A story of survival. The story of a people that 'progress' seeks to erase.
“We are not primitive. We live differently from you, but we don’t live exactly as our grandparents did, and neither do you. Were your ancestors 'primitive'? I don’t think so. We respect our ancestors. We love our children. It’s the same for everyone. Now the government must stop
stealing our land: without it, we will die.”
These words are from Roy Sesana, also known as Tobee Tcori, his Bushman name. He was born in Molapo, Botswana, in the 1950s. Founder of the First People of the Kalahari, he received in 2005
the Alternative Nobel Prize for defending his people against development. Before the Swedish parliament, he recounted his struggle.
In 1961, the British turned his land into a hunting reserve. In 1997, 4,000 self-sufficient Bushmen were expelled from their ancestral lands.
Pretext: the indigenous people were hunting too much.
Reality: the industry wants to extract the diamonds found beneath their feet.
“They said we had to leave because of the diamonds. Then they said we were killing too many animals: but that’s not true. They say many things that are not true. They said we had to move so the government could 'develop' us. The president says if we don’t change, we will perish like the dodo. I didn’t know what a dodo was. But I found out: it was a bird that was exterminated by settlers. The president was right. They are killing us by forcing us off our land. We have been tortured and shot at. They arrested me and beat me up.”
Roy Sesana asks: “What kind of 'development' is this where people live shorter lives than before? They contract HIV. Our children are beaten at school and don’t want to go. Some turn to prostitution. They are not allowed to hunt. They fight because they are bored and get drunk. They are starting to commit suicide. We never saw this before. Is this 'development'?”
The earth doesn’t need progress. It needs soldiers.
Join the resistance.
