People of the Kalahari: the Kung Culture Essay

The people of the Kalahari have a very peaceful way of living. They are secluded from the rest of the world, so they live very different lives. In order for them to survive in the Kalahari, they have to be good at hunting and gathering foods. Because the kung people live in small groups of people that consists of at most 15 huts in the dry season and 20 huts in the rainy season it is important to them to have peace among the people. They have very little crimes and or violence. Stealing is not a problem because when food is gathered, and game is killed everyone gets a portion. There is no need for stealing because the people share. Trust between the people is very strong. Every day the Kung people will gather around the fire and talk and have discussions. Because there is little crime among the people, there is no need for discipline. But on rare occasions that there is a crime, everybody will gather and have a group discussion. As they talk around the fire, they make sure to discuss things that both or upset them. When something happens, that stirs emotions like anger, hate, or jealousy they make sure to figure out what has caused it and to fix it to keep the peace. The Kung people are nomadic; they never stay in one area for very long. In the Kalahari water is an essential part of life, without it you could not survive. And since there is little water and it barely ever rains, the Kung people have to be near water. They move their villages to places that have water at reasonable distances that they can walk to. The people can’t drive to the super market or to a restaurant when their hungry, life is harsher than that in the Kalahari. If they need food, they have to hunt or gather it. The Kung people are excellent hunters. They use poison tipped arrows to shot their game. The poison tipped arrows are used as a sedative and puts the animal to sleep, and eventually kills it. But because the poison is slow acting, the people have to stalk their prey until it dies. The people are gatherers; they gather foods like roots, berries, fruits and nuts. The people of the Kalahari are a very peaceful culture. To survive they have to know the land and experts in hunting and tracking their prey, and gathering foods inorder to survive in the Kalahari.