[E-rundbrief] Info 340 - RLA 2005 - Kalahari Bushmen endangered

Matthias Reichl mareichl at ping.at
Sa Dez 17 19:14:36 CET 2005


E-Rundbrief - Info 340: RLA 2005 - Botswana: Kalahari Bushmen receive 
'Alternative Nobel Prize'; Roy Sesana: Right Livelihood Award address; 
Bushman woman starves to death after government blocks food and water 
(Survival International).

Bad Ischl, 17.12.2005

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Botswana: Kalahari Bushmen receive 'Alternative Nobel Prize'.
'I am here because my people love their land, and without it we are dying.' 
With these words Bushman leader Roy Sesana received the Right Livelihood 
Award (the 'alternative Nobel Prize') on behalf of the organisation First 
People of the Kalahari.

Mr Sesana went on to say, 'If anyone has read a lot of books and thinks I 
am primitive because I have not read even one, then he should throw away 
those books and get one which says we are all brothers and sisters under 
God, and we too have a right to live.'

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Roy Sesana

Right Livelihood Award address

Stockholm, December 2005

My name is Roy Sesana; I am a Gana Bushman from the Kalahari in what is now 
called Botswana. In my language, my name is 'Tobee' and our land is 
'T//amm'. We have been there longer than any people has been anywhere.

When I was young, I went to work in a mine. I put off my skins and wore 
clothes. But I went home after a while. Does that make me less Bushman? I 
don't think so.

I am a leader. When I was a boy we did not need leaders and we lived well. 
Now we need them because our land is being stolen and we must struggle to 
survive. It doesn't mean I tell people what to do, it's the other way 
around: they tell me what I have to do to help them.

I cannot read. You wanted me to write this speech, so my friends helped, 
but I cannot read words - I'm sorry! But I do know how to read the land and 
the animals. All our children could. If they didn't, they would have all 
died long ago.

I know many who can read words and many, like me, who can only read the 
land. Both are important. We are not backward or less intelligent: we live 
in exactly the same up-to-date year as you. I was going to say we all live 
under the same stars, but no, they're different, and there are many more in 
the Kalahari. The sun and moon are the same.

I grew up a hunter. All our boys and men were hunters. Hunting is going and 
talking to the animals. You don't steal. You go and ask. You set a trap or 
go with bow or spear. It can take days. You track the antelope. He knows 
you are there, he knows he has to give you his strength. But he runs and 
you have to run. As you run, you become like him. It can last hours and 
exhaust you both. You talk to him and look into his eyes. And then he knows 
he must give you his strength so your children can live.

When I first hunted, I was not allowed to eat. Pieces of the steenbok were 
burnt with some roots and spread on my body. This is how I learned. It's 
not the same way you learn, but it works well.

The farmer says he is more advanced than the backward hunter, but I don't 
believe him. His herds give no more food than ours. The antelope are not 
our slaves, they do not wear bells on their necks and they can run faster 
than the lazy cow or the herder. We run through life together.

When I wear the antelope horns, it helps me talk to my ancestors and they 
help me. The ancestors are so important: we would not be alive without 
them. Everyone knows this in their heart, but some have forgotten. Would 
any of us be here without our ancestors? I don't think so.

I was trained as a healer. You have to read the plants and the sand. You 
have to dig the roots and become fit. You put some of the root back for 
tomorrow, so one day your grandchildren can find it and eat. You learn what 
the land tells you.

When the old die, we bury them and they become ancestors. When there is 
sickness, we dance and we talk to them; they speak through my blood. I 
touch the sick person and can find the illness and heal it.

We are the ancestors of our grandchildren's children. We look after them, 
just as our ancestors look after us. We aren't here for ourselves. We are 
here for each other and for the children of our grandchildren.

Why am I here? Because my people love their land, and without it we are 
dying. Many years ago, the president of Botswana said we could live on our 
ancestral land forever. We never needed anyone to tell us that. Of course 
we can live where God created us! But the next president said we must move 
and began forcing us away.

They said we had to go because of diamonds. Then they said we were killing 
too many animals: but that's not true. They say many things which aren't 
true. They said we had to move so the government could develop us. The 
president says unless we change we will perish like the dodo. I didn't know 
what a dodo was. But I found out: it was a bird which was wiped out by 
settlers. The president was right. They are killing us by forcing us off 
our land. We have been tortured and shot at. They arrested me and beat me.

Thank you for the Right Livelihood Award. It is global recognition of our 
struggle and will raise our voice throughout the world. When I heard I had 
won I had just been let out of prison. They say I am a criminal, as I stand 
here today.

I say what kind of development is it when the people live shorter lives 
than before? They catch HIV/AIDS. Our children are beaten in school and 
won't go there. Some become prostitutes. They are not allowed to hunt. They 
fight because they are bored and get drunk. They are starting to commit 
suicide. We never saw that before. It hurts to say this. Is this 'development'?

We are not primitive. We live differently to you, but we do not live 
exactly like our grandparents did, nor do you. Were your ancestors 
'primitive'? I don't think so. We respect our ancestors. We love our 
children. This is the same for all people.

We now have to stop the government stealing our land: without it we will die.

If anyone has read a lot of books and thinks I am primitive because I have 
not read even one, then he should throw away those books and get one which 
says we are all brothers and sisters under God and we too have a right to live.

That is all. Thank you.

Roy Sesana
First People of the Kalahari, Botswana

http://www.survival-international.org/related_material.php?id=340

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Botswana: Bushman woman starves to death after government blocks food and 
water.

A post-mortem carried out on a Bushman woman found dead inside the Central 
Kalahari Game Reserve has confirmed she died of dehydration and starvation. 
Qoroxloo Duxee died after the government stopped her relatives from 
bringing food and water to her and other Bushmen still holding out inside 
the reserve, which has been sealed off for over three months.

All the Bushmen attempting to enter the reserve with supplies were arrested 
and beaten, and they have since been charged with 'unlawful assembly.' The 
group included all the leaders of First People of the Kalahari.

See the post-mortem report here : 
http://www.survival-international.org/news.php?id=1191

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14 December 2005 e-news SPECIAL from Survival International, supporting 
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Founded in 1969, registered charity (UK) no. 267444

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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
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