Download Culture and Belief

Culture and Belief
The Kalahari Bushmen
AQA Humanities
Paper 1
 15% of total marks
 Source Booklet
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What you need to know
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Key Terms
How the natural
environment influences
culture
How the culture is passed
on
The strengths and
weaknesses of that
culture
Conflict and co-operation
with other cultures
Problems faced by that
culture today
Key Terms
Appearance
Aesthetics
Roles
Religious Beliefs
CULTURE
Morals
Attitudes
Values
Traditions
Customs
Language
Key Terms
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Behaviour
Norms
Co-operation
Conflict
Family
Peer-group
Community
Sanctions
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Environment
Wealth
Technology
Nature
Nurture
Socialisation
Multi-cultural
Mono-cultural
Natural Environment
The Bushmen live in the Kalahari desert. No crops
will grow and it is difficult to raise livestock
(cattle and sheep). The Bushmen are NOMADIC
and thus have few possessions. They have
learnt to survive on scarce NATURAL
RESOURCES. They live in small, fluid groups and
co-operate with each other. There is no set
HIERARCHY. Little material wealth and no
permanent settlement mean no chiefs, kings,
parliaments etc. They are EGALITARIAN.
Passing on Culture
There are no schools. Bushmen children
learn by imitating their elders. Boys go
with the men to learn to HUNT and girls
go with the women to learn to GATHER,
prepare food, etc. Most of the calories
come from women’s activities. Hunting has
most PRESTIGE. Everyone takes part in
singing, dancing and storytelling. Religious
ritual is picked up as it happens.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
 Mutual co-operation
 Little conflict within
the group
 Flexible social
structure
 Well-adapted to harsh
environment
Weaknesses
 Lack of formal
education / literacy
 Lack of economic or
political power in
modern world
 Dependent on rains,
weather
 Low self-esteem
Conflict and Co-operation
Conflict
 Bushmen have very low
status in their countries
 They have been driven
out by cattle farmers
 Their land has been taken
over by the government
as nature reserves
 They have been
PERSECUTED and
MARGINALISED
Co-operation
 NGOs such as Survival
International have taken
up the Bushmen’s case
 Many Bushmen work with
Tswana farmers helping
herd cattle
 Bushmen often join the
military where their skills
are very useful
Problems Faced
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Forced relocation and
settlement
Alcoholism
Low educational attainment
Intermingling with dominant
culture
Wells and boreholes now
opening up desert land to
cattle herders
Tourism and diamond mining
intruding on traditional hunting
grounds
Long history of PREJUDICE
and PERSECUTION
You can compare them to:
The Amish – rejection of technology,
outsider group, monocultural, elders,
gender roles, deliberately separate
 The Kayapo – living close to nature,
threatened indigenous group,
monocultural, marginalised
 Britain – multicultural, materialistic,
specialised, hierarchical, wealthy
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