The Healing Land : A Kalahari Journey

by Rupert Isaacson

"Although brought up in "grey, drearily ordinary" London, Rupert Isaacson's links to Africa were strong. Polly, his mother, was a South African and his father was raised in what is now Zimbabwe. Polly kept her memories of Africa alive and handed them on to her children via remembrances to her early life there. Thus, from an early age, Isaacson was fascinated: "Long before I ever went to southern Africa, its names and regions had been described to me so many times that I could picture them in my mind's eye."" "After growing up with these tales and myths - mostly of the Kalahari Bushmen - Isaacson journeys to the dry vast grassland, which stretches across South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia, to discover the truth behind these childhood stories. Deep in the Kalahari, Isaacson meets the last group of Bushmen still living the traditional way, caught between their ancient culture and the growing need to protect and reclaim their dwindling hunting grounds. Dawid Kruiper, leader of these Xhomani Bushmen, allows Isaacson to observe their daily life, and he begins to understand the extent of their disenfranchisement. They have not only decreased in number, but have been literally reduced to beggars, having lost their land and their means of subsistence, and with that their identity as a people has been profoundly threatened." The Healing Land records Isaacson's personal transformation amid these extraordinary people and his passionate contribution to their political struggle. It captures his enchantment with the character, kindness, and confusion of a place that has wrenched itself from the Stone Age into the new millennium.

Genres: Africa, Nonfiction, Memoir, History, South Africa, Anthropology

Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Rupert Isaacson was born in London to a South African mother and a Zimbabwean father. Isaacson's first book, The Healing Land (Grove Press), was a 2004 New York Times Notable Book. He has travelled extensively in Africa, Asia, and North America for the British press and now lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Kristin, and their son, Rowan.

Reviews

[Valerie Nemeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an attempt to recover after the last waste of time, thinking that even if the book wasn't so great I would learn something. Well actually while it really is much like a travelog, Isaacson is quite a proficient writer and paints a beautiful picture of the environs he is visiting, the land which his parents' families had long standing roots. I wouldn't call it a page turner, and I had some trouble keeping all of the names and positions straight, but I did become engaged enough to care about what was happening with the Bushmen and their attempts to reclaim the land, and along with that their way of life, which was stolen from them. My follow up research indicates not a particularly good outcome even today, so that is a bit depressing. That said, I have come away with a greater awareness of the politics of Southern Africa, and that is a good thing.

[Denise Rawling · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing journey into a land and a culture, a threatened way of life poised on the edge of extinction. The writer with a long fascination for the Bushmen people living in the Kalahari travel there and becomes part of their attempt to claim back some of their traditional lands that they have been pushed out from. He gets to know many of the people and tells their stories both magical and sad, not shying from the alcohol the violence the desperation but also sharing the strength, the mysticism, the knowledge and the determination to try to save their way of life and their people. An important recording of a time and people, a privileged glimpse into a unique culture under threat, a clear eyed story honouring leadership and determination without shying from the deep problems.

[Sandrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting insight into the struggles of the last few remaining bushman and their attempts - and success - in securing land rights. Sad that natives of a land as vast as the Kalahari Desert should need to fight to maintain their ancestral ways of life. Nevertheless, a satisfying conclusion.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this author at Sundance this year with his movie about his autistic son and the journey he and his wife took to find Shamen in Mongolia who ride horses, (I know it sounds really strange but was one of my favorites) so I was interested in his background. This is his story about trying to find Bushman of the kalahari. Its a sad story of how the Bushman are pretty much all but gone and the few that remain are dealing with the common social problems of alcoholism and domestic violence and fences...The healing shamen parts were my favorite parts of his journey. Its sad that these people are going the way of the rest of the worlds indiginous peoples....

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction piece about one man’s discovery and championing of the Bushmen of the Kalahari and their land right claims. It is fascinating in terms of the ‘modern day’ pressures the tribes feel - such as dealing with alcoholism - and how the African states want to control and force them to dissipate and to control the lands for tourism themselves. There is the struggle between tradition and modernity, racism and myth, interwoven with the idea of the dance being the vehicle for healing and the notion of the people, the land and communities all needing this healing. The writing is at its best when focused on the Bushmen and not the writer’s inner journey.

[Dan Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this about five years ago at the recommendation of a woman that I met at a Winter Solstice yoga event in Florida. She was living in Oregon - as I remember - and involved in organic farming. She was convinced that care of the earth and the wisdom of indigenous cultures were going to be of primal importance - and recognized/accepted as such - in the coming years. She was right! The book is difficult to read in its depiction of the people's suffering and decline, but there is wisdom there - even in the most maladjusted individuals.

[Julian Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author follows his own personal quest for family roots in Botswana and to understand the oppression of the Kalahari Bushmen.

Engagingly written, you feel his frustrations with life and his wonder at discovering new things which challenge establishment views.

A spiritual journey, personal travelogue and highly-charged story.

An eye-opening and thought-provoking must-read for anyone who has an interest in travel, people, Africa or history.

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

As lengthy, circuitous and tortuous as many tracks must be throughout the Kalahari this book does eventually come to a somewhat hopeful conclusion. Isaacson crisscrossed the western and southern Kalahari over the span of many years and this is not only his adventure but that of the Bushmen and their attempts to reclaim their homelands.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some interesting information, but the flow was quite disjointed and it was confusing to follow the characters. The fate of the bushmen is sad but I wonder if the aspiration of having the land to call their own is the solution to all their problems these days.

[Amy]

A bit self serving

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book evoked strong memories of my time (19 years) in Botswana, to the extent that I now feel guilty of not paying closer attention to the plight of the Bushmen at the time. Many knew about the forced removals of Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Reserve, but few cared. Sad.