First lessons
Ketwago and his family live in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa.
They belong to a group of people known as Bushmen. Most Bushmen do not
raise animals or plants for food. Instead, the men and older boys hunt.
Women and girls find plants and roots.
When Ketwago was very young he made believe he was a hunter, like his
father. He pretended to stalk caterpillars and beetles as they crawled
and scuttled across the dry earth. He waited and longed for the time
when his father would teach him to hunt.
One day, Ketwago’s father took his son far from the
Botswana
A Bushman teaches his son to recognize the tracks of different animals.
Bushmen hunt with poisoned arrows. They must be able to follow wounded
animals for long distances.
camp. Slowly and patiently, he showed him how to recognize the tracks of
certain animals. In the days to come, Ketwago would learn how to make a
strong bow and how to shoot poisoned arrows with skill.
In the meantime, Ketwago’s sister was learning from her mother. She was
taught which plants and roots are safe to eat and where to find them.
She also learned how to build a grass shelter called a skerm.
Among the Bushmen, children must learn to hunt, to find roots, and to
build skerms. Without these skills, they might die. Ketwago and his
sister do not go to a school. They learn from their parents and the
people with whom they live.
