Etosha. Hai//om Heartland
Ancient hunter-gatherers and their environment
Illustrations and maps
color illustrations
$113.00
Add to
Add to
What is so particularly appealing about this book on the Hai//om and their earlier home territory in the Etosha area is that the author is not writing as a subjective scientist, but simply as someone who is well acquainted with the country; someone who is as familiar with the way of life of these people, as only someone can be who has spoken their language since childhood. Etosha - Hai//om Heartland is thus available to a broad spectrum of readers, free of academic discourse and presumptions based on theory. Reinhard Friederich imparts to the reader insights about the Hai//om that are hardly found anywhere else today. He brings us closer to their traditional way of life and their fate by often allowing individuals to have their say, and by way of anecdotes, bringing to life their relationship to their lost homeland, especially the water sources in the Etosha Pan. The authentic rendering of the names of places restores meaning to the garbled place names given by Europeans. Thus the book is not only informative for visitors and persons interested in ethnology, but also within Namibia it can offer a better understanding of this largely overlooked population group. The descriptions of the customs are particularly authentic, since the author's sources are the last of the generation that formerly could still lead an uninhibited hunter-gatherer existence