Bushmen of Southern Africa Photos

Bushman Healing Ceremony
Photograph by Chris Johns
Empowered by a trance, an old man lays hands on a girl to draw out what he sees as a spiritual sickness that drove her to hoard meat. Attended by tourists who pay to watch such ceremonies, this ritual helps sustain Bushman communities, bringing both money and healing.
—From "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa’s First People," February 2001, National Geographic magazine
The Hunt
Photograph by Chris Johns
Figures in a mirage, Bushmen wearing skins and carrying bows and arrows cross a salt pan in Namibia's Nyae Nyae Conservancy. Use of guns, dogs, and horses is restricted, so they hunt the traditional way. They live in a village built to lure tourists, and most days they wear Western clothes.
—From "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa’s First People," February 2001, National Geographic magazine
Schmidtsdrift, South Africa
Photograph by Chris Johns
Losing the peace as well as the war, veterans who fought with the South African Army against Namibian independence languish in 'a place of stones and thorns,' a tent city in Schmidtsdrift. At the camp clinic a girl bundles a child sick with TB against the cold. Originally from Angola and Namibia, the veterans hope for homes on a nearby farm.
—From "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa’s First People," February 2001, National Geographic magazine
Imitation Bushman Goods
Photograph by Chris Johns
Imitation rock art and souvenir bows are sold at South Africa's Kagga Kamma resort. The seller makes about [U.S.] $30 a month, far more than most Bushmen.
—From "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa’s First People," February 2001, National Geographic magazine
Female Farm Workers
Photograph by Chris Johns
Women farm workers near Ghanzi, Botswana, still go into the bush to gossip and snack on wild plants. Gathering once provided 70 percent of the Bushman diet, but ancient scrubland has been converted to cattle ranches. Now government relief provides the bulk of the people's food.
—From "Bushmen: Last Stand for Southern Africa’s First People," February 2001, National Geographic magazine