Disappearing People, Disappearing History

On 27 July 1948, Dorothea Bleek died.  

Dorothea had followed in her father’s footsteps, documenting the culture, language, and thousands-of-years-old rock art of Southern Africa.  And although Dorothea continued to demur to her father’s expertise throughout her life, it was her books that brought the San to the attention of more academics.  Her book, A Bushman Dictionary, is still in use and referenced today.

In many instances, her representations are the only remaining depictions of art that environmental changes and graffiti are rapidly erasing from existence.  

Bleek’s anthropological studies have been increasingly important as well, as the San people are being forced out of traditional hunting and living areas and into a modern world and life they are not entirely culturally prepared for.  

More About the San People:

The Often Hidden History of the San

The Oldest Art