Culture

Botswana's early tribal religions were primarily cults in which ancestors directed family matters from their underworld domain and were contactable only through the heads of family groups. Religious rites included male and female initiation ceremonies and rain-making rituals. Polygamy was practiced, and a man's estate was inherited by the children of his head wife.

San folklore is rich with supernatural explanations of natural events, orchestrated by N!odima, the good guy, and Gcawama, the mischievous trickster. Missionaries dislodged nearly all the traditional practices, and Christianity is currently the prevailing belief system in Botswana.

English is the official language of Botswana, but the most common language is Setswana, a Bantu language understood by over 90% of the population.

The original Botswana artists were everyday craftspeople who injected individual aesthetics into utilitarian implements such as pottery, fabrics and tools. Botswana's baskets are exquisite, employing designs with such evocative names as Tears of the Giraffe, Urine Trail of the Bull and Forehead of the Zebra.

Because indigenous languages have only been written since the coming of the Christian missionaries, Botswana doesn't have much of a literary tradition. All that survives of the ancient myths and praise poetry of the native peoples has been handed down orally and only recently transcribed. Botswana's most famous modern literary figure was South African-born Bessie Head, who settled in Serowe and wrote of the harshness and beauty of village life.

Historically, men were responsible for tending the herds and subsisted primarily on meat and milk, while women were left to gather and eat wild fruits and vegetables. Nowadays, millet and sorghum porridge form the center of most Botswana meals, but these are rapidly being replaced by imported maize mealies. People in remote areas supplement their diets with morama, an immense underground tuber, and an edible fungus known as the Kalahari truffle. You may also encounter dishes including the mopane worm, a caterpillar-like grub that can be cooked in hot ash, boiled in salt water or dried and deep-fried.

Traditional drinks include palm wine, a less than legal, extremely potent swill, and kgadi, made from distilled brown sugar or fungus. Legal home brews include bojalwa, an inexpensive sprouted sorghum beer.