Polokwane Preparatory School and College (PEPPS) Grade R students recently attended a workshop at Bakone Malapa Museum outside Polokwane where the learners were introduced to the earlier lifestyle of the Bakone, a highly sophisticated subgroup of the northern Sotho tribe.
Liezel Stegman, Curator at the museum said the workshop covered aspects of the Arts and Culture curriculum and also tied in with Heritage Day.
Demonstrations and the opportunity to participate in typical activities such as grinding maze, making fire and brewing beer gave the learners insight into the daily activities of the Bakone.
Tour guide and archaeologist Chris Makibele said Bakone Malapa Museum is one of several museums and national monuments that bear testimony to the heritage of South Africa’s people. The museum consists of a reconstructed village that includes two homesteads and all the typical facilities used by the Bakone nearly 250 years ago.
Makibele demonstrated how animal skins were worn as clothes and asked learners to blow a kudu horn similar to the ones used to summon the Bakone to gather for important events.
A traditional weapon, the bow and arrow was also shown to the learners and Makibele cautioned that the poisonous, milky substance secreted by the candelabra tree (Euphorbia ingens) was used on the tip of the arrow to kill animals. The trees grow in abundance in the area.
The workshop was concluded with a dance by museum staff joined by the learners.
Story and photos: Alet-Elize van Jaarsveld
>>alet-elize@observer.co.za
Featured photo: Chris Makibele, Tour guide and archaeologist at Bakone Malapa Museum demonstrates how maize is ground the traditional way. Grade R PEPPS learner Erin Hillary lends a hand.
