SOS Bushmen

The tribes of the Kalahari Desert are diminishing despite a traditional occupancy dating back at least 20,000 years

The nomadic hunter-gatherers of the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa have little contact with the outside world.

Collectively known as the Bushmen, these tribes are the oldest inhabitants of the desert, where they have lived for at least 20,000 years.

All their languages incorporate "click" sounds - represented in English writing with the symbol "!".

The Nyae Nyae !Kung is a nomadic group with no concept of material culture. They dance for religious ceremonies and to bring luck during a hunt, to cure sickness and to encourage rain.

Since the amount of rain varies in the Kalahari, most of the !Kung's water comes from plants and roots.

Gathering these, plus firewood, is women's work while men hunt antelope.

The Minnesota State University's anthropology department says one of the !Kung's favourite activities is to sit in the shade talking.

"They are afraid of angry words and violence so the occasional dispute is worked out before it becomes a major one," university researchers say.

"Since competition might bring dispute, they try to live as equals. They have very few private possessions and stealing is rare."

The Survival for Tribal Peoples organisation says Bushmen homelands were invaded by Bantu tribes from at least 1500 years ago and over the past 100 years people have been oppressed by white colonists, many being forced to live in settlements unsuitable for hunting and gathering.

It says that in this period the Bushmen population has dropped from several million to just 100,000, mostly due to evictions.

Only a handful of traditional Bushmen still live inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, continuing to resist Botswana government attempts to relocate them.