Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TRADITIONAL TSWANA CULTURE
In Batswana society, traditional culture acts as a sort of societal glue. Villages grew up
around reliable water sources and developed into complex settlements with
kgosi
(chiefs)
ultimately responsible for the affairs of the community. Respect for one's elders, firmly
held religious beliefs, traditional gender roles and the tradition of the
kgotla
- a specially
designated meeting place in each village where social and judicial affairs are discussed
and dealt with - created a well-defined social structure with some stiff mores at its core.
At a family level, in Batswana village life each family was entitled to land, and traditional
homesteads were social places, consisting of communal eating places and separate huts
for sleeping, sometimes for several family members.
Even today, as mudbrick architecture gives way to breeze blocks, and villages grow in-
to busy towns and cities, most homes retain traditional features and life is still a very so-
cial affair. The atmosphere in family compounds is busy and convivial, although
everything is done at a leisurely pace. Likewise, in shops and businesses people spend a
huge amount of time greeting and agreeing with each other, and checking up on each oth-
er's welfare.
Historically, the Batswana are farmers and cattle herders. Cattle, and to a lesser extent
goats and sheep, are still, in many ways, the measure of a family's status.
Bakalanga
Botswana's second-largest ethnic group, at around 11% of the population, the Bakalanga
is another powerful land-owning group whose members are thought to descend from the
Rozwi empire - the culture responsible for building Great Zimbabwe. In the colonial re-
shuffle, the Bakalanga were split in two and now some 75% of them live in western Zimb-
abwe. In Botswana, they are based mainly, although not exclusively, around Francistown.
Herero
The Herero probably originated from eastern or central Africa and migrated across the
Okavango River into northeastern Namibia in the early 16th century. In 1884 the Germans
took possession of German South West Africa (Namibia) and systematically appropriated
Herero grazing lands. The ensuing conflict between the Germans and the Herero was to
last for years, only ending in a calculated act of genocide that saw the remaining members
of the tribe flee across the border into Botswana.
The refugees settled among the Batawana and were initially subjugated but eventually
regained their herds and independence. These days the Herero are among the wealthiest
herders in Botswana.
