2. The Hunt

Mackenzie reading 1987

The Hunt

The hunt was a vital part of interaction between Africans and Europeans. It became a symbol of European dominance, but also a determinant of class within that dominance. First arrived in 1850s and by the 1970s they were coming in their floods from Europe. Their entry was resisted by Mzilikazi and Lobengula, but to little affect.

The process

1. Commercial hunting for ivory and skins, for trophies. Meat gain was largely incidental.
2. Hunting was a subsidy for the second level of European advance, the period of acquisition, conquest and settlement. Meat was a crucial protein supplement for the low wages: would be paid in meat. African's demanded meat contributing to the 'massive assault on game.'
3. The transformation of hunting into the Hunt: came to be surrounded by ritual. It was here, that notions of conservation came to the fore.

What's the difference between African and European hunting?

African societies: needed meat for protein, hunting was a significant part of the progress from boyhood to manhood. All pre-colonial hunters, prospectors, traders, explorers and missionaries lived off the land. Missionaries found that they were less valued for the gospel than for their guns! People would ally with them and befriend them in the hope that they would provide them with weapons. Thus, a successful missionary must too be a succesful hunter.

Destruction of the wildlife

- Africans started demanding meat that they needed for protein. Wages were either paid fully or supplemented by meat.

- They built railways which were able to bring in even more hunters and explorers --> 'it was not long before it teemed no more' --> the wildlife were desroyed by the vast numbers of hunters arriving from overseas. 

- 1896…