Title: between N!a†xam and tibi. A case study of tuberculosis and the Ju/'hoansi in the Tsumkwe region, Namibia

Abstract

In academic literature and the media, knowledge of the Ju/'hoansi San of Namibia is often either valorised or problematised. In this case study of tuberculosis in a small village in Tsumkwe district, which we call Dune and Low Dune, all the people identify themselves as Ju/'hoansi. It is shown how, why and when they utilise various knowledge traditions to address ill health in the face of scarcity and lack of power. This study traces how broad, yet intersecting ‘categories’ of tibi and related treatments were distinguished in relation to symptomology and embodied experiences of illness, but were also linked to medical diagnostics and treatment. Some local knowledge of local medicinal plants has been published, identified as Ju/'hoan, or San, and utilised for a growing interest in ‘natural’ remedies. Yet, while there is a veritable industry in studies and interventions related to the San, they have largely remained poor and marginalised. The paper concludes with an examination of the ways in which the Namibian state approaches the protection of knowledge it identifies as indigenous, arguing that in contrast to South Africa, biopiracy is not a predominant concern, and that existing state regulations focus more on the conservation of particular plants as an economic resource for the state.