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Kung Bushman Tribe

812 Words4 Pages

The hunter-gatherer way of life highlighted equality and the sharing of resources. They depended on intense cooperation and sharing, along with a strong egalitarian focus. With egalitarianism being so vital, they believed that all members of their society were equal and should have equal rights. This approach to life deeply benefitted the members of these tribes. The main benefits of this type of society are a balanced power dynamic, a selfless sense of community, and preservation of resources through sharing. In a hunter-gatherer society, there is no sense of any hierarchy. Everyone is seen as an equal. They are extremely big believers in humility and not standing out within the group. They believe that you should be humble in your achievements and not boastful. An example of this comes from the acts of the !Kung Bushman tribe featured in Richard Lee’s article Eating …show more content…

The article tells about his experience with the tribe and a particular incident where he tried to do something nice for the tribe for Christmas. Lee sought out to kill a large ox to present to the rest of the tribe as a thank you and decided upon the biggest, meatiest one and when word got out of this, members of the tribe went up to him and teased him, saying things such as “Do you expect us to eat that bag of bones?”, and telling him there was no way that could possibly feed them all. What he didn’t know at the time, was that they were teasing him. He didn’t realize that in the Bushman society, your hard work is appreciated but is to be kept behind closed doors and not easily shown to you. They humble each other and feel that there is no such thing as a totally generous act. There is always some intention behind a good deed. They tribe members felt that he was being arrogant in showing off that he could provide that large ox for the group. In the case of Lee, a

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