ǀXam people

E124866

The ǀXam people are an indigenous San (Bushman) group of southern Africa known for their rich rock art traditions and a nearly extinct language that has been extensively documented in 19th-century ethnographic records.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
|Xam people 2
ǀXam people canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf San people
ethnic group
indigenous people
artForm rock engravings
rock paintings
colonialHistory conflict with colonial farmers
displacement during European colonization of South Africa
continent Africa
cosmology belief in trickster-deity ǀKaggen
country South Africa
culturalHeritageStatus intangible cultural heritage of South Africa
culturalPractice ritual healing
storytelling
trance experiences
descendants mixed-heritage communities in South Africa
documentationPeriod 19th century
environment semi-arid Karoo landscapes
ethnicity San
ethnographicSource Bleek and Lloyd archive
heritageRecognition inclusion in South African national heritage discourse
knownFor 19th-century ethnographic documentation
mythology
oral literature
rock art traditions
language ǀXam language
languageDocumentationBy Lucy Lloyd
Wilhelm Bleek
languageFamily Tuu languages
languageStatus extinct or nearly extinct
mythologicalTheme creation of the world
human–animal transformations
origin of death
populationTrend severe decline in 18th and 19th centuries
region southern Africa
linked to: Southern Africa
relatedEthnicGroup !Kung people
Griqua people
linked to: Khoisan peoples

Nama people
religion traditional animist beliefs
scriptUsedInDocumentation phonetic transcription systems of 19th-century linguists
socialOrganization small mobile bands
subsistence gathering wild plants
hunting wild game
traditionalLifestyle hunter-gatherer
traditionalTerritory Northern Cape
Upper Karoo
linked to: Karoo

Upper Orange River region
linked to: Orange River region
writingSystem Latin alphabet

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

ǀXam ethnicGroup ǀXam people
Bleek and Lloyd Collection focusesOn |Xam people
linked to: ǀXam people
Lucy Lloyd ethnographicFocus |Xam people
linked to: ǀXam people