In this paper, I would like to examine the recent social change among the /Gui and//Gana. Since the Remote Area Development Programme (RADP) began in 1970's, sedentation of the/Gui and//Gana has increased. It has been reported that they selectively adopted some aspects of introduced culture in order to integrate it into their tradition. In 1997, the government of Botswana relocated these people to a new settlement.
The relocation resulted in great changes to many aspects of their life. For example, resettlement on the plots allocated by the government disrupted residential patterns as well concentrating the population. In addition, foraging activities declined due to the lack of veld foods, while the importance of livestock raising, agriculture, wage labor, and rations increased. One year old children tended to gain weight slower than those before relocation. The data suggest that breastfed infants could not obtain sufficient nutrition after relocation.
Meanwhile, economic diversity grew in connection with specific ethnicities. The//Gana, who had been closely related to the neighboring Kgalagadi, were eager to be engaged in livestock raising, agriculture, and wage labor. It followed that the//Gana acquired more property of all kinds than the/Gui after relocation. The situation can be understood as a logical consequence of the decrease of accessibility to their traditional land in addition to the disruption of residential patterns based on ties of kinship.
These findings suggest that the relocation programme was a catalyst in the enhancement of ethnic identities among people by highlighting the differences between the/Gui and//Gana, as well as those between the dominant Tswana society and that of local dwellers. It should also be mentioned that these results are inconsistent with the original intention of the government to integrate people into the nation state.