| Page 3 of 3 < |
Bushmen in Botswana Say They Were Forcibly Evicted From Village
Molathwe Mokalaka, with his wife Toiwa Setlhobogwe, said they were harassed into leaving Molapo, one of the last traditional Bushmen villages.
(By Craig Timberg -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Yet while some traditions endured, the Bushmen in recent years became increasingly sedentary, growing melons and raising goats. Trading animal skins and crafts provided a small amount of income.
These changes, which the Bushmen say have resulted from increasing restrictions on such traditional activities as hunting, are now part of the argument for removing them. Officials portray the Bushmen, romanticized by such movies as "The Gods Must Be Crazy," as undeserving of special treatment.
"They're villagers, no different than any villagers in remote areas of Botswana," Broekhuis, the assistant parks director, said.
The Bushmen dispute that. Despite increasingly modern ways, the Bushmen in the reserve maintain three languages, as well as their own ceremonies and sophisticated knowledge of local plants and animals handed down over generations.
The government regards New Xade, about 100 miles west, as essentially the same land, with the same mix of game. The Bushmen don't.
"I like my territory, not here," said Gabologwe Ratoto, a woman who appeared to be about 70 and left Molapo several months ago to visit her children in New Xade. "What I fear is that we will be killed in New Xade because they have guns."
Just five months ago, many of these same villagers said in interviews that they would never leave the game reserve. They had been trucked out before, in 2002, and discovered that they were miserable in New Xade, where unemployment and alcoholism are common.
Yet this week an air of defeat had settled around many of the Bushmen in New Xade. Deprived of water and food, harassed and threatened by guns, they said, they relented and once again got on the government trucks to New Xade.
Their only other choice, they said, was to die.
"I was told, 'If you stay, you will be killed,' " said Khumanego Lentodi, 40, from Metsiamanong. " 'You will go to New Xade dead.' "
