!Kung
One of the inadequacies found in Understanding the !Kung, was the statement that was so simply idealized, “ For social security, they might start to share the food brought into the group.” This statement may in some points be accurate however it’s not that simple in the Bushmen way of life. There is a much more complex system of dividing the rightful share of the food that was brought in. For instance, !kung women who are the gatherers of the roots and other picked veld foods would only belong to the person who picked them and at any time may choose not to share them if they do not wish to. It is a different system with the hunted meat that is brought into the werfs. On a hunt; if for instance, a gemsbok is killed, the shooter of the arrow may not be entitled to the largest share of the meat because he may not be the original owner of the arrow that killed the gemsbok. When the Bushmen would return to the werfs they meat would be divided up by giving the largest share to the owner of the arrow that killed and the rest would be divided up among the others in the band.
Another inadequacy of this paragraph is that the !Kung are described as living in meager shelters and also written later that they could not build elaborate homes. This is a statement made by someone who is not very knowledgeable about the !Kung because anyone who has read a book about the !Kung those that although the homes may not seem to be that special they indeed are and serve great purposes and there are rules for their homes just like anyone else has. For example, the !Kung have their homes and sleeping areas serve the purpose of keeping them cool as well as warm for the environment that they inhabit. It keeps the rain when it does rain out of their sleeping areas and when it is cold out and they sleep they are kept warm by the ingenious design. The cold air glides over them instead of on top of them making them freeze. In the heat it serves as a way to stay hydrated by keeping them moist and providing shade. So their homes serve the same purpose of any Americans home. Some of the rules are where men and women can sit and how you should enter their homes.
Also !Kung women do not discard their things they carry them along with the rest of their belongings or put them somewhere that they know they may return at a later date and retrieve. It really made no difference the weight it added because the women and men are used to traveling great distances in high heat with all their belongings and their children attached to their hips or breasts.
I think that this section of Understanding the !Kung was written to tell more about Americans taking for granted what they have or perhaps the idea of Americans being able to survive outside of their comfort areas of technology than it was to help others understand the truth about the !Kung people in their amazing way to thrive with what they have been given to make a life with.
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