N!ai: The Story of a !Kung Woman

THE PLACE
Namibia /Botswana border Tshum!kwi
THE PEOPLE
N!ai “Short Face” /Gundu
Hwa//a !U
Tsamko

NOTE: There are scenes of hunting, and then, the butchering of a giraffe.

AVAILABLE via VIU Library, Kanopy, https://www.kanopy.com/en/viuca/watch/video/110328/110332

Questions to think abut while watching N!ai: The Story of a !Kung Woman:

  • What is/are the objectives(s) of this film?
  • What was !Kung life like prior to their placement on reserves?  After?
  • What is n/um?
  • What is the attitude/perspective of the white settlers towards the !Kung?
  • How do the !Kung’s beliefs compare with Christian ones?
  • At what age to they marry? How is it arranged–betrothal, wedding, etc.? Who does what?

FURTHER READING:
Barnard, Alan.  2007.  Anthropology and the Bushman.  Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.26530/OAPEN_390770.

Heinz, Hans-Joachim and Marshall Lee.  1979.  Namkwa: Life Among the Bushmen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.   DT797, H44, 1979

Lee, Richard Borshay.  2002.  The Dobe Ju/’hoansi. 3rd Edition.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.  DT 1058 K86 L44 2002

Thomas, Roie.  2016.  Bushmen in the Tourist Imaginary.  Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.  https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.viu.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie&db=e000xna&AN=1439263&site=ehost-live.

FURTHER VIEWING:
Duffett, Michael, dir.  2001.   Being San.  15 min.  Sense Africa.  Vlaeber, South Africa.   DT 1768 S36 B45 2001

Foster, Craig, dir.  2000.  The Great Dance: A Hunter’s Story.  75 min.  Sense Africa.  DT 1768 S36 G74 2000


Created 07/25/01; last updated 2023-01-01