ABSTRACT

Lorna Marshall was speaking metaphorically when she said that the !Kung have been at Nyae Nyae since time began (1960:325), because specific evidence of !Kung people cannot be dated before hearing them speak. Unfortunately she has been taken at face value, and the presence of prehistoric artifacts at Nyae Nyae has been used further to encourage this misconception (Lee 1979:76). Having dismissed the !Kung past as timeless and endless, their historic presence begins around the turn of the century; it is epitomized as a series of exploitative interactions with whites and unfortunate dealings with blacks, and a rather unsatisfactory resolution of matters leaves the !Kung straddling an uncomfortable border between Botswana and Namibia, under the effective thumb of the South African government. They emerge as relics of the past, trapped in a fast-moving present frame that supports the notion that they have, until very recently, been traditional hunters and gatherers.