Documentary Films

Roots of African Culture



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by Michael Chapman and Keyan Tomaselli with the graduate students in Cultural and Media Studies at the University of Natal, Durban SA
color, 30 min, 2003



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"This is very important for us. Not only to engage and for the reconstruction of the historical past, but also for our national heritage." — Professor Yonah Seleti

An important aspect of apartied ideology dealt with historical revisionism and propaganda. It proclaimed that black peoples were not the owners of Southern Africa by stating that the whites arrived nearly at the same time in the same areas. Today a crucial objective of every dedicated teacher in history (as well as other disciplines) is to erase this interpretation as presented in earlier textbooks, and insure that their students have clearly understood the genuine history of their country. Roots of African Culture, a video produced by the University of Natal, is an indispensable pedagogical tool in this perspective.

Recording the actions of Professors Jeff Guy, Leonard van Schalkwyk, Haskell Greenfield, and Yonah Seleti with their students in the fields of both history and archaeology, this video depicts the entire process through which students are enabled to reconstruct the genuine history of Africa and rediscover the truth. After reading an example of apartied literature, which was used to justify the creation of Bantu homelands, Prof. Guy explains that it is now necessary to turn to field work to see the evidence of the first South African settlements well before the arrival of European populations in Natal area in 1652.

Under the supervision of experts, students then participate in archaeological excavations in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, between "historic" Natal and the Zulu Kingdom, where African communities lived in the Iron Age. The entire process of excavation of a site is described and carried out. The process of "Carbon 14 dating" is explained.

Through this concrete and delightful academic experience students are finally able to affirm the existence of African farming communities during the 8th century and to silence the lies and ideology of the apartied regime with scientific evidence.

Suitable for African Studies, archaeology, anthropology, history, and educational practice.