By Emma Buckardt, of SUNY ESF
Story telling is an integral part of Botswanan culture. Almost every part of their culture has a story to go along whether it be it short or long. Throughout the time here so far, we have gotten a chance to learn some of these stories. We have read stories about safari guides, heard stories about traditional culture from Bonty at Thari-E-ntsho Storytellers, and have gotten to experience stories through song and dance.
On Independence Day, Khwai community members acted out a play for everyone to enjoy. Photo by Samara Muller.
From the time you are born in Botswana you are given your first story. Names are given to a child by their father traditionally. These names usually tell a story. They can be about a recent event that has happened or someone that they care about. Bonty told us about how if there was a drought or a very long dry season a child’s name could mean “brings rain” in celebration. Or when Obama was elected as President someone named their child Obama. Names have all different meanings and different stories behind them. The story of your name is one that almost everyone knows if you were born in Botswana
Every time you say hello (Duemela) you are creating the start of a story. This phrase allows you and the other person to have a mutual understanding of 4 things. First, it allows for acknowledgement that you have come into contact with each other. Second, it allows you to have a mutual agreement that this will be a civil interaction and third, that one individual is not better than the other. Lastly, Duemela allows both parties to agree that differences are okay. This simple word can allow you to create an interaction and possible a relationship that can turn into a story.
Bonty told us stories of how traditional cultures celebrated puberty and the coming of age. The females got sent to a different hut to learn how to be a woman. Here, all of her aunts and cousins along with her mother could teach her skills like cooking, cleaning, or carrying things on your head. In addition to those skills, they teach her how to love her body as it is and appreciate the skills that she does well instead of poorly. To help teach self confidence, she puts on a grass skirt to learn how to walk with confidence and to learn to be comfortable within her own skin. For males, traditionally their right of passage is kept secret, but this is what Bonty has gathered and told us. Males, who became a man throughout the year, go out into the bush together to learn skills in a similar way to the females. They learn all the skills to be able to figure out what skills are the ones they do best. This way when they come back into the community as men they can have a role in the village. Even though these customs are no longer practiced, being able to pass them down as stories is an important way for the traditional culture to be remembered.
Men and Women from Mababe celebrate their traditional culture by dancing and singing around the fire. Photo by Emma Buckardt.
Stories are passed down in many different ways and not just spoken word. In Mababe, we were fortunate enough to see a traditional cultural dance. The dances that we saw had stories along with them. [Picture 3: Men and Women from Mababe celebrate their traditional culture by dancing and singing around the fire. Photo by Emma Buckardt] One of the dances was The Ostrich Dance, which told the story of a hunt for Ostrich. While the women sang, the men danced and acted out the tracking, finding, killing, and bringing back of the Ostrich. Storytelling through dance can be understood and enjoyed by all, even if there is a language barrier. We have heard and seen many stories so far and we will hear many more.