Runs Gently Upon the Earth

1 review for Runs Gently Upon the Earth

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   John Fraser – January 13, 2025

   A has seen more than its S fair share of shameful actions, but few are more disgraceful than the virtual extermination of the San people. the original inhabitants of this magnificent land.

   We are fortunate that retired history teacher Geoff Olivier has turned his lifelong interest in, and study of, the remarkable First People Into an absorbing saga, demonstrating a rare and valuable insight into the lives, customs and traditions of this nation.

   Runs Gently Upon the Earth covers several centuries, beginning in an era when the San lived simply, in harmony with nature, respecting wildlife and hunting only for food or as part of tribal initiation rites

   Flora and fauna were plentiful, more than ample to cover the very modest requirements of these humble people, who required little to cover their need for food, medicine and clothing

   The Khol were also present, but not in large numbers, and they posed no serious threat. The real danger was to come

   when blacks and white settlers arrived in growing numbers and began to establish themselves in the lands where the San traditionally lived.

   As time passes, and the novel’s narrative develops, we see how these other tribes, white and black, Introduced a different, agrarian imprint on the land, crowding out the San with their crops and their cattle, reducing the availability of the game and wild plants on which the San had thrived.

   The concept of ownership of land is alien to the San, and they were powerless to halt the arrival of others whose belief in land rights conveniently failed to recognise those of the original Inhabitants.

   Indeed, the hunting and extermination of the San was a sanctioned policy among earlier settlers. As in Australia, the white man had little tolerance for the Aboriginals.

   – Olivier writes of Boer horsemen with genocidal intent, who “were not only trying to eliminate the tribe and claim their ancestral land, but were also exterminating all the game, and destroying the grazing and food plants with their great

   many cattle. The change made the clan heartsore arid anxious because they could no longer live in peace and continue their traditional way of living. A life which was slowly and inexorably changing to something different and more complicated for the clan. The First People were being pushed from their land, captured and forced to work for the farmers -or in many cases simply massacred.”

   This novel follows different individuals and groups of San people as they move from area to area, seeking a permanent, safe and bounteous territory in which to live but being steadily driven from the most verdant land to more arid andinhospitable areas.

   The narrative concludes in the post-apartheid era when irt the minds of many the San have become mere museum exhibits -the remaining San have been grouped into a broader and artificial “coloured classification, and there are very few places where small clusters of San can preserve their language, traditions, culture and lifestyle.

   At times, they were of use We read how in both the floer Wiar and World War I and 2, the San’s tracking skills and ability to move stealthily were deployed. Once land in rural areas was settled, they were often absorbed into the farms to work as herders, However, the rewards of these marginalised First People have not been substanikal

   It has been a case of adapt or die, but the adaptation by the San has meant the destruction and erosion of heritage, ancient skills and language, uniqueness and dignity as a people

   As time passed, bottle stores were opened in those townships where there were still groups of San people working as labourers, or

   sometimes unable to work at all and alcohol has become a factor in further eroding their dignity, self- respect and ability to remain connected to their heritage.

   This is an important book, and certainly filled many gaps in my own knowledge about a precious part of our country’s heritage and history

   However, the publishers of this book hitzarrely go on the defensive in the cover blurta with a suggestion that some people may be concerned that the San’s story is “not lús Ouvter’s to tell

   This is abject nonsense, as the reader will soon become fully aware of the love, respect and deep understanding of the San that emerges in chapter alter chapter. These are the heroes of the book not the villains

   Olivier is pairstaldirg in narrating the hunting rituals in intricate detall, he highlights the Importance of San rock paintings, and he is respectful in the way in which he tells of how a group will dance around a fire,

   falling into a trance. It is done

   serisitively, and convincingly. There really should be no

   suggestion of apology. There is no shortage of people who have wronged the Sar, but Olivier is not among them

   Of course, there is a genuine concem in any society about cultural appropriation, but I found no hint of this. Instead, there is respectful storytelling. based on a lifetime of research and interest in a far too frequently ignored or distorted

   element of SA history Far from doing a disservice, Olivier has produced a valuable work that will help many to better understand and appreciate the San

   In later chapters, more modern-day descendants of the San enter schools and universities, and display prowess in athletics, drawing on the heritage of their ancestors. who were able to comfortably Jog for many hours and developed remarkable stamina

   There is a suggestion that the excellence of today’s San athlete might bring more recognition to their

   communities and could finally persuade the SA authorities to do more to revive and support the First People

   It would not be too soon.