More than science, San tracking is a deeply spiritual activity necessary for the renewal of life. “Tracking is like dancing. This is the Great Dance. You are talking to God when you are doing these things.
” However, while San cosmological complementarity works well in Habermasian ideal speech situations, these examples of accord should not mask the devastation of acculturation, cultural property theft, forced removals and genocide experienced by many San. Celebrating only the positive can veer dangerously close to liberal social contracts and commons that are open to unpunishable abuse (Hardin 1968). Mind- ful of this, San have reformulated their egalitarian ethos to uplift themselves and to educate well- intentioned and wilful outsiders (WIMSA 2003; ▶http://www.san.org.za). The long and ongoing traditions of San cosmology is not something conservative and ancient, it is a fund of beliefs, places, objects, skills and stories that allow people to innovate and to impact the modern world.
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Photo credit: Martin Harvey •
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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, pp.644-650