Media Statement 8/10/02
Elsie Vaalbooi
Born approximately
August 1895 on the farm Grondneus outside Upington, Gordonia District.
Died 7 October, 2002
Her parents were !Uxe "Vaal" and ||Qoisi "Marie",
both of them N||n=e San. They were hunters and gatherers who later became
itinerant farm workers.
Mrs Vaalbooi was present at several key historical events in the Kalahari.
In her early memories she recalls seeing the officers of the German Imperial
Army with their feathered helmets during their hot pursuit of Simon Koper's
Nama rebel army into South Africa in 1908. In 1911, Elsie and her mother
were interviewed by the famous linguist, Dorothea Bleek. The photographs
or Elsie and ||Qoisi are at the University of Cape Town.
During the Second World War, Elsie had to flee a farm where the police
were trying to arrest the Nazi spy, Robbie Leibrandt. During the 1950s,
Elsie's nephew Jan became a prophet in Noenieput. He predicted that the
San people would get their land back and that the news would travel overseas
in a silver bird. Mrs Vaalbooi was afraid the European farmers would kill
them and told her cousin to keep quiet. Later Jan was murdered.
In 1997, the =Khomani San community was busy with their land claim. They
were sad that their ancestral language had died out and asked people if
any elders remembered the language. Mrs Vaalbooi was living in Rietfontein,
and said she spoke "die Boesmantaal". In February 1997, Professor
Anthony Traill interviewed Mrs Vaalbooi and confirmed she was able to
speak the extinct language of the Kalahari which had been recorded in
1936 at Twee Rivieren. Later, the South African San Institute worked with
Mrs Vaalbooi to find another 25 people who could speak N|u or understand
the language. Today there are 8 living fluent N|u speakers in the province.
In 1998, Elsie provided the Northern Cape with its new motto: Sa ||'a
!ainsi uinsi (We are going to a better life). In March 1999, Elsie watched
at Deputy President Thabo Mbeki signed over 40 000 hectares of land to
the =Khomani community. The news was broadcast across the world. Mrs Vaalbooi
conducted a number of radio and film interviews including with the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation and National Geographic.
N|u, Elsie's language, is the last language of the !Ui language family,
that was once spoken across South Africa by hunter-gatherer peoples. The
most famous example of a !Ui language was |Xam, the language of the Karoo
San people. The |Xam language went extinct in the early 20th century.
The National motto is now in |Xam: !Ke e: |xarra ||ke (Diverse peoples
united)
Ouma Elsie is survived by her two sons, Petrus and Hendrik, her grandchildren,
and great-grandchildren.
For further information contact the South African San Institute
at 054-332-1537
