Folklore; Manners and customs; Mythology; Religion
But it will be shown that the logic
which connects Tsui Goab with the Red Dawn is far indeed from being
cogent.
Tsui Goab is thought by the Hottentots themselves to be a dead man, and
it is admitted that among the Hottentots dead men are adored. 'Cairns
are still objects of worship,' {203a} and Tsui Goab lies beneath several
cairns. Again, soothsayers are believed in (p. 24), and Tsui Goab is
regarded as a deceased soothsayer. As early as 1655, a witness quoted by
Hahn saw women worshipping at one of the cairns of Heitsi Eibib, another
supposed ancestral being. Kolb, the old Dutch traveller, found that the
Hottentots, like the Bushmen, revered the mantis insect. This creature
they called Gaunab. They also had some moon myths, practised adoration
of the moon, and danced at dawn. Thunberg (1792) saw the cairn-worship,
and, on asking its meaning, was told that a Hottentot lay buried there.
{203b} Thunberg also heard of the worship of the mantis, or grey
grasshopper. In 1803 Liechtenstein noted the cairn-worship, and was told
that a renowned Hottentot doctor of old times rested under the cairn.
Appleyard's account of 'the name God in Khoi Khoi, or Hottentot,'
deserves quoting in full:--
Hottentot: Tsoei'koap.
Namaqua: Tsoei'koap.
Koranna: Tshu'koab, and the author adds: 'This is the word from which
the Kafirs have probably derived their u-Tixo, a term which they have
universally applied, like the Hottentots, to designate the Divine
Being, since the introduction of Christianity. Its derivation is
curious. It consists of two words, which together mean the "wounded
knee." It is said to have been originally applied to a doctor or
sorcerer of considerable notoriety and skill amongst the Hottentots or
Namaquas some generations back, in consequence of his having received
some injury in his knee. Having been held in high repute for
extraordinary powers during life, he appeared to be invoked even after
death, as one who could still relieve and protect; and hence, in
process of time, he became nearest in idea to their first conceptions
of God.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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