Right Livelihood Award address, Stockholm, 9. December 2005
My
name is Roy Sesana; I am a Gana Bushman from the Kalahari in
what is now called Botswana. In my language, my name is 'Tobee'
and our land is 'T//amm'. We have been there longer than any
people has been anywhere.
When I was young, I went to work in a mine. I put off my skins
and wore clothes. But I went home after a while. Does that
make me less Bushman? I don't think so.
I am a leader. When I was a boy we did not need leaders and we
lived well. Now we need them because our land is being stolen
and we must struggle to survive. It doesn't mean I tell people
what to do, it's the other way around: they tell me what I
have to do to help them.
I cannot read. You wanted me to write this speech, so my
friends helped, but I cannot read words - I'm sorry! But I do
know how to read the land and the animals. All our children
could. If they didn't, they would have all died long ago.
I know many who can read words and many, like me, who can only
read the land. Both are important. We are not backward or less
intelligent: we live in exactly the same up-to-date year as
you. I was going to say we all live under the same stars, but
no, they're different, and there are many more in the
Kalahari. The sun and moon are the same.
I grew up a hunter. All our boys and men were hunters. Hunting
is going and talking to the animals. You don't steal. You go
and ask. You set a trap or go with bow or spear. It can take
days. You track the antelope. He knows you are there, he knows
he has to give you his strength. But he runs and you have to
run. As you run, you become like him. It can last hours and
exhaust you both. You talk to him and look into his eyes. And
then he knows he must give you his strength so your children
can live.
When I first hunted, I was not allowed to eat. Pieces of the
steenbok were burnt with some roots and spread on my body.
This is how I learned. It's not the same way you learn, but it
works well.
The farmer says he is more advanced than the backward hunter,
but I don't believe him. His herds give no more food than
ours. The antelope are not our slaves, they do not wear bells
on their necks and they can run faster than the lazy cow or
the herder. We run through life together.
When I wear the antelope horns, it helps me talk to my
ancestors and they help me. The ancestors are so important: we
would not be alive without them. Everyone knows this in their
heart, but some have forgotten. Would any of us be here
without our ancestors? I don't think so.
I was trained as a healer. You have to read the plants and the
sand. You have to dig the roots and become fit. You put some
of the root back for tomorrow, so one day your grandchildren
can find it and eat. You learn what the land tells you.
When the old die, we bury them and they become ancestors. When
there is sickness, we dance and we talk to them; they speak
through my blood. I touch the sick person and can find the
illness and heal it.
We are the ancestors of our grandchildren's children. We look
after them, just as our ancestors look after us. We aren't
here for ourselves. We are here for each other and for the
children of our grandchildren.
Why am I here? Because my people love their land, and without
it we are dying. Many years ago, the president of Botswana
said we could live on our ancestral land forever. We never
needed anyone to tell us that. Of course we can live where God
created us! But the next president said we must move and began
forcing us away.
They said we had to go because of diamonds. Then they said we
were killing too many animals: but that's not true. They say
many things which aren't true. They said we had to move so the
government could develop us. The president says unless we
change we will perish like the dodo. I didn't know what a dodo
was. But I found out: it was a bird which was wiped out by
settlers. The president was right. They are killing us by
forcing us off our land. We have been tortured and shot at.
They arrested me and beat me.
