The historical dynamics of the socioeconomic relationships between the Nomadic San and the rural Kgalagadi.

Abstract

This paper presents an account of the historical changes in the various socioeconomic relationships between the nomadic San and the rural Kgalagadi. The author's survey results show that the relationships are not limited to goat-raising but also include the sharing of wild and cultivated watermelons and the trading of wild animal skins. The fact that most of the place names in the Reserve are derived from San indicates that San were the first settlers in the Reserve and that relationships were later formed when Kgalagadi migrated to the Reserve. From the late nineteenth century until the 1 930s, a Kgalagadi headman ruled over a large area of the Reserve around Xade. When he died, his children and those who worked for him moved to various parts of the Reserve. In the 1950s, the relationships broke up following the decrease in the Reserve population due to an outbreak of smallpox and migration of people to farms outside the Reserve. These movements correspond to the formation of the six bands in the Reserve reported by Silberbauer.

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