Bushmen

Former name for the Kung, San, and other hunting and gathering groups (for example, the Gikwe, Heikom, and Sekhoin) living in and around the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. They number approximately 50,000 and speak San and other click languages of the Khoisan family. They are characteristically small-statured.

For much of the year the Bushmen live in small egalitarian bands of about 25 people, each band consisting of a few families living independently in a large territory within which it alone has hunting rights. They once occupied a larger area, but were driven into the Kalahari Desert in the 18th century by Bantu peoples (Sotho and Nguni). Their early art survives in cave paintings.

Their traditional clothing consists of a triangular piece of animal skin passed between the legs and tied round the waist. The women wear long skin wraps. The Bushmen live in low huts made of reed mats and use ostrich eggshells for carrying water. Vegetable foods make up 60–80% of their diet, animal foods the remainder. Despite the great variety of food species that can be hunted, the Bushmen concentrate only on a small number.