{"id":372,"date":"2020-12-22T09:49:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T09:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/?page_id=372"},"modified":"2025-03-09T20:37:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T20:37:30","slug":"haisebs-world","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/haisebs-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Haiseb’s world"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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HAISEB and TREES<\/strong><\/p>

“..the \u00a0shorter name of\u00a0Heitsi-eibeb\u00a0is\u00a0Heigeib, Great-Tree (from\u00a0hei<\/em>, tree, and\u00a0gei<\/em>, great) forces us to\u00a0translate Heitsi into tree-like.” (Hahn 1881:133)<\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0<\/div><\/div>
Theophilus Hahn, a nineteenth century philologist, linked the name ‘Haiseb’ to a tree \u00a0in his much under rated work Tsuni-||Goam: the supreme being od the Khoi-Khoi (1881: 132-3<\/div>

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Hahn:<\/p>

‘Consequently the only correct translation of\u00a0Heitsi-eibeb\u00a0is, “the One who has the appearance of a tree,” and this tree is the magnificent\u00a0Dawn-tree.’ (Hahn 1881: 134).<\/p>

\u200b<\/span>Hahn’s\u00a0Dawn-tree\u00a0equates to the rising sun: \u00a0‘beautiful beams and rays shooting up from a central point like the\u00a0gigantic branches of a magnificent tree’.<\/p>

Hahn, like my recent contact Samson Awaseb,\u00a0determines\u00a0that Tsui ||goab and Haiseb are the same. As the sun rises in the East, they come from the East and\u00a0both are invoked as ‘Father’ or\u00a0‘All-Father’.<\/p>

\u200b<\/span>\u200b<\/span>A link with wood and trees seems to run through \u00a0a number of\u00a0Haiseb tales. This link also seems evident in the\u00a0placing of branches and leaves \u00a0on Haiseb \u00a0graves, which was a common practice. It is mentioned, for instance, in the context of Gamkarab featured on the site.<\/p><\/div>

At the very least Haiseb’s link with wood and trees seems to\u00a0reflect\u00a0a fundamental and powerful ‘going together quality’ , if not absolute equivalence with Hahn’s\u00a0Dawn-tree.<\/p>

As we tease out the meaning of Haiseb we should, however, resist trying to pin Haiseb’s identity down to specifics. Haiseb is about many things webbed around sun, rain, growth, life,\u00a0death, trees, food, safety, predictability, good living and danger.\u00a0Haiseb does not belong to any one persons’s or one group’s\u00a0ideas.<\/p><\/div>

Among the Haiseb tales I recorded in Sesfontein was one that typically remaps and reconfigures familiar themes. Many contexts link Haiseb to holes, either as a place where he lives or as something dangerous that he encountered.<\/div>
\u00a0<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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A story from the Hoanib River Culture Group, Sesfontein:<\/strong><\/p>

‘Haiseb went to the next place. He saw the woman dancing the |gais next to a big deep river. He stands on the edge. Later on the women try and pull Haiseb into he river, but Haiseb realises that they are trying to kill him.<\/p>

\u200b<\/span>So the women dance closer to the river but Haiseb is careful. Haiseb thinks, “how can I get these ladies into the river”. He takes the sun in his hat, the stars on his cheeks, moon on his bottom, now when he dances around the ladies are blinded and he tries to get the group together. Then he pulls all the ladies into the river.\u00a0<\/p>

\u200b<\/span>When Haiseb pulled the ladies, two held onto the roots of a tree. That day the ladies became the baboons. There is some place in Franzfontein where the ladies became the baboons. The God made all these [things?]. That sign [of the things god made] is sometimes there.<\/p>

\u200b<\/span>In Franzfontein there was a tree that looked like a woman and the local people burned it. These are the signs made by God.\u00a0<\/p>

John Taniseb: “I heard that when they cut the tree up blood came out”<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Haiseb and the Franzfontein tree<\/strong><\/p>

Haiseb is all about one thing being another. At Franzfontein there is a tree that used to be a beautiful woman. In recent years the tree was chopped down for fire wood.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Michael Doeseb<\/strong><\/p>

In Franzfontein there were two\u00a0ladies in the form of a tree. They were sent by their grannies to go and fetch water. They refused and then they were changes into a tree and you can see the breasts and this was there. I don’t know what happened. It was supposed to be good heritage for the whole world but later the trees became dry after so many years.\u00a0The fountain was created by God. It was already there<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The sister in law of John Taniseb, Franzfontein<\/b>:<\/p>

There was a boy and a girl who were asked by their grandmother to get wood. They went out to the bush and came back with nothing. The grandmother said that this was not good and they would be turned into trees. There is a male and a female tree over there. When they cut the tree it was like blood that came out.<\/p>

John Taniseb<\/strong><\/p>

In Franzfontein there was a tree that looked like a woman and the local people burned it. These are the signs made by God.\u00a0<\/p>

I heard that when they cut the tree up blood came out<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Among the Haiseb tales I recorded in Sesfontein was one that typically remaps and reconfigures familiar themes. Many contexts link Haiseb to holes, either as a place where he lives or as something he identified as a danger that he or others are thrown in to:<\/p>

\u200b<\/span>‘Haiseb went to the next place. He saw the woman dancing the |gais next to a big deep river. He stands on the edge. Later on the women try and pull Haiseb into he river, but Haiseb realises that they are trying to kill him.<\/p>

So the women dance closer to the river but Haiseb is careful. Haiseb thinks “how can I get these ladies into the river”. He takes the sun in his hat, the stars on his cheeks, moon on his bottom, now when he dances around the ladies are blinded and he tries to get the group together. Then he pulls all the ladies into the river.\u00a0<\/p>

\u200b<\/span>When Haiseb pulled the ladies, two held onto the roots of a tree. That day the ladies became the baboons. There is some place in Franzfontein where the ladies became the baboons. The God made all these [things?]. That sign is sometimes there.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HAISEB and TREES “..the \u00a0shorter name of\u00a0Heitsi-eibeb\u00a0is\u00a0Heigeib, Great-Tree (from\u00a0hei, tree, and\u00a0gei, great) forces us to\u00a0translate Heitsi into tree-like.” (Hahn 1881:133) \u00a0Theophilus Hahn, a nineteenth century philologist, linked the name ‘Haiseb’ to a tree \u00a0in his much under rated work Tsuni-||Goam: the supreme being od the Khoi-Khoi (1881: 132-3 \u00a0 Hahn: ‘Consequently the only correct translation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-372","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":832,"href":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/372\/revisions\/832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinkingthreads.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}