Catherine Sasman
11 April 2008
Windhoek — Five San men are participating in the World Field Archery Championship currently under way near Windhoek. New Era took a trip to see how it went.
"You have to read the white dot," says Kxoa //Xarie, as he pulls out his arrows that have landed on the butt. "It is not as easy as hunting for game."
Rabbie !Amace, with the score board hanging from his hip, lifts it up and enters the scores, commenting on how each of the men has done. So far, //Xarie has a comfortable lead.
At the next stop, shooting has to be done from 20 yards from the target. The men take aim with their large wooden bows and shoot. Most miss, as the arrows fly past the target. If one hits the target, there is an excited exclaim and shouting from the rest.
"We are not accustomed to these bows," said !Amace. Just two days before the event, the men had to exchange their bows with stronger and more sophisticated ones imported from South Africa. Theirs proved too weak against the black top of the target.
"Our bows are made of stick and the string is made of eland hide," said Dam Kxao. "It is still difficult to handle this bow."
They walk off to the next target. This time, the distance is 20 yards. Again, only //Xarie shoots into the white circle. The others shoot around the circle, or completely off the target altogether.
"Our way of shooting is nicer," said /Kunta !Amace. "It is nicer to shoot for a kill; for meat."
The men do not take long to aim. They raise the bow, place the arrow against the string and align it against the wooden bridge of the bow, stretch the string, and goes 'pang!'
"When you hunt for game there is no time; you cannot wait too long," said /Goa N!aici as he watched his arrows fly over the target.
But as the days progressed, the San participants found it easier to handle their new bows and arrows with colourful flies at the rear end.
"Our traditional arrows are sharp-pointed," explained N!aici. "These arrows are blunt."
In the competition, each archer shoots four arrows at the target and gets a five-point when it lands in the white dots. There are 28 targets in each circuit, with distances from 10 yards to 80 yards.
Local and international archery competitors are shooting in 12 different categories, or styles. The San participants are shooting in a category that has been created for them, because their equipment is not up to par with the carefully engineered and highly sophisticated equipment of the other members.
"They won't shoot so well," was Zelda Smith's opinion on the performance of the San men on the second day of the event. Smith, from the England team, has been practicing archery for the last 22 years.
"Their bows don't shoot far. When they go hunting they have to go close."
On the fourth day of the competition the San shooters still trailed behind the other archers, but there was an acknowledgement from the other competitors that the San participants have picked up their game.
Despite the limited reach of their bare bows, outclassed by the other bows in the competition, the San shooters have 'out-shot' some of the world competitors. The highest scorer in the San group, //Xarie, tallied 943 points, and the four others by end of yesterday, comfortably beat the scores from international competitors, such as a 339 score from Estonia, or a 204 from Germany, or less.
"It is incredible," said Namibian archery champion Maré van der Merwe, who is competing in the Adult Male Bow Hunter category. "They know what this is all about."
However, the San men are not "directly" competing in the event, but merely participating, said Kathrin Gebhard, when asked how the men got involved in the global archery event.
"They are not directly taking part," said Gebhard, who had introduced the men to the Namibian Archery Association.
But, if the San participants are not directly competing in the event, why are they then participating in the event?
According to Frank Bockmuhl, one of the vice chairpersons of the Namibia Target Archery Association, there is a move to develop the sports into a broad-based sporting event in all regions. This would include the traditional hunters using their tools (or bare bows) in similar events.
The archery association approached the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture in November last year to request participation of the San men in the competition, however marginally, since prior participation in international competitions is a pre-requisite to compete in the event.
The San men from the N#aqa conservancy were approached because they have formerly competed in traditional bow shooting events in Okahandja in March, and at Rooibank in Walvis Bay last year.
"We understand the sensitivity around such an arrangement, but there was strong support from the ministry," said Bockmuhl.
The 'sensitivity' issue arose from the potential spectacle that could have been created by the presence of the San in a competition for which they have been poorly prepared for, amid an active international tourist segment, made up of the competitors in the archery event.
But the organisers were adamant that the San were not brought to the competition as a tourist attraction, although their presence has created quite a stir among the competitors.
"The San is a big plus for the event," said Steve Kendrick, vice president of the International Field Archery Association.
"Their presence makes people aware that they are there. One can watch National Geographics programmes, but you still don't quite get a sense of the San. For Namibian tourism it is a very good move. A lot of magazines will be interested."
And according to the Namibian counterparts, the San presence has caused a lot of international magazine interest. A Canadian magazine has reportedly run pictures of the San participants.
"There will obviously be some sort of a spectacle because the San men are wearing their traditional clothes, but that is not the intent," maintained Gebhard, saying that there was much ado over nothing.
"The men are enjoying the event very much; they are very excited to go out and take part every day," she said.
"Their self-confidence has grown tremendously, and it must also be pleasant to be away from their homes for a while."
And while many of the competitors stay over at Heja, the San men travel back to Windhoek in the evening to afford them some privacy from the prying questions of the international guests said Bockmuhl.
"There were concerns over this; after the exposure and curiosity, the men want to retire to a private space, otherwise because of all the attention they would not get any rest," said Bockmuhl.
According to the Namibian organisers, the San presence does give the event an added value. It is the first time that an indigenous group takes part - however marginally - in the world field archery event. This has reportedly never happened in countries such as Australia with the Aborigines or in the US with the traditional Indians.
And the participation of the San could mean a new momentum for the sport in the country.
Thomas Mabuku from the Ministry of Sports was equally upbeat over the San participation: "This is very important to them and the nation to get involved. Normally, the San do not take part in other sporting events like soccer or boxing. This should not stop here, but continue so that the neglected people get involved."
"There will be more opportunities for the San to participate in archery events. This must be a combined effort to get the sport growing," said Ernst Simon, vice president of Namibian Field Archery Association.
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