It’s quite amusing that we are always trying to define bushcraft. I’ve always had a simple explanation and it’s been confirmed by this experience. It’s simply building, making or crafting things out of natural materials in order to be comfortable in the outdoors (the bush). It’s as simple as that. In the UK and possibly Europe and the US we can get away with defining it as a hobby or lifestyle or a myriad of other terms because of the availability of alternative and ready made materials to do what is required e.g. a tent.
In north east Namibia, the same could be said of the bushmen – sort of. They can acquire some clothing, rice for food and odd bits of corrugated iron or an empty shell of a Hilux canopy for shelter; but it’s not too far in their past that there was an actual requirement for them to craft tools, make hunting weapons and build shelters in order not just to be comfortable, but to survive. It’s also not too far in their distant past that they haven’t forgotten how to forage and what to forage for.
The priorities for survival in the bush are not that far removed from a temperate climate which may be a strange comment but bear with me (I’ll deal a little bit more with actual survival skills in the final post) As with most places the first thing you will need is protection from the elements. Of course the shelter is not to primarily protect from cold, wet and wind, but to protect one from the sun. However, temperatures can drop to below freezing in the Namibian winter and there can be vicious downpours so it’s equally important to be aware of this. In the shade the temperature can be 10 degrees Celsius (50F) lower than in standing in the full sun. The first task then was to build a shelter.
Under instruction from the Ju/’hoansi we constructed a permanent looking shelter in the shape of a wikiup. The difference with this one was that holes were dug into the sand up to elbow deep and 8 or so poles were embedded into the holes around the circumference of the shelter giving a good solid foundation to the structure. The sand was excavated with our hands after a digging stick (our first tool made out of a sickle bush branch) had softened up the sand.
The limbs were interwoven with smaller branches and finally the whole structure was covered with dry grass, again woven into the structure (both inside and out). We were instructed to leave some gaps to allow what draught there was to vent the shelter. It was remarkably cool inside.
The construction of a hunting set was next. A lot of time was spent gathering the correct wood for the correct part of the set. The bow was made out of a Raison bush branch and the quiver was made from the root bark of the False umbrella thorn.
The main tool used by the bushmen was the axe or chop-chop. This brilliant tool could be converted into an adze by simply removing the axe head and turning it 90 degrees. It was a great tool and we were allowed to buy them off the bushmen and bring them home. Granfors eat your heart out! A double-edged knife was also used, but my mentor Kgau usually signaled that he wanted to use my EKA Nordic W11.
To make the quiver, we built a fire and placed the root, which had been cut to size, in the hot embers and sand for about 2-3 hours. After thinning out both ends of the quiver, the wood was then battered on its end onto a stone to dislodge the inner wood from the outer bark. The inner was finally separated from the outer bark with a bit of pulling. This enabled the now hollow outer bark to be used as a receptacle for the arrows and the hand drill. Damp antelope skin was tied over the ends of the bark, cut to shape and allowed to dry. Finally, a shoulder strap made out of hide was put on the quiver ends and one end was prised open to create the cap.
The arrows are a three stage affair with the tip part able to come way from the main shaft. We had to file the tips to shape. It is the tip shaft (just behind the tip) that contains the poison. Interestingly, there were no flights to the arrow and you have to get extremely close to hit the target.
The bow string was made from Sanseveria , more commonly known as mother-in-law’s tongue. The pulp is removed by scraping it away with the sharp edge of the digging stick until the stringy remains can be twisted into cordage in much the same way as we make nettle or willow cordage. The removal of the pulp takes a great deal of effort (believe me) and there is a technique to be mastered (which /Ui didn’t master at all and got told off for slacking!) Giraffe tendon was also used as cordage particularly to reinforce some of the arrow parts.
While selecting the appropriate materials over the 5 days, we dug and dug and dug. The digging stick was the most useful of tools. Most of the food was found under ground like the bush potato and bush cucumber and the wonderful water root plant. The bushmen (but particularly the women) were highly skilled in spotting the slightest sign of growth above ground. It was then a case of digging to see if the root was good enough to eat. Not surprisingly, there was a lack of berries as I expect most had already been foraged.
Even the poison for the arrows was to be found underground. The cocoons containing the larvae of the Diamphidia beetle are found quite deep underneath the Commiphora bush which hosts the beetle. Great care was taken when digging the things up. We only found a dried up larvae, but it gave us an idea of what was involved.
The poison on the arrow will slowly poison the quarry and the tracking skills of the hunter will come to the fore to find the dying animal. This may take a few days and I was left wondering why a more efficient hunting system with more powerful bows had not been developed. But, as a tracker, I pleased this hadn’t happened otherwise the tracking skills would have been long lost – much like ours.
The penultimate skill we were shown was trapping. We were shown two traps based on the same type of trigger mechanism. One for scrub hares and rabbits and the other for Guinea fowl (pic). The traps are designed to keep the unfortunate prey alive until the hunter is ready to dispatch it. In this way the quarry will be kept fresh for longer in the heat. Of course, it was well camouflaged after this picture was taken.
After 4 days of foraging, making a shelter, making a hunting set, and making traps we went on to the final task. Whenever the bushmen settled down to work, they built a fire. This is the second survival priority and essential to us for boiling water, an absolute necessity in the Kalahari. The bushmen are so well adapted to the arid climate they need very little water, usually taking it from plants and caches. They will use the fire more for cooking, to provide warmth during the evening, for their rituals and assistance in making their tools.
We foraged for the appropriate wood, which in this case was the Manketti bush (I may need to edit this name) and cut two sticks each, which were soon whittled into a drill and a hearth. Dried grass was prepared and we were off! Fire by friction – the hand-drill way! If you can’t do this in the Kalahari, then you can’t do it anywhere – nevertheless I didn’t find it easy. I noted that for the bushmen (and women – as they make fire as well) it’s a team effort, taking turns in drilling. They shout encouragement to each other and to the fire: “Ka – ka – ka” (have a listen to the video). They are encouraging the ember by saying, “Come on fire – hurry, hurry”.
Eventually, the fire did come for all of us and with shouts of “Gaja – Gaja!” (great – good – well done) we sat back and grinned and watched these ancient peoples nod their head in approval and pride at their protégées success.
Next post – Tracking
