When shall these dry bones live?' : interactions between the London Missionary Society and the San along the Cape's North-Eastern Frontier, 1790-1833

This study is an analysis of the interactions between the London Missionary Society (LMS) and the San during the period from 1799, when the LMS first arrived at the Cape, to 1833, when the LMS abandoned Bushman Station, the last concerted effort on the part of the Society to administer a mission station directed towards the San. The LMS missions to the San, beginning with the Sak River mission of Johannes Kicherer and ending with Bushman Station under James Clarke, have been investigated with a view to gaining insight into the ways the San responded to pressures upon their cultural integrity and independence stemming from the steady northward advance of the colonial frontier as well as the consolidation of Griqua hegemony along the Middle Orange River during the early 19th century. The San have been widely treated as unreceptive to the work of the missionaries and incapable of acculturation and 'Christianisation' in South African historiography. The discussion draws extensively on first-hand missionary and traveller accounts of the day-to-day proceedings at a number of LMS mission stations established to minister to the San. These mission stations serve as a means to 'see' how the San did in fact adapt and acculturate in response to colonial processes of land dispossession and water alienation. By evaluating the motivations behind the founding of these mission institutions and by examining the numerous factors that resulted in the failure or closure of each one, the interactions between the LMS and the San begin to shed new light on how San individuals and groups responded to the social upheavals associated with the processes of an expanding Cape Colony. The first chapter considers how the northward movements of the trekboers undermined the independence of the San in the north-eastern Cape interior during the late 18th century and what influences these had on the efforts of the LMS to pacify, 'Christianise' and 'civilise' the San. The arrival of the LMS at the Cape and the initiation of the Society's first San missions at Blydevooruitzicht Fontein and the Sak River are considered within the context engendered by the violence and turbulence associated with the advancing frontier. This theme is maintained throughout the study, which goes on to investigate the establishment of the San missions at Toornberg and Hephzibah in the second chapter. The internal dynamics within and external influences upon the LMS at the Cape are also assessed in order to establish how these worked to facilitate or impede the Society's efforts among the San and any likely success those efforts may have had. This becomes particularly relevant in the third and final chapter, which discusses the founding of Philippolis and Bushman Station. Within the space of a few years, both missions were re-orientated towards other population groups. The LMS' commitment to the San waned and groups such as the Griquas attracted the attention of figures such as the Society's superintendent John Philip.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Historical Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• McDonald, Jared

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Penn, Nigel

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8172

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8172