The
various organs of WIMSA have time and again emphasised that the
San will succeed in their ongoing struggle for justice, dignity
and control of their own destiny as a people if the younger generations
are convinced that traditional cultural values and the advantages
of modern life can be balanced. In tandem with the wider public’s
growing interest in San traditional knowledge, values and beliefs,
San youth are coming to realise that culture can instil pride in
a person and sometimes has substantial economic value.
Their
heritage and culture have become significantly more important to
San communities around the region since the publication of the first
oral history book by the Khwe of the Okavango Panhandle in Botswana,
the official acknowledgment of the San’s prior intellectual
property rights to the Hoodia succulent as an appetite suppressant,
and the invitation from South African government bodies to participate
in the planning of exhibitions to focus on San affairs.
Regional
San Culture and Education Committee
During
the annual WIMSA General Assembly the San representatives decided
that the Regional San Heritage and Culture Committee and the Regional
San Education and Language Committee should be combined to form
the Regional San Education and Culture Committee because many cultural,
language and education issues are interconnected. It was agreed
that a combined smaller committee would also be more cost-effective.
Table
4: Members of the Regional San Education and Culture Committee
The
committee members continued providing advice to the national and
Regional Khwedam Language Committees and the Southern African San
Education Forum (SASEF). They were also involved in the development
of a handbook on heritage and intellectual property rights, and
in the planning of the museum at !Khwa ttu. In 2003 they became
immersed in issues relating to the Didima Rock Art Centre in KwaZulu/Natal,
South Africa, and the Iziko Rock Art Exhibition Project at the South
African Museum in Cape Town.
!Khwa
ttu San Culture and Education Centre
The
erstwhile Regional San Heritage and Culture Committee which is now
part of the combined Regional San Education and Culture Committee
has been involved in the affairs of the San Culture and Education
Centre since the project’s inception in 1997. The General
Assembly in 2000 named the centre !Khwa ttu, meaning ‘water
pan’ in the extinct |Xam language, according to Bleek and
Lloyd.9 !Khwa ttu is located on a 800-hectare farm purchased especially
for the project by anthropologist Irene Staehelin in the area of
Yzerfontein, 60km from Cape Town in South Africa.
“This
is a San-owned tourism project based upon the theme, ‘A celebration
of the San culture, present and past, for a better future’.”
–
KHWA TTU’S VISION as stated in its general
information leaflet.
- Restore
the heritage of the San as contained in the culture, history,
folklore, visual arts, cosmology and language.
-
Educate the general public about the world of the San.
-
Provide training to the San in life skills, entrepreneurship,
tourism, health, community development and gender issues.
–
KHWA TTU’S MISSION as stated in its general
information leaflet.
The near-complete building to house
the office and meeting/training space at !Khwa ttu.
The
centre’s general information leaflet states also that “The
project has full legal standing and a constitution covering management
and control of the project.” Its management committee, composed
of !Khwa ttu Co-ordinator Michael Daiber, a SASI and WIMSA representative
and a Meerkat community development representative, continued meeting
regularly. Michael kept the committee abreast of developments to
enable the members to discuss plans for training, the centre’s
logo and facilities, and to determine funding requirements.
Zebra are among the indigenous wildlife
species re-introduced into the area by the !Khwa ttu project.
Regarding
facilities, an old cow shed has been rebuilt to serve as an office
as well as a training and meeting space, and additional accommodation
has been built for the San staff members. The clearing of areas
for tourism facilities including a campsite, viewpoints and hiking
trails began in January 2003. This basic groundwork also includes
installing a fresh-water supply for hikers, and constructing waterholes
for game and walls around the water reservoir to control erosion.
The work of restoring the land at !Khwa ttu is ongoing. This essentially
entails re-establishing the indigenous flora and fauna, the latter
including bat-eared fox, springbok, ostrich, porcupine, tortoise,
caracal, eland and zebra. All these species have been reintroduced
on the farm, which also enjoys an abundance of bird life. The flora
of the area are of well-known Fynbos type indigenous to the Western
Cape Province.
Michael
has been negotiating with neighbouring landowners interested in
forming a conservancy to consolidate conservation management with
increased commercial potential particularly in tourism in the area.
The negotiations have thus far generated a framework for an agreement
which Roger Chennells, legal advisor to WIMSA and the South African
San Institute (SASI), is currently scrutinising.
A workshop was held to determine a concept for the planned !Khwa
ttu museum and draw on expert knowledge to help the then Regional
San Heritage and Culture Committee ensure that it made informed
decisions. To promote this effort, Irene Staehelin provided a tool
of information and inspiration to the committee, WIMSA and other
stakeholders, in the form of a superbly photo-illustrated report
on visits to museums dedicated to indigenous peoples in Canada.
These museums are of a new kind in that, apart from the historical
artefacts normally on view in a museum display on indigenous people,
they display by various means indigenous people’s voices,
opinions and memories, and features of their culture such as significant
landscapes, animals and place names. For additional expert input
Irene approached David Jensen, an experienced museum display designer
based in Canada who has worked with indigenous peoples in conceptualising
designs for cultural centres.
The Regional San Education and Culture Committee, the WIMSA board,
members of the WIMSA team and other stakeholders plan to meet with
Michael Daiber, Irene Staehelin, anthropologist Frans Prins and
David Jensen in April 2003 to discuss the way forward regarding
the museum and to clarify current affairs in respect of ownership
and powers at !Khwa ttu.
Intellectual
Property Rights
During
the last few years San bodies including WIMSA, the Regional San
Education and Culture Committee and the South African San Council
have progressively acquired the capacity to articulate the rights
of the San linked to their culture. In a few cases their attempts
were initially ignored but later honoured, and in most cases they
were invited to join the other stakeholders right from a project’s
inception. As the San are determined to secure their right to custodianship
of their own culture, and because they enjoy the services of a very
competent legal advisor in Roger Chennells, they were able to achieve
their goals in this context during this reporting period.
Iziko
Museums Rock Art Exhibition Project
In
November 2002 the national museums in South Africa, collectively
named the Iziko Museums, wrote to inform WIMSA that they were planning
a new rock art gallery and invite the San of southern Africa to
participate in the planning process. In a meeting in December 2002
the WIMSA board members expressed their appreciation for this invitation
and mandated Roger Chennells to attend the first meeting on behalf
of WIMSA.
At the first meeting, held in Cape Town in December 2002, the concept
for the rock art exhibition was discussed at length. Focal points
of discussion were, among others, raising awareness of indigenous
knowledge, bringing to the fore forgotten San communities of South
Africa, and the importance of involving San perspectives in the
project because San interpretations of San rock art very often differ
to those of non-San interpreters.
At the next meeting, scheduled for April 2003, members of San and
Khoekhoe communities with an interest in rock art and a willingness
to share their knowledge will be interviewed.
The official opening of the exhibition is expected to take place
in November 2003.
Didima
Rock Art Centre
The
eventual inclusion of the San in planning for the Didima Rock Art
Centre in the Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu/Natal Province (KZN),
South Africa, is attributable to San assertiveness. Only after the
South African San Council had visited the centre on WIMSA’s
behalf in September 2002 and negotiated San heritage rights in KZN,
an area rich in San rock art sites, and specifically rights with
respect to the Didima Rock Art Centre, did the provincial government
feel it appropriate to state the following in a letter to the council:
“[Ezemvelo
KZN Wildlife] … regard it as unfortunate that the San Council
did not participate in the public consultation process that was
followed for the Didima development. …
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife invites the San Council to formally submit
its views, suggestions and recommendations on matters of heritage
and culture so that these can be considered for incorporation into
the content of the interpretive centre at Didima.”
The
WIMSA General Assembly in November 2002 formally accepted this apology
from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
At the latter’s invitation, members of the Regional San Education
and Culture Committee, the South African San Council and the WIMSA
team attended a workshop in the Didima Cathedral Peak National Park
in uKhahlamba, a section of the Drakensberg. The aim of the workshop
was two-fold: to explore sound mechanisms for interaction between
the South African San Council and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, and to
expose the San to the interpretive displays at the rock art centre
and call for comments thereon.
Though the San representatives were impressed by the displays in
the near-complete Rock Art Interpretive Centre at Didima, the workshop
minutes state the following:
“It
was noted that the current interpretation on rock art may become
outdated with time. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Cultural Advisory
Committees and the academics therein were encouraged to continue
with the fledgling consultation with the San and to put in place
a process to ensure that the interpretive displays remain current.”
In
the workshop the San representatives accepted responsibility for
developing a display titled San of Today. It was agreed that this
display should be co-ordinated by anthropologist Frans Prins who
has worked closely with the San of KZN.
WIMSA subsequently assisted Frans Prins by encouraging all San organisations
and regional WIMSA support organisations to contribute to the San
of Today exhibition, to be launched in August 2003. |
. 