XOMS |OMIS

BORN IN ETOSHA - KEEPING IT ALIVE!

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The Hai||om

The Hai||om are one of the various groups classified in Namibia as San, or “Bushmen”. In terms of education, employment, access to resources, land tenure and political representation, they are today one of the most marginalised communities in southern Africa.

The area to the south of Etosha's pan, where most tourist roads and camps are situated, was primarily the domain of the Hai||om, Khoesan-speaking people, who hunted and gathered around the pan. The land they occupied within the park’s current borders comprised over 700 000 ha (7 000 square kilometres).

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The area to the south of Etosha's pan, where most tourist roads and camps are situated, was primarily the domain of the Hai||om, Khoesan-speaking people, who hunted and gathered around the pan. The land they occupied within the park’s current borders comprised over 700 000 ha (7 000 square kilometres).

The San

The language which the Hai||om speak (also referred to as Hai||om) is a Central Khoesan language; as a member of the Khoekhoegowab dialect continuum, it is more closely related to Nama and Damara than to most of the other “Bushman” languages, most of which are classified as Northern or Southern Khoesan languages.

Language

Animals of the Hai||om

Many utensils and tools necessary for daily life were made out of animal material. Find a complete list of the animlas which were used by the Hai||om.

Animals

Plants of the Hai||om

The Hai||om know hundred of plants for many uses, for example as bush food, medicine and poison for their arrows.

Plants

Places of the Hai||om

Before the Hai||om had access to drilled boreholes, the hunter-gatherers were profoundly reliant on natural water sources, where they often erected their permanent settlements.

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