The Bushmenīs life as hunter and gatherer hasnīt changed much in the last 20.000 years. The utensils have changed from stone to iron and pots were added. The Bushmen have an astounding knowledge of nature. They feel at home where natives of other peoples canīt live anymore. For the hunt with the bow, they use a poison on the arrow which is produced by a secret method. They are regarded as the best trackers in Africa and as gatherers, know approx. 250 plants by name. Hardly another tribe in Africa has such a wealth of stories. Around the 15th Century, the Herero and Damara came from North Africa and settled in the present day Namibia and pushed the Bushmen into the south of Africa. Thereafter, in the 17th Century, the Bushmen had to withdraw to the dry areas of the Kalahari as they were pushed further out by the immigrating whites - mainly Dutch and English. So Namibia, formerly German S.W. Africa became their last retreat and this was colonized by the Germans around 1880.
The EUROPEANS had - without asking - divided the expanses of Africa. Only the dangerous S.W. coast which had been landed on firstly by the Portuguese didnīt seem worthwhile colonizing as it is one of the driest African areas. And so it remained to the Germans to bring the Emperorīs flag - under Bismarkīs direction - at first peacefully and later by force into the country and to cultivate it in their own way. Through the work of the missionaries and between the fences of the settlers, a thousand year old culture was lost. The rule of the Germans lasted 32 years and changed more than in the 1000 years before.