Short recording made by ethnomusicologists Emmanuelle Olivier and the late Minette Mans of flutes (pl. ǂāti; sing. ǂāb) made of paw-paw stems and played in Sesfontein, north-west Namibia, until recent decades. 

The highest pitched flute in the Olivier / Mans 1999 recordings is called !aia (‘the potato’); the next is a!gâs; the third is kamas; and the lowest is ǁhûib. 

Sesfontein ‘reed-flutes’ were made from the hollow stems of paw-paw planted around peoples’ houses and in their gardens. These hollow stems were cut to different lengths to produce four differently pitched notes. In this Sesfontein demonstration there were only four flautists, although as Olivier (2006: 18) notes, ‘[t]he flute ensemble of Sesfontein includes five instruments tuned according to the same tetratonic scale as the one noted by Kirby in 1933'. 

Image: Nama-Damara men in Sesfontein / !Nani-|aus, north-west Namibia, playing flutes (ǂāti) of four different pitches in 1999. 
From L-R the flautists are Petersen, Manasse |Nuab, Isaac ǁHawaxab, Fanuel ǁHawaxab – all now deceased. Photo: Emmanuelle Olivier 1999, digitised by Sian Sullivan February 2018, identification of flautists made by W.S. Ganuses and S. Sullivan May 2018 with the Sesfontein community.

Sesfontein flute (ǂāb)pitches, recorded 1999, north-west Namibia

SS.|gais about bird flying over Sesfontein

EO. Damara 1999 B Sesfontein DAT 01

Western Choir vol. 2 Oshikandela

001. Birds 1

A Bee Song

i. Lied von den Bienen / Song of the bees

Sung by Viktoria ||Hoeses, recorded by Ernst and Ruth Dammann in Omaruru on 2 February 1954 and archived at the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (BASLER_36B14 - shared with permission). The recording opens with a metadata announcement in German by Ernst Dammann, before Viktoria starts singing a |gais or praise song about the bees.

Danis (!Habugu ams)/ Honey (Bee song)

He, danisa ta ra ǁnae / He, I am singing (about) honey
Hihe, heho… / Hihe, heho…
Daba te so re; / Turn me around;
Mûǂan ta go xuige / As I realise that the bees sting
Hihe…hihe… / Hihe…hihe…
Ai, nā te go hō, ai, nā te go. / Ai, that they bite me, ai, they bite me.
Iehe…, Iehe… / Iehe, Iehe 
Ahe, nā te go hō. / Ahe, they bite me.
!Habu, nā tes go. / Bee, you bite me.
He, hieho… / He, hieho…
ǁNā te, ta oa re! / Leave me, I want to go back!
Hihehe…hie… / Hihehe…hie…
!Habus go nā te / The bees bite me!
Hie… / Hie…
Apa te so re! / Can you carry me!
Hie…Hie… / Hie…Hie…
Aie, nāhe ta go iehe…iehe / Aie, I was bitten…iehe…iehe
Hie…Hie… / Hie…Hie…
Mûbasen re, khoen oado re! / Be careful, children of the people!

[song by Viktoria ǁHoeses 2 February 1954, Omaruru, Namibia; handwritten transcription in Khoekhoegowab and translation into Afrikaans by Johannes Boois; translation from Khoekhoegowab transcriptions to English by Welhemina Suro Ganuses, 28 November 2014; Thank you also to Professor Wilfrid Haacke for assistance in January 2021 with the written Khoekhoegowab and translations]

1. Viktoria Hoeses Bees BASLER 36B14

Future Pasts is a cross-disciplinary arts and humanities research project exploring practices of sustainability with a focus on the globalised cultural landscapes of west Namibia. We combine oral history, archival research, audio and film recordings to explore different ways in which a diversity of people relate with past, present and future environmental hopes and concerns. Future Pasts is funded by the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council.