Kalahari treasures lost in time
BRYANSTON – TO be able to tell a story – to draw an audience so deep into a narrative that they feel a part of it, watching the characters interact as the tale unfolds – is a unique gift.
Not something one can learn or necessarily acquire over time. It has to come from within.
It’s a talent that Paul Myburgh no doubt possesses, as adventure enthusiasts found out at a talk the anthropologist held at the Michael Mount Waldorf School.
Myburgh has released a book of his travels called The Bushman Winter Has Come, of which he signed copies for his followers at the event hosted by Fourways-based life coaching practice Inner Coaching.
The obvious strain on the power grid was welcomed for a change, as the candlelit auditorium created the perfect ambiance for Myburgh to break the silence with a raspy voice, which spoke of journeys through sub-Saharan Africa in search of ancient cultures.
His journey to becoming world-renowned for his anthropology studies and documentary filmmaking, began when he travelled to the Kalahari Desert in Botswana to find the nomadic tribe of the /Gwikwe people, with whom he eventually spent seven years with.
Known to the general world as bushmen – although this classification is not historically correct according to Myburgh – the /Gwikwe people were the last remaining Bantu tribe in Southern Africa left truly untouched by modern civilisation.
In his introductory talk, Myburgh told of learning to speak in their native tongue, of their family and traditional values, and their belief in the interconnection between life and death.
“It’s important to understand that these people whom we call bushmen, or are anthropologically referred to as Khoisan, are incorrectly labelled,” Myburgh said. “We, in a modern society never had the inclination to ask what they, the first natives of Southern Africa, call themselves. In more than 300 years we still haven’t gotten their names right.
“It’s quite something when you consider that our ancestors were all first people at one time somewhere in the world.”
Myburgh will host a number of talks further detailing his anthropological studies of the nomadic tribe he became to know as family in the desert. Anyone interested in attending or who would like further information, can contact Telana Simpson of Inner Coaching at info@innercoaching.co.za
