The Hunters Analysis

Watching The Hunters provided the ability to visually make observations of life and culture of the indigenous band society the !Kung Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert in South West Africa. There are some estimates that only 250,000 hunter/gatherer people today still live by this subsistence strategy throughout the world. Though, it is unlikely in today’s time that there are many (if any) of these clans that have been untouched by some aspect of “modern” times.

Hunter/gatherer bands practice what is known as a seasonal round lifestyle. They will migrate to new locations seasonally so to acquire the foods and water that are available in each territory at a given time of the year. Water availability is a leading dictator on the choice of which area to travel to during which season. Additionally, water is also scarce, especially during the winter months, so when a band arrives at a permanent watering hole, they must first ask permission from the

Hunting requires not only acquired skills of the bow and arrow use, but a knowledge of each area, behaviors and patterns typical of animals, and a keen sense when something seems “off”. Komo exhibits this keen sense when he questions the lack of wild game immediately around an area providing fresh water and plentiful food. He had noticed earlier that the spores he came upon were pointing south, and he questions if the wild game has been scared off early by other prey. By observing and learning what nature has to provide, the clan (which generation discovered this is not mentioned) had discovered that beetle larva can be used as a poison on their arrowheads and that this poison would not render the meat nonedible to the clan members. Each male creates his own bow and arrows for hunting and the !Kung clan has a custom that when designing and creating their arrowheads that each one is unique and distinguishable from one