Notebooks
Story: Signs made on leaving a place
Title
Signs made on leaving a place
Collection
Summary
Signs made by Bushmen in order to show the direction in which they have gone. By /han≠kass’o.(L VIII.-27. 8374-8386). If a member of the group goes off and does not return in time, the others make marks (acting as pointers) in the earth by pushing their feet along the ground, and if they are travelling away they place grass near these marks. In a second part of the account, |han≠kass'o decribes the manner in which branches are 'reversed' and arranged upside down (green tops in the ground) in a certain manner pointing to where the people have gone.
Comments
1) Date on p.8382: 17 April (2nd part of story), 2) p.8373v: |han≠kass'o heard this from his mother (|xabbi-an) and observed it himself, 3) p.8375v: on the arrangement of the pieces of grass that point to where the people have gone, 4) p.8379v: getting lost: what white men and the |xam say, 5) p.8381v: |han≠kass'o saw his grandfather reverse branches in this way, 6) p.8382v: the placement of the branches, 7) This story is found in Book VIII-27
Contributors
|han≠kass'o (Klein Jantje) (VIII)
Date
13 April 1879 (started)
Categories
Keywords
signs (made on leaving a place) , signs (left for the man who misses the house) , signs (as indicators of direction) , signs (the positioning of branches and sticks) , signs (the use of grass stuck in a bush to show direction) , signs (made in the ground with the foot) , signs (left so the man can find his people) , signs (left so a man will not 'go astray') , signs (the people can read them) , signs (that people make when they travel to another place) , signs (marks made in the earth) , signs (pieces of grass arranged to indicate direction) , signs (left for those left behind) , direction (signs made on leaving a place to show) , direction (of a new water–pool) , direction (where the people have gone) , place (at the water) , place (that is new or different) , place ('a man of the place he is, he knows the water') , place (when people travel away from) , place (and signs made on leaving a place) , place (where there is a water pool) , markings (drawn in the ground with feet) , markings (that point in the direction the people have gone) , markings (and signs made when people leave a place) , markings (made in the ground) , markings (and the arrangement of grass to show direction) , water (signs that point in its direction) , water (-pool) , water (the people travel to places where there is) , water ('a man of the place he is, he knows the water') , travel away (and the signs made when leaving a place) , going astray (||gwi !k'u) , going astray (and the signs left as directions for the people left behind) , going astray (and the signs made when leaving a place) , grass (is stuck in a bush to show the direction in which people have gone) , grass (is arranged as a sign when the people leave a place) , location (of a new place) , location (signs left so a person can find his people at a new) , location (and the signs made when leaving a place) , branches (the number used) , branches (their distance apart) , branches ('reversing') , branches (are stuck into the ground to point in the direction the people have gone) , branches (are put into the ground 'green top' down) , branches (and sticks used to indicate direction) , branches (are arranged as signs when people leave a place) , branches (and sticks point to a new water-pool) , footprints (the man follows signs and then the people's) , footprints (the people's 'footmarks' path') , footprints (signs made on leaving a place) , name (used by the |xam for 'going astray' is ||gwi !k'u) , sticks (and branches) , sticks (arranged to indicate direction) , sticks (signs made on leaving a place) , sticks (point to a new water-pool)
Story Pages
8374-8386
