!Kung Healing

The !Kung people reside along the intersections of the borders of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola. Although they are a historically nomadic, hunter-gatherer society, they have begun to settle down and make more permanent villages. They believe in one grand deity that created the universe and also that there are many animal and ancestor spirits that affect individuals and the community directly. These spirits can be indifferent, benevolent or malevolent, but are respected regardless because of the direct relationship they have with the people. The !Kung shamans are more commonly known as healers and their main responsibility is to organize and participate in trance dances. These dances are used as healing ceremonies to communicate with the ancestors and other spirits to heal those who are sick or suffering.

This communication occurs during the dance when a healer enters into a trance and becomes absorbed by the spirit or deity. Once this trance and absorption occurs they are able to find where the illness is located in each of the sick and use various forms of ritual paraphernalia to fight off the malicious spirits and heal the person. This dance also functions as a ceremony to choose the future healers in the community. Once the current healers enter their trance they look for young people with certain qualities such as responsibility and a desire to aid the community. Once these individuals have been identified they begin to transfer their power over to them at the dance ceremony and help them to enter their training periods. Finally, the trance dances are used to communicate with the ancestor spirits to ask for help in enforcing community ideologies and moral standards. The trance dance is the main form of healing among the !Kung.


*The two photos depict the group ritual trance dance (top) and the !Kung shaman in trance finding the source of illness in an afflicted individual(bottom)