A unique event to celebrate Heritage Month and the ways of SA’s First People has been hosted by Nelson Mandela University.
The event took the form of a workshop where an expert team from Kharkams in Namaqualand, Northern Cape, demonstrated how to build a matjieshut, the earliest shelter constructed by the country’s First People centuries ago.
Workshop facilitator, NMU School of Architecture associate professor Magda Minguzzi, leader of the indigenous knowledge system of the built environment unit, said on Wednesday that working together had made the event possible.
She said it was organised in partnership with Makhanda-based Chief Jean Burgess of the Ghonaqua Peoples and Kharkams-based community facilitator, indigenous storyteller and cultural practitioner Jason Jacobs.
“The aim was to facilitate the practice of cultural reappropriation of indigenous knowledge that is fading away in most of South Africa.”
Minguzzi said both architecture department staff and students, along with First Nation leaders and youth based in and around the Bay, had actively participated.
“They gained first-hand experience of indigenous heritage and knowledge that cannot be found in books.
“The matjieshut was beautifully constructed, with common patience, deep respect for each other and gratitude for the generosity of the elders and knowledge holders from Namaqualand.”
She said the materials were harvested by the matjieshut experts in Namaqualand, just as their ancestors had done since time immemorial.
“The reeds were woven there into mats and then brought here to combine with the structure, that was built from wood, which they also harvested there and brought with.
“The matjieshuts of the First People, also called haru oms in the Namagwap language, are well known from the journals of the early western travellers.
“Only a few people still know how to make them, so one of the important things we did with this workshop is teach the students and community members who attended how to do it.
“They also had the opportunity to try the different skills themselves.
“Having the matjieshut experts here has been a huge honour and privilege.”
Burgess said she had enjoyed just sitting inside the matjieshut.
“It’s exciting because we have been building it over the last few months, but we brought it into completion over the last few days.
“We all came together and worked hand in hand to make the matjie, tying the branches of indigenous trees, and using the indigenous reeds from the river.
“The materials are thousands of years old, and that’s the excitement.
“As exciting is sharing the indigenous knowledge with those who participated in the workshop.
“Even more exciting is that the students, staff and communities now have access to the matjieshut.
“You can enter, sit inside and experience the spirituality and knowledge, share and become part of this ancient structure.”
Minguzzi said the opening ceremony, which took place on Sunday, was led by Burgess and other Bay First Nation chiefs. Traditional herbs were burned and water infused with these herbs was sprinkled around the matjieshut.
She said the intention was that the finished structure, positioned next to the School of Architecture on the university's South Campus, would be open to all.
The Herald
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