Low, Chris (Author)
Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute
Volume: 81
Pages: 295--313
It is not surprising that animals have played a significant role in KhoeSan cosmology but identifying exactly what that role is and how it relates to different contexts of belief and action is more challenging. This article identifies a special role for birds in KhoeSan thought and practice, which is tightly bound to matters of spirit and healing, seems relatively cohesive and is distinctive and widespread, both culturally and historically. Working out from a detailed KhoeSan medical ethnography and using bird examples taken from a wide range of KhoeSan, I argue that bird relationships are best understood by re-framing popular ideas of 'supernatural potency' within persistent habits of perception and the opportunities or challenges they present. I further highlight how KhoeSan interaction with birds must be linked to particular relationships with knowledge in order to understand why birds are so salient. I conclude by emphasizing the dangers of explaining KhoeSan bird relationships within potentially distorting categories of 'metaphor'.
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