Evening star., 1953-07-06
Bushmen Are Most
Misunderstood People
Dr.. Gusinde's Long Study
Listed ! 900 individuals
By Thomos R. Henry

A distinct race Of mankind with az
place quite apart in the human fam
ily" are the bosjemanes. or "bushmen,"
who are almost the only inhabitants of
the thousands of square miles of South
Africa'S great Kalahari Desert.
This is the conclusion of DR.. Martin
Gusinde of the Catholic University of
America who has observed at close hand
the great majority of the survivors Of
this race and taken physical measure
ments of more than 1000 individuals.
DR.. Gusinde has just made a pre-
liminary report on his researches in the
university's Anthropological Quarterly.
Before studying the bushmen he had
made extensive explorations among the
pigmies of equatorial Africa. on whom
he Is one of the foremost authorities.
Something Like Pigmies.
The people of the Kalahari. he says.
bear some superficial resemblanceS to
the pigmies-chiefly small size-but
they belong to a quite different and
unique family. Both pigmies and BUSH
men were separate offshoots of the gen.
eral negroid stock inhabiting the dark
continent.
He describes the typical pure -blooded
bushmen as people of very light skele-
ton and delicate bodily structure. The
skin color ranges from light to brown
ish-yellow. Most adults have practically
no hair on their bodies. The head is Of
medium size and oblong in shape, with
a fiat face. The nose is button-like.
The ear is somewhat circular and with
out a lobe. Arms and legs are long in
relation to the length Of the trunk"
Notable is the yellowness of the skin.
as distinguished from the blackness Of
surrounding tribes. The bushmen, DR..
GuSinde concluded, are ideally adapted
for life in the bush-covered, almost
waterless desert.
Skins Blend With Desert.
1.-THE light color of their SKINS" he
says, blends well with their desert sur
roundings. Their light weight, deli
cate structure and long legs ren<er pos
sible prolonged running in desert SANDS.
With the intelligence and skills of rest
less hunters and gatherers they are
able to survive in these unproductive
areas"
OIlG1l Qu1bC 4CSClIO4y CFCAS AuA u
hand has been against the bushmen.
DR.. Gusinde points out. They were
despised by the normal-sized Negro
tribes around them. Early white set
tiers considered them practically as
vermin to be eliminated. Yet at least
10000 fairly pure -blooded members Of
the race survive. Approximately 1000
live in the great desert south Of the
Okawango River. The other 5000 spill
over into the southern part OF the
Portuguese colony of Angora, essen
TALLY a continuation Of the Kalahari.
There are several small, slightly di-
vergent groups. DR.. Gusinde was able
to locate the water bushmen" in great
swamps along the Okawango. Driven
out of the desert into the marshes
by raiding Bantus they successfully
changed their culture from one OF
hunting and food gathering to one OF
fishing and horticulture. They num-
ber only about $50 individuals.
Mixed Tribes.
Another divergent group are the
Barakwengo who live further up the
Okawango. They are badly mixed with
surrounding Negroes but have retained
the typical bushman culture almost
intact. Still another badly mixed
group are the Heikoms. These were
among the first encountered by ethnol-
ogists whose studies led to the impress
sion that the pure bushman race was
extinct. The desert peoples naturally
are difficult to approach and sus-
picious of interlopers, white or black.
Their history has given them little
reason to be friendly.
Historically, DR.. Gusinde points out,
the warlike Bantu tribes, pushing down
from the northeast, drove southwark
the more primitive Hottentot. These,
in turn, pushed the bushmen out Of
the forests into the Kalahari. In addi-
ton to these pressures. Europeans
seemed determined to destroy all BUSH
men. Pursued on all sides, the little
yellow people were unable to maintain
themselves and by the end of the 10th
century they were practically extinct.
A few scattered groups remained, how
ever, and from them the race is being
rebuilt. Few people, it Is pointed out.
have been more completely misunder-
stood by everybody with whom they
have come in contact and only extreme
virility and endurance have made pos
sible their survival.