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/Xam culture comes alive in new coat of arms While recording the dying /Xam language in the 1870's, little could the linguist Wilhelm Bleek have foreseen that his work would come alive in the motto of the new South African coat of arms. At that time, the /Xam, or the southern San, were regarded as having little to offer humanity in terms of culture or religion and were being mercilessly exterminated. Bleek and his sister-in-law, Lucy Lloyd, painstakingly transcribed the myths, folklore and stories of a few /Xam informants who stayed with him in his Mowbray home in Cape Town. As a result we have a record of a language whose spoken form became extinct. It is this record which was used in creating the new motto for the coat of arms, "!ke e:/xarra//ke" which means "unity is diversity". While much has been made of the fact that few actually know how to pronounce this motto, it seems appropriate that the language of the first people of Southern Africa should resurface in this way. The new design also uses San rock art images; the two central images coming from a rock art painting from the Eastern Cape. David Lewis-Williams of the Wits University Rock Art Unit was an adviser in the creation of the new coat of arms. What was once devalued and despised, the culture of the /Xam San, has found its proper significance as a rich source of culture. Remnants of the /Xam culture, lying dormant in the University of Cape Town archives and the rock overhangs of the East Cape have been brought alive in this new coat of arms. ©Copyright Prime Origins 2001 CONTACT BRETT HILTON-BARBER primeorigins.co.za is an iafrica.com Private Label site