THE VENDA BOATS IN THE MUSEUM
9 9
The tw o w ooden boats th a t are c u rre n tly on display in the A n th ro p o lo g y Hall were acquired by A.C. H offm an, director of the National M u s e u m fro m 1 951 to 1 969 . In 1 9 5 2 he w ro te a paper on the boats w h ic h w a s prin ted by the M useum . This overview of his paper s h o w s th a t i n d e p e n d e n t e t h n o g r a p h i c r e s e a r c h corroborates his fin ding s.
The tw o boats were made by a Venda m an w h o
l i v e d h a l f w a y b e t w e e n t h e s o u t h e r n
S o u tp a n s b e r g d is t r ic t s of T s h iv h a s e and
T s hakhum a. The area is k n o w n for its m arula trees, S clerocarya ca ffra, therefore it is not su rp risin g th a t these trees provided the m ateria l for the c o n s tru c tio n of the boats. T w o kinds of boats are displayed in the M dseum : a d u g -o u t and a boat made fro m bark.
The d ug-out canoe.
The d u g -o u t is a bo u t 2 m long and 3/ 4 m wide. The Venda m an carved it fro m a tree tru n k w ith a sm all iron hand-axe, a task th a t took h im nine m o n th s to complete. Both ends of the tr u n k were opened and had to be subsequently closed w ith pieces of w ood.
The bark boat is also about 2 m long, but is
J .H .N . Loubser
s lig h tly w id e r th a n the d ug -o u t. Both ends of the bark are bent upw ard s and fastened to the sides by means of wooden pegs, w ire and nails. The b oa t-builder prevented the sides fr o m collapsing by arra n gin g three sticks transversely.
A boat m ade out o f bark.
Local Venda used 4 m long barge-poles to propel such boats across the L u v h u v h u River. They also used the poles to w a rd o ff crocodiles. The m o m e n tu m of the boats w a s impeded not o nly by the ir square shape, but also by gaping holes in th e ir sides. M u d from the riverbanks w a s used to seal the holes. Despite these d raw backs Hoffm an claim ed th a t each boat transported fo u r people w it h relative ease.
H o ffm a n 's d escription of the boats is one of fe w for A fric a n c u ltu re s s outh of the Lim popo River.
M u d a u (1 9 4 0 ) in d e p e n d e n tly c o lle c te d a
v e rn acu la r a c cou n t of Venda people w h o used s im ila r boats in the remote past. The tra d itio n s of the Dau Venda at T s h a k h u m a recall those days w h e n "... the rivers were still large, and the Mbetizi and Lem bethu (both are Venda-speaking groups) knew h o w to make canoes of the bark of the M u fu la (M aru la ) in w h ic h they sailed
It is d iffic u lt to establish the a n tiq u ity of b o a t b uilding by archaeological means because w o o d
is unlikely to survive the harsh c lim a tic
c o n d i t i o n s of t h e n o r t h e r n T r a n s v a a l .
A r c h a e o l o g i c a l a n d h i s t o r i c a l s o u r c e s nevertheless s upport the c la im s of the Mbedzi and Lembethu b oat-builders th a t they have inhabited the Soutpansberg for at least five
c e n t u r i e s ( L o u b s e r in prep.). H i s t o r i c a l
d o c u m e n t s ( e. g. B e u s t e r 1 8 7 9 ) a n d
archaeological excavations also s h o w th a t the Venda produced iron locally, and were therefore able to make the necessary tools fo r carving the boats.
Evidence for b oa t-b u ild in g am ong the black people of S ou th ern A fric a is not lim ited to the Venda alone. A c c o rd in g to Bryant (1949) the Z u lu people m u st once have had d u g -o u ts
b e c a u s e t h e i r la n g u a g e h as th e w o r d
"u m k u m b i" or " d u g - o u t - t r o u g h " , a term that
Z u lu s still use for modern boats.
Hoffm an w ro te that the so-called " b o a t s " depicted in B us h m a n (San) rock p a in tin g s are sm aller than the Venda boats, and suggested th a t the p a in tin g s could depict Z u lu crafts. He supports this suggestion by stating th a t there is
no independent e th n o g ra p h ic or historical
evidence th a t the San ever used boats.
U n fortu n ate ly , there is also no e th n o h is to ric a l
in fo r m a tio n about Zulu boats.
W ha te ve r the case m ay be, recent research on San rock a rt suggests th a t w h ile the p a in tin g s m ay look like boats to the European viewer, they could actu a lly depict so m e th in g else. This is likely because San so m etim es painted anim als, especially eland, in association w ith s im ila r boat-like shapes. In other w ords, o u r firs t im pressions of other people's c u ltures are often misleading. O nly detailed research in to th e ir p a rtic u la r histories and beliefs m ay yield clues as to w h a t they a c tu a lly did. H o ffm an has s h o w n th a t it is indeed im p o rta n t th a t w e consider the specific cu ltu re s under s c ru tin y — in order to retrieve in fo r m a tio n as to the past practices of
the people. g j j
B IB L IO G R A P H Y
B E U S TE R , C L 1 8 7 9 D a s V o lk d er V a w e n d a . Z e its c h r ift f u r G e s c h ic h te
u n d E rd ku n d e 1 4 : 2 3 6 -2 4 0
BRYANT, A T 1 9 4 9 The Z u lu peo ple, a s th e y w e re b e fo re th e w h ite m a n c a m e P ie te rm a ritz b u rg S h u te r a n d S h o o te r H O F F M A N . A C 1 9 5 2 V e n d a d u g - o u t c a n o e . R e s e a rc h e s o f th e N a tio n a l M u s e u m . B lo e m fo n te in 1: 2 3 27 LE R O U X . T .H 1 9 8 2 D ie d a g b o e k v a n L o u i s T r i c h a r d t . P r e t o r i a . V a n S ch a ik L O U B S E R , H J N in p r e p . A r c h a e o l o g i c a l c o n t r i b u t i o n t o V e n d a
e th n o h is to ry . U n p u b lis h e d P hD th e s is . U n iv e rs ity o f the W itw a te rs ra n d .
M U D A U , E 1 9 4 0 The Dau o f T s h a k h u m a In : V a n W a rm e lo . N J (Ed.) The
C o pp e r M in e rs o f M u s m a a n d th e e a rly h is to r y o f the Z o u tp a n sb e rg .
S o u th A fr ic a n E th n o lo g ic a l P u b lic a tio n s 8
SNUIFDOSIE VERDWYN UIT
FRESHFORD-HUISMUSEUM
Gedurende die D e se m be r/J a n u a rie -v a k a n s ie s e is o e n is hierdie koper-snuifdosie, met die voorletters J.G. daarop gegraveer, uit F re s h fo rd -H u is m u s e u m gesteel. A lh o e w e l die kom m ersiele w a a rde van die artikel gering is, is dit vir F re s h fo rd -H u is m u s e u m van groot k u ltu u rh is to rie s e waarde, aangesien dit aan die H a rris o n -fa m ilie behoort het. Indien u meer lig op die saak kan w e rp kom asseblief met die Nasionale M u s e u m in B loem fontein in aanraking.
