi Orphans: The Role of Transnational Humanitarian Organizations.- Section V: Childrens Rights.- Chapter 15. Indigenous Childrens Rights and Well-being: Perspectives from Central and Southern Africa.- Chapter 16. Traditional Religion, Social Structure, and Childrens Rights in Ghana: the Making of a Trokosi Child.- Chapter 17. Defending and Nurturing Childhood in Media, Public, and Policy Discourses: Lessons from UNICEFs Juanita Communication Initiative in Colombia.- Chapter 18. Epilogue.