Mathias Guenther, Professor of Sociology and anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, is the author of The Farm Bushmen of the Ghanzi District, Botswana; The Nharo Bushmen of Botswana: Tradition and Change; and Bushman Folktales :Oral Traditions of the Nharo of Botswana and the Xam of the Cape.

Prefacei

Chapter 1: Introduction: The Challenge of Bushman Religion 1

The Challenge of Bushman Religion 4

Bushman Religion: A Brief Summary9

Notes on Methodology and Orthography10

Chapter 2: Bushman Society15

Nharo Society, 1790's to 1890's17

Nharo Society, 1890's to 1990's25

Bushman Social Organization29

Chapter 3: Values and Individuals50

Values53

The Individual63

Bushman Society's " Struggle of Society against the State"71

Chapter 4: Belief and Cosmology74

The Diversity and Ambiguity of Bushman Belief75

Divinity78

Mantis and Moon Worship?81

Cosmogony: Primal Time84

Cosmology: The Human-Animal Nexus89

Ambiguity of Bushman Religion: Social and Cultural Factors101

Social-Structural Factors:102

Cognitive-Cultural Factors:107

"Foraging for Ideas": The Factor of Acculturation110

Socio-Cultural Change and Bushman Religion118

Chapter 5: The Trickster121

The Trickster's Many Faces124

The Embodiment of Ambiguity128

The Trickster as God139

Gauwa Meets Jesus Christ147

The Abomination of the Trickster God153

Chapter 6: Stories, Story Telling and Story Gathering:160

The Case of the Moon and the Hare

Textual Variation of the Myth162

Story Transmission and the Foraging Ethos169

Foraging Ideology or Ideology of Foraging?178

The Text and Its Meaning181

Chapter 7: Myth and Gender185

Gender Relations in Bushman Society187

Gender Relations in Bushman Myth and Lore190

The Equality of Bushmen and Women198

The Limitations of Structural Analysis202

Chapter 8: Initiation Rites207

Female Initiation209

Male Initiation211

Variations214

Male Initiation or Hunting Magic?218

Transition and Transformation219

Transformation, Anti-Structure and Egalitarianism225

Chapter 9: The Trance Dance228

Liminality, Transformation and Transcendence231

The Trance Dance and Cultural Revitalization242

Flexibility, Adaptability and Variability of Bushman Ritual248

Chapter 10: Missionaries and the Bushmen251

The Bushman Mission in the Cape at Colonial Times254

The Failure of the Cape Mission261

Contemporary Missions to Bushmen273

Two Incongruous Belief Systems282

Chapter 11: Conclusion: Bushman Religion and the Tolerance of Ambiguity284

Coping with Ambiguity288

Bushman Society and Religion as Communitas and Anti-Structure298

Do the Bushmen (and Hunter-Gatherers) Have Societies?303

The Analytical and Methodological Challenge of Ambiguity306

References Cited312

Endnotes341

Index352