Intro words of Batswana
It seems that the Africans did not have the drive to dig their own histories until recently. But it is better late than never. The primary sources from the Native Africans point of view was pushed aside by those in power. Maybe, that is the reason why some of the sources are bias or have a Eurocentric view. For instances, Cortes claimed that he was viewed as God by the Aztecs. However, there were no primary source from the Aztecs perspective to validate the claim. This is might be due to the ignorance of importance of primary sources. Back to the text, before people were more concerned of the conflict and oppression, disclosing of the violence during colonization rather than wanting to know the African-centered historical perspective. It is good to know that people care about their societies. I think by reading and examining the News of Batswana, maybe it will enlighten us about the African's cultures and how they think. Some of the writing in the news were trying to promote the British and might be a bias but it would be interesting.
Kgabo Tebele Motswasele
The letter was written to tell the colonizer about their difficulties speaking using one language. The writer presents his idea in a very refined way; maybe to not offend other Africans and the colonizer. It is hard for them to speak in just one language since all tribes have their own languages and dialects which can invite clashes and discrimination between the Africans. Plus, there will be language barrier between the people of the same group. Instead of using their own language, they need to converse using the one language which they just started to use. Furthermore, the use of their own tribes language will become lessen and might disappear if they did not practice it in daily life and they might lose their identity which distinguish them from other tribes. However, I believe the colonizer has a hidden agenda by introducing the use of one language. They might want to control the Africans. When the colonizer choose the Selthaping language of this particular tribe, the tribe might think they are far superior than others and the colonizer viewed them as very important. In a way, the British might actually want the tribe to submit themselves to them and be on their side. Furthermore, the colonizer wanted to prevent the unification of African and rebel against them. Does anyone have other opinions?Feel free to comment.
Letter from March 1890
This letter is writing in regards how Africans dress their children and justifies it by using Christianity as analogy. This letter tries to say that the Africans do not really practice what they have learned. Although, some of the Africans became the believers of Christ, they did not practiced it within the family members. It was the same as how to dress the children. The Africans learned how to dress properly like the British but they did not dress their children accordingly. They still adopted their own "clothes" which were not really considered as perfect dress. I think the writer of this letter has become adopted of British cultures and way of life. The person became a believer of Christ and wore British clothes. Maybe he has worked under the British in the mines. Besides, if we look at the date, this was during the second Anglo-Boer War. Maybe the writer was trying to put British in a positive light and he or she was a supporter of British. It validates what we learned in the class, that the Batswana were trying to promote British using the news so that the British would see them in a new light and consider them as a part of the community.
Bogadi (Bridewealth)
Bogadi is amount of money or property paid to the bride by the groom to ratify a marriage or also known as bride wealth. There were various opinions about Bogadi. Even a European was interested with this ritual and asked the significance of bogadi from the natives. However, he thought that the Bogadi was against the Christianity since the groom's families used their daughter (Gift from the Christ) to earn money. There were a lot of reply letters regarding the comment about bogadi by the natives. Some agreed with him by saying that the ritual was not suitable to be practiced in Christianity and called the believers who still practiced it behind the curtain as thieves. Besides,some compared it to buying. It seems that the British had a very big influences on their daily lives and cultures. They became a devoted Christian and adopted some of British cultures. But I think that some were trying to flatter the British while some were curious and care if it was against their religion. However, some of them were really trying to enlighten the British of the significance of Bogadi. It symbolizes marriage and they said it is similar to standing at the altar and putting a ring. I think debating about Bogadi is not really a big issue since it is still being practiced in various parts of the world and in other religions. For instances, Muslim pays mahr (bridewealth) to the bride as a token of appreciation and providing certain guarantees to the bride. Besides, it is also practiced in Chinese culture called Ti Qin and in Thailand and many other cultures and regions. In a way,it helps the British and us to learn more about the cultures of the aborigines rather than being keep in dark. It also helps the British to erase the prejudice they have against the aborigines. Besides, the Africans were able to make people known about their opinions of certain issues in their cultures, traditions or even in political issues even though the newspaper had some pro-British sentiments.
Pass Laws
It seems that the Africans did not have the drive to dig their own histories until recently. But it is better late than never. The primary sources from the Native Africans point of view was pushed aside by those in power. Maybe, that is the reason why some of the sources are bias or have a Eurocentric view. For instances, Cortes claimed that he was viewed as God by the Aztecs. However, there were no primary source from the Aztecs perspective to validate the claim. This is might be due to the ignorance of importance of primary sources. Back to the text, before people were more concerned of the conflict and oppression, disclosing of the violence during colonization rather than wanting to know the African-centered historical perspective. It is good to know that people care about their societies. I think by reading and examining the News of Batswana, maybe it will enlighten us about the African's cultures and how they think. Some of the writing in the news were trying to promote the British and might be a bias but it would be interesting.
Kgabo Tebele Motswasele
The letter was written to tell the colonizer about their difficulties speaking using one language. The writer presents his idea in a very refined way; maybe to not offend other Africans and the colonizer. It is hard for them to speak in just one language since all tribes have their own languages and dialects which can invite clashes and discrimination between the Africans. Plus, there will be language barrier between the people of the same group. Instead of using their own language, they need to converse using the one language which they just started to use. Furthermore, the use of their own tribes language will become lessen and might disappear if they did not practice it in daily life and they might lose their identity which distinguish them from other tribes. However, I believe the colonizer has a hidden agenda by introducing the use of one language. They might want to control the Africans. When the colonizer choose the Selthaping language of this particular tribe, the tribe might think they are far superior than others and the colonizer viewed them as very important. In a way, the British might actually want the tribe to submit themselves to them and be on their side. Furthermore, the colonizer wanted to prevent the unification of African and rebel against them. Does anyone have other opinions?Feel free to comment.
Letter from March 1890
This letter is writing in regards how Africans dress their children and justifies it by using Christianity as analogy. This letter tries to say that the Africans do not really practice what they have learned. Although, some of the Africans became the believers of Christ, they did not practiced it within the family members. It was the same as how to dress the children. The Africans learned how to dress properly like the British but they did not dress their children accordingly. They still adopted their own "clothes" which were not really considered as perfect dress. I think the writer of this letter has become adopted of British cultures and way of life. The person became a believer of Christ and wore British clothes. Maybe he has worked under the British in the mines. Besides, if we look at the date, this was during the second Anglo-Boer War. Maybe the writer was trying to put British in a positive light and he or she was a supporter of British. It validates what we learned in the class, that the Batswana were trying to promote British using the news so that the British would see them in a new light and consider them as a part of the community.
Bogadi (Bridewealth)
Bogadi is amount of money or property paid to the bride by the groom to ratify a marriage or also known as bride wealth. There were various opinions about Bogadi. Even a European was interested with this ritual and asked the significance of bogadi from the natives. However, he thought that the Bogadi was against the Christianity since the groom's families used their daughter (Gift from the Christ) to earn money. There were a lot of reply letters regarding the comment about bogadi by the natives. Some agreed with him by saying that the ritual was not suitable to be practiced in Christianity and called the believers who still practiced it behind the curtain as thieves. Besides,some compared it to buying. It seems that the British had a very big influences on their daily lives and cultures. They became a devoted Christian and adopted some of British cultures. But I think that some were trying to flatter the British while some were curious and care if it was against their religion. However, some of them were really trying to enlighten the British of the significance of Bogadi. It symbolizes marriage and they said it is similar to standing at the altar and putting a ring. I think debating about Bogadi is not really a big issue since it is still being practiced in various parts of the world and in other religions. For instances, Muslim pays mahr (bridewealth) to the bride as a token of appreciation and providing certain guarantees to the bride. Besides, it is also practiced in Chinese culture called Ti Qin and in Thailand and many other cultures and regions. In a way,it helps the British and us to learn more about the cultures of the aborigines rather than being keep in dark. It also helps the British to erase the prejudice they have against the aborigines. Besides, the Africans were able to make people known about their opinions of certain issues in their cultures, traditions or even in political issues even though the newspaper had some pro-British sentiments.
Pass Laws
It is mentioned that the pass law is very useful to "regulate the movement of labor and attempted to coordinate the labor and attempted to coordinate the labor supply and demand. It was used in agriculture and mines. Depending on the situation, it enables the Africans to seek employment (prevent the growth of unemployment) and on other situation it attempts immobilize the laborers. However, this law is actually imposed so that British had the control and power over the cheap labor market which only benefited the British and the mining companies. Furthermore, it also in a way restricts the indigenous tribes' power and the British were able to claim lands. The laws helps to cover the forced labor system which replaced the slavery systems. A person who violates the law by failing to take up employment will be punished which can lead to compulsory labor; hence,once again benefited the company. Although it is said that the laborer has the freedom of choosing their work, in actual it was very limited. It is sad that the natives had very little freedom to choose their work and migrate to other areas in their very own land.
I agree with you that Bogadi is not a really big issue, but at that time the issue Bogadi was questioned because the missionaries thought that the culture was improper or doesn't match with the religion's thought. it was hard for them to decide, but some people just ignore it and continue with giving of bogadi. And it's true that many other cultures also preserve what they called as the bride wealth until today.
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