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Among the San Bushmen of southern
Africa
…the hunt for game with
poison-tipped arrows depends on moving rapidly across the veld….
When men become too old to participate in the hunt, they
become the makers of the arrows – and tradition ascribes to
the arrow maker the primary credit for the kill…. Similarly,
only when women are too old for childbearing are they
permitted to become shamanic healers, a translation of the
love and care they have given their children to the health of
the wider community. In both cases, an appropriately limited
effort is recognized as having a profound value.
-- Mary
Catherine Bateson
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