The way the !Kung people view the world today is very different than many people living in the 21st century. The !Kung people. First off, they have a language different than any other in the world, the !Kung or Ju language consists of a sequence of clicks and popping noises with hardly any words or phrases like we use today. Many !Kung people also follow the religion of Traditional Nature Animism. They believe that celestial bodies such as the Sun, moon and stars represent symbols of divinity. They also believe that animals such as the praying mantis and ostrich are supernatural beings as well. They believe that the praying mantis are messengers of Goaxa (The main god of the !Kung). The !KUng also believe that the Ostrich was the creator of Fire. The following like will bring you to the story of ""How the Ostrich Lost its Fire". Also in Traditional Nature Animism, the people believe that there is a supreme and lesser gods, and that there are supernatural being as well as spirits of the dead. The !Kung people say that the supreme god, Goaxa is associated with life and the rising sun, and the lesser god is associated with illness and death. Shamans have access to the lesser gods who caused illness while preforming rituals, dances and trances. Because the people of the Kalahari are so broken apart from todays civilization, they do not have access to modern medicine so they have turned to rituals such as the Healing Dance and herbal medicine. However, unlike the rest of the world, the !Kung people do have certain superstitions about life. The believe in something called Gangwasi, which is when the dead come back in spirit to cause sickness and death, which is similar too the traditional Halloween myth in the United States.
Because of their life style and where they are located, the !Kung people are unable to obtain ownership of very many things. The !Kung share what they find to help better the tribe. because of this, jealousy, hatred, and violence are almost non existent. The !Kung live in groups from 10-30 people and they are willing to look out for one another.
References:
http://saharanvibe.blogspot.com/2008/10/sans-of-southern-africa.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyLF3y1YJKA
http://books.google.com/books?id=V-LyyWq66VkC&lpg=PT16&ots=rK7U6gwL3U&dq=san%20tribe%20ostrich%20and%20fire%20story&pg=PT16#v=onepage&q=san%20tribe%20ostrich%20and%20fire%20story&f=false
