The San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert

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The San Bushmen’s way of life is very difficult to identify with for almost anyone but the Bushmen themselves. The Bushmen are a peaceful people who are believed, by some, to have been the ancestors of the world. They now live in the Kalahari Desert, which is a rough terrain with almost no water and very little animal game. The water is so scarce because there is very little rainfall. The water and animals have become gods to the Bushmen because they are so rare. Their environment affects how they eat and how their bodies deal with temperature variations. Their religion is the key detail that demonstrates how their appreciation of animals and their surroundings affect their culture. The San Bushmen are mainly a hunter gatherer people. (Smith, Malherbe, Guenther, and Berens) They are expert hunters and always appreciate the animals they kill. They speak a Khoisa language which is characterized by certain clicking sounds. (Smith, Malherbe, Guenther, and Berens) The San Bushmen have an intricate religion where they believe everything started underground. They only hunt the animals they need and gather available foods to survive in the harsh terrain of the Kalahari. The Bushmen have survived as hunter gatherers in the Kalahari Desert because they have adapted to their surroundings by alterations in their genetics that have been passed on to surviving generations, their survival in this harsh climate affected their culture because animals and water are a key part of their cultural religion, and since their resources are so scarce this changed the relationship they have with the animals of the desert and their use of food and water.

Some researchers believe the Bushmen are the ancestors of the world. Their phenotypes, their p...

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"Genetics overview." n. pag. Web. 3 Feb 2011. https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/lan/en/overview.html

"Destination Information: Kalahari Desert Bushmen, the Basarwa." n. pag. Web. 3 Feb 2011. .

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(Brett , Nigel. "Culture, the Artistic Process and Nature." 2000: n. pag. Web. 3 Feb 2011. <. (Wells, Spencer, and Mark Read. The journey of man: a genetic odyssey. Princeton Univ Pr, 2002. Print.)>.)

Smith, Andy, Candy Malherbe, Mat Guenther, and Penny Berens. The Bushmen of Souther Africa. David Philip, 2000. Print

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