ǃKweiten-ta-ǁKen

ǃKweiten-ta-ǁKen (English pronunciation /ˈkweɪtən tə ˈkɛn/ KWAY-tən tə KEN), also known as Rachel or Griet, was a noted ǀXam (San) chronicler of ǀXam culture and knowledge. Although her contributions to the Bleek and Lloyd archive of "Specimens of Bushman Folklore" have been limited in quantity, she played an important role in providing a female perspective on the life, rituals, and beliefs of |Xam society.

Note on click pronunciation:

Wilhelm Bleek has indicated that

• “the cerebral click ! is sounded by “curling up the tip of the tongue against the roof of the palate, and withdrawing it suddenly and forcibly.” (Tindall)

• “the lateral click ǁ is articulated by “covering with the tongue the whole of the palate, and producing the sound as far back as possible.” (Tindall) A similar sound is often made use of in urging a horse forward’[1]


Origins and family

ǃKweiten-ta-ǁKen was the youngest of seven children of χaa-ttin and ≠amme-an, and sister of Dia!kwain, who was one of Bleek and Lloyd's main informants. She would have been born in the late 1840s. Her name was said to mean 'orphan's child' and refer to her mother's feelings at the time of her birth, having just lost her own mother.[2]: 233 

She was from the Katkop mountains and identified her father's place as ǁAnn or Steinpits, which Janette Deacon has traced back to the farm of Kans or Vaskans of today,[3] South West of the town of Brandvlei in what is today the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Based on the extensive interviews of her brother Dia!kwain, we know that they had a sociable upbringing.

Married life and ≠Kasin's arrest

!Kweiten-taǁKen's husband was ≠Kasin, or Klaas Katkop, who was also an informant for Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd. He was of mixed ethnic origin, his father being a Korana and his mother a |Xam. After the marriage, they lived with ≠Kasin's family, further North. She had six children, two of whom died young.

≠Kasin has reported an incident during a hunt, in which he was bitten in the arm by a leopard and seriously injured.[2]: 217-18  Banks speculate that this injury may have forced him and his family to join camp with !Kweiten-taǁKen's brother Dia!kwain, some 30 km further South. It is at that time that Dia!kwain and ≠Kasin were apparently involved in the killing of a trekboer, Jacob Kruger, in circumstances that remain controversial.[2]: 218-223  The two men were arrested and sentenced to five years imprisonment. During their prison term at the Breakwater Convict Station, they met Wilhelm Bleek who was looking for |Xam informants for his research on the |Xam language and folklore. ≠Kasin was transferred to The Hill, the house of the Bleek-Lloyd family in Mowbray, where he stayed from November 1873 until March 1874.[2]: 225 

During ≠Kasin's time in captivity, !Kweiten-taǁKen was left alone with her children. She took up with another man who gave her another son, Gert. Gert’s father, however, died before ≠kasin’s release.[2]: 205  !Kweiten-taǁKen was reunited with her first husband when he returned to his homeland at the beginning of April.

Stay at The Hill, Mowbray, 1874-75

In June 1874, ≠Kasin and his wife !Kweiten-taǁKen travelled together to the Cape with two of her children. Two other children joined them later. That is how she had the opportunity to stay at The Hill, the Bleek & Lloyd house in Mowbray, for approximately six months. However, the Bleek daughters recall her being unhappy and homesick.[2]: 226  Nonetheless, during her last month at the Cape, she was interviewed by Lucy Lloyd, sister-in-law of Wilhelm Bleek, and the interview records provide precious evidence about the cultural practices relating to the lives of |Xam girls and young women. In January 1875, !Kweiten-taǁKen, ≠Kasin and their family returned home.

Value of her contributions to the Bleek & Lloyd collection

!Kweiten-taǁKen was the only significant female informant who was interviewed at The Hill and Lucy Lloyd interviewed her for a period of less than two weeks, filling two notebooks.[2]: 227  The records betray a sense of discomfort felt by !Kweiten-taǁKen. While the extent of her records is rather modest compared to the main male informants such as //Kabbo and her brother Dia!kwain, it is significant for the specific focus of her contribution. One important theme, on which she could comment from her personal experience, related to the ritual of secluding 'new maidens', i.e. young women at the time of their first menstruation, as well as the rain animal which is associated to them. She also shared stories about the foolishness of men and a story about the Leopard Tortoise, among others.[4]

References

  1. ^ WHI Bleek and LC Lloyd, ‘’Specimens of Bushman Folklore’’, viii-x
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bank, Andrew (2006). Bushmen in a Victorian World, The Remarkable story of the Bleek-Lloyd Collection of Bushman folklore. Cape Town: Double Storey Books.
  3. ^ J Deacon, The Power of place in understanding Southern San Rock Engravings, World Archeology 20, 1, 1989, p. 129-140
  4. ^ Skotnes, P. 2025. ǃkweiten ta ǁken. In ǃkhwe-ta ǃxōë Digital Bleek and Lloyd. Centre for Curating the Archive: https://digitalbleeklloyd.uct.ac.za/kweiten-ta-ken.html


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