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Peanut Butter has Jelly; Snoopy has Woodstock; and Sonny and Cher had each other. The point is, some things just work better together.

The Dobe Ju Hoansi of the Kalahari Desert know this concept very well. The Kalahari Desert, southern Africa, is an extreme environment, and in this extreme environment the Dobe Ju Hoansi have developed ways to survive, even flourish, that are invisible to the outsider’s eye, yet complex and sophisticated. These ways are not only technological adaptations to fit the environment, but also cultural adaptations that have evolved as a response to the needs of the Ju Hoan community.

The Ju Hoan are a hunting and gathering kind of people. Men typically hunt, and women typically gather. However, they are very egalitarian, meaning that men and women share equal status and there are no official leaders or chiefs. Because of the harsh environment, social relationships are crucial to survival. Although they live in small, nomadic bands, they maintain relationships with other groups. One way they do this is through Hxaro exchange.

Hxaro exchange is a form of generalized reciprocity (giving and receiving) where people from the each band will have Hxaro, or exchange, partners in other bands with whom they will give gifts. Now you may think, “how is this any different than bartering?” The difference lies in the reasons for giving. The exchanges are not part of any economy, nor are the materials given essential for survival. The basic theme is “I give you something now, and you in return give me something some other time in the future.” Richard B. Lee, Anthropologist, discussed hxaro exchange with a Ju hoan man. Lee asked, “If you gave me a spear and I in return gave you a 3 strings of beads would that be ok?” The man replied, “Yes.” “Two Strings?” “Yes” “One String” “Yes.” The Ju Hoan man explained that “One string, five strings, any return would be alright. You see we don’t trade with things, we trade with people.”

Basically, in Hxaro exchange, If I gave my roommate a Mercedes Benz and he gave me a spoon, it would be a fair exchange. The value of the object isn’t as important as the relationship built and maintained between the two of us.

The Hxaro exchange practice is very important to survival in the Kalahari Desert, as well as the maintenance of the ecology, which we will understand as we read on.

Before we delve into the necessity of any Ju Hoan practices, we have to wonder what’s so special about these practices. Sure this is a peoples culture, and it would be nice to preserve it, but why should they have to live as hunter/gatherers when people in Arizona are living lives of luxury in well air conditioned houses with well watered lawns?

But the real question is whose way of life is the better option. From the point of view of the ecology, the Ju Hoan way of life is much more sustainable and beneficial for both man and environment.

Here in America we colonize deserts and live comfortably. However, in doing so we do not adapt to the environment, but rather change the environment to accommodate us. We build houses, roads, power lines, aqueducts, and so on.

The Ju Hoan way is one that is highly developed to a point where they can live comfortably in the harshest of environments without the luxuries we take for granted, such as running water.

To understand how the Ju Hoan way of life we have to understand their way of life. Ju Hoan bands are easily changed, broken up, or created as needed. For example, if one band is experiencing harsh times, that band will break up and its members will join other bands. These hard times come because the local environment cannot sustain the band that lives on it. Instead of milking the land for everything its worth, by leaving the area and joining other groups, the Ju Hoan give the land time to recover, and then return when the land is providing plenty.

This cultural adaptation ensures that the land will be able to provide for the Ju Hoan in the future. It lessens the impact of the harsh environment on the Ju Hoan, as well as the impact of the Ju Hoan on the environment, by spreading out the impact to other bands and other areas where the land can sustain new additions to the local group.

Hxaro exchange is the means for maintaining the social networks that will be used when bands need to break up or take on new members. That is why the gifts given do not matter. The relationships built in Hxaro exchange partnerships are the whole point behind the practice.
Hxaro exchange is a cultural tool for survival, much like having a car in Los Angeles. It is the perfect example of a cultural trait developing in response to the surrounding ecology and environmental conditions.

Source: The Dobe Ju/'hoansi, by Richard B. Lee