Hoodia
gordonii & the San People of South Africa
Who are the San, where are they from?:
The
San are universally acknowledged to be the first people
of South Africa. Their hunter-gatherer society
stretches back over 27,000 years - and their genetic
origins - to over one million years. It is believed
the San represents the oldest genetic stock of contemporary
humanity.  Ten
thousand years ago their vast terrain went
from the Zambezi to the Cape of Good Hope,
to the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans.
Once widespread and plentiful in numbers, 300 years
ago European colonist took away their lands and
virtually wiped them out. The San people now number
a mere 110,000 living in poverty on the outer fringes
of society. Facing cultural extinction, they now
struggle to win back a foothold in the lands they
once exclusively owned, and freely roamed.
Our Contribution
Thanks to their priceless insight, we are able to
benefit from their knowledge and discovery of this
most valuable plant. Now we can use it help the
overweight population of the world.
To this end we've ensured that as owners of the
traditional rights to the Hoodia plant, they the
San People (represented by *SAHG),
receive a guaranteed 6% profit from
the proceeds of every Hoodia purchase we make.
Click here
to read more about SAHG, our membership, and our
contributions to the San People of South Africa.
Their Legacy
The
San believe in two gods - one associated with life
and the rising sun in the east, and another with death
and the setting sun in the west. The belief was also
held among the different clans that at some "early
time", people and animals were indistinguishable
from each other, and that it was only after a
"second creation" that people acquired the human
traits and qualities we have today.
A common practice among the clans is that of the trance
dance. This provided the means by which shamans and
healers crossed over into parallel worlds in order
to heal the sick. Knowledge of these religious beliefs
and the role of the trance dance are important in
understanding the San rock art and paintings you see
across South Africa today.
The arts and their interpreters are dying out, but
contrary to earlier Western notions that were simple
naïve art, the rock paintings of the San are now believed
to have been representations of spiritual and cosmological
phenomenon and occurrences.
South Africa's Bongani Mountain remains rich in San rock
art noted for their revelations and uniqueness by
scholars in the field.
Visits and Expeditions
Guests on CC Africa Expedition to the Central Kalahari
also have the opportunity to experience the art
of tracking with a San guide. Aside from their rock
art, engravings and isolated remnant settlements,
the legacy of the San and acknowledgement of their
place in the region's history, is enshrined in the
motto on the South African National Coat of Arms,
!ke e: /xarra //ke, which in the /Xam language means
"diverse people unite". |
