A Griqua community’s cultural and spiritual pilgrimage to their ancestral lands and sacred site

Aerial view of Ratelgat.
Photo credit: Griqua National Conference

 

A reflection by NJ’s Indigenous Fellow, Yvette le Fleur

The month of May was approaching, and as a Griqua (Khoisan) it is customary to start planning your cultural and spiritual pilgrimage towards the northern part of the Western Cape province of South Africa, to the sacred farm called, Ratelgat. Griqua legend has it that the Paramount Chief Andrew Abraham Stockenstrom Le Fleur I, the founder of the Griqua National Conference (GNC), walked in the region on a very hot summer’s day. He was thirsty and could find no water in this semi-arid dessert. He then prayed to God for water. God instructed him to follow the trail of the ratel to a hole with water. Therefore he named this piece of land, “Ratelgat” (honey badger hole).

For Griqua, this historical farm is of utmost spiritual and cultural significance. It is this sacred territory to which our ancestors in the early twentieth century escaped from the harsh impacts of colonialism, under the leadership of the then Paramount Chief A.A.S Le Fleur I. They sought out this farm to protect our indigenous identity, foster our culture and to maintain our hard fought independence as an indigenous community. 

However, this land was not really suitable for livelihood purposes: the lack of fresh water and, suitable grazing lands along with poor agricultural soil, hampered the possibility of economic developmental projects. Furthermore, during the early twentieth century Le Fleur’s inability to get access to funding from the colonial government institutions to buy this farm for the community furthermore discouraged him and his community. That state of affairs eventually led to their decision to abandon the farm temporarily in 1938. After they left, it was subsequently transferred to colonial ownership.

In 1994, with the dawn of the new constitutional dispensation in South Africa, the GNC, under the leadership of Paramount Chief A.A.S. le Fleur II, started to negotiate with the new democratic government to buy back the Ratelgat farm for the community. In May 1999, we acquired the farm, in the name of the Griqua National Conference Development Trust, through the post-apartheid land reform programme. It has subsequently also been declared a provincial heritage site.

For us the acquisition of this piece of land is not only an inheritance in the land itself but even more significant to the Griqua, is the inheritance of the spirit of our ancestors; who could survive through very difficult circumstances the onslaught of colonialism on this very arid piece of land in the heart of the succulent Karoo. Also quite remarkably, this semi-arid vegetation includes 133 endangered succulent plant species adapted to survive the dry climate conditions. Thus, today this farm has spiritual, cultural, heritage and ecological value for the Griqua.

Griqua community members at the monument site.
Photo credit: Griqua National Council.

The Griqua community come from across South Africa to undertake the pilgrimage to Ratelgat and to pay tribute to, and to commemorate, the legacy of our ancestors, now under the leadership of Paramount Chief Alan Andrew le Fleur.

This year I too, once again took the pilgrimage to Ratelgat. I arrived at the farm early on Saturday 14th May. The weekend’s celebrations commenced in the traditional manner; we all gathered together in prayer to give thanks to God for keeping everyone safe on the road and asked God to bless the weekend ahead.

Aunty Mary, an elderly Griqua woman preparing
food. Photo credit: Griqua National Council.

We then moved on to the customary greeting practice of the Griqua. This century old practice entails that we form a circle and then walk inside the circle greeting each and every one by looking them in the eye and shaking their hand (“Kringgroet”).

The rest of the day was focused on cultural activities, such as the indigenous games, and later towards the evening the young people provided entertainment through performances of the dance called ‘Rieldans’ (‘ghabara’), which is a traditional Khoi-Khoi dance. The evening ended with some traditional food prepared at the Lapa (kookskerm).

The Sunday morning commenced with an early morning prayer session to spiritually prepare for the day ahead. Then everyone left the cultural area and proceeded to the sacred sites. We first visited the ancestral graveyard in commemoration of their legacy. The second sacred sight visited, and where the main ceremony took place, is the monument site. This site also contains the grave of our previous paramount chief Andrew Abraham Stockenstrom Le Fleur II. The celebration of this weekend also commemorates the birth of the latter as he was born on 11th May 1923.

Monument and grave of A.S.S. Le Fleur II.
Photo credit: Griqua national Council.

The ceremony consists of various speakers sharing old Griqua stories, remembering the ancestors and the chiefs, as well as sharing their sentiment about the day. The ceremony closed by moving closer to the monument to kneel around it, while the ‘vog’ (respected elders who intercede between God and the community) communicate with God through prayers. We believe that prayers given on this day and on this site are very powerful and bring the Griqua great blessings. 

This pilgrimage left me with a feeling of great satisfaction and a sense of well-being. The proximity to God and my ancestors, and the reminder of the legacy they have left behind, gave me renewed energy and courage.

Natural Justice – Cape Town Office - Skill and Information Sharing Session February 2016

Natural Justice’s Cape Town office hosted its second monthly Skill and Information Sharing Session on 29 February 2016. We were honored with the presence of Mr. Wilberforce Laate, our Ghanaian partner from CIKOD. His discussion focused on endogenous development and traditional leadership. It is particularly of interest since Natural Justice is currently working with the National Khoi & San Council to realize the formal recognition of Khoi-San peoples’ customary leadership institutions and its communities.

This approach of endogenous development entails the idea of taking a look backward, to pick up ideas and values that were useful from the past, in developing the future. It advocates that all aspects of a community must be regarded in that community’s development, those relating to the spiritual world, material world and social world. According to this endogenous development approach, development is already active in communities all the time. It is also a combination of both indigenous and appropriate external knowledge and support.

Mr. Laate also shared the traditional authority system in Ghana; how it works and what challenges they have faced and how they have been addressing these issues since the late 1950s when their colonial system ended.

The Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill 2015 (PDF), the first to give recognition to Khoi-San leadership institutions, is currently in South African parliament and open for public consultation (see Parliament news here and here). Thus, at this time, Mr. Laate’s insight on endogenous development and his example of the place of traditional authorities in Ghana serves as a shared African experience.

Rooibos Traditional Knowledge holders meet with Industry

Rooibos industry

Mr. Cecil Le Fleur, Chairman, National KhoiSan Council

The San and Khoi are the rightful knowledge holders regards traditional knowledge related to the rooibos plant, and they are currently negotiating with the rooibos industry in terms of the South African Access and Benefit Sharing legislation. They are legally supported by Lesle Jansen from Natural Justice and Roger Chennells from Albertyn Chennells Inc.   A basic industry-wide agreement is being sought, based purely upon traditional knowledge in the light of the South African legislation, which will simplify the access and benefit sharing and permitting requirements for the rooibos industry. The traditional rooibos farming communities will be the primary beneficiaries under any agreement reached.  The agreement will have significant benefits not only for the Khoi and San traditional knowledge holders, but also for the rooibos industry.  These stakeholders met on 2nd December 2015 in Clanwilliam to further develop these negotiations.

Harvested rooibos, South Africa

Traditional rooibos farming communities from Wupperthal and surrounding areas, South Africa

Natural Justice Awarded OCSDNet Grant

Natural Justice is proud to have been awarded an OCSDNet Grant to focus on Empowering Indigenous Peoples and Knowledge Systems Related to Climate Change and Intellectual Property Rights  This 24-month project, led by principle researcher Dr. Cath Traynor, examines processes of open and collaborative science related to indigenous peoples’ knowledge, climate change, and intellectual property. It assumes and challenges practices of open and collaborative science as a process, one that should involve modes of being both open and closed. 

The notion of science as “open” and nature as “freely accessible” has historically been used to exploit countries in the global south such as South Africa. British and Dutch colonial scientists, for example, characterized land and resources in South Africa as “belonging to no one” under the doctrine of terra nullius in order to take biodiverse plants and produce botanical science. The notion that knowledge and resources should be open and accessible has therefore been historically used to construct South Africa as a mere supplier of raw material, rather than producer of scientific knowledge. In particular, indigenous peoples’ knowledge, resources, and heritage have been cast as free for the taking. More on the project, and the full proposal submitted by Natural Justice is accessible here.

The Heroes Project

Natural Justice on an annual basis collaborates with the University of York on various policy-related projects, this year we are looking into the South African work around the Khoi and San peoples, which involves firstly, reviewing the impact of the Amendment 2014 to the Land Restitution Act on the Khoi and San peoples land rights, and secondly building on the Heroes Project through an identity workshop with youth from the Khoi, San and other South African communities. Through The Heroes Project, Natural Justice, the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, and the Law, Environment and Design Laboratory (LEDLab) explores psychosocial approaches to the law.

A Sublime Aggression

By Lesle Jansen and Kabir Bavikatte
Murder is no test of masculinity. There are macho alternative cultures full of justice and integrity    

Article appearing in the Cape Argus, 22 April 2014

In a disturbing scene in Ian Gabriel’s recent film ‘Four Corners,’ there is a monologue by Gasant, the leader of the ‘26 gang,’ to a group of young recruits about to embark on their first kill. Like a ritual elder at an initiation ceremony, Gasant tells the boys ‘now we got men’s work to do,’ symbolically marking the murder they are about to commit as their entry into manhood. The film raises powerful questions on youthful aggression, rites of passage and what it means to be a man. Whether the fires of our youth tend the hearth of the community or burn down its foundations depends on how we answer these questions.

The film got me thinking on rites of passage for boys in other cultures. On a recent work trip to Japan, I went to the local budokan (martial arts training hall) to train with the judo club. At the budokan, the teacher, a man in his seventies informed me that the word budo in budokan is the samurai version of the knightly code of chivalry. It includes qualities such as justice, benevolence, integrity, honor and discipline. He said that judo means the ‘gentle-way.’ This didn’t mean that it wasn’t devastatingly effective, but rather that it was an art of sublimating raw aggression in a way that elegance overcomes bluster.

The Souls of Coloured Folk: Regaining Sense of Self through Traditional Customs and Rituals

By Lesle Jansen and Kabir Bavikatte
(This article appeared in the Cape Argus Newspaper, 4 April, 2014.)

It is a peculiar sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity – W.E.B Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk

Article appearing in the Cape Argus, 4 April 2014

I am told that anthropologists have diagnosed a condition amongst some indigenous peoples as ‘loss of soul.’ Apparently, this means the breakdown of a connection a people have to their traditions and their inner lives. They have forgotten the language and prayers their fathers used to speak to the gods, land and animals. They don’t hear their ancestors and their ancestors are deaf to them. In their lives, they are invisible to themselves, they are nameless, uninitiated and among the living dead. They lack a story that is their own. Instead they drift, trying on the masks and customs of other peoples. Sometimes abhorring vacuum, they accept identities thrust on them. And since none of them fit, they wander carrying a nameless ache they can’t put their finger on.