Revisiting the decoloniality conversation by including the Khoisan

In South Africa, the lack of resources available for developing a curriculum on Khoisan culture is challenging due to historical neglect, the near extinction of culture and the dying out of language to express culture. Voices of contemporary culture bearers can inform music education research aiming to support the presence of Khoisan music in South African music curricula. In this presentation I firstly present the historical context of the near extinction of the Khoisan. Secondly, I describe curricula in South Africa and their specific decolonial focus, which is limited and neglects Khoisan culture. Thirdly, I examine how two contemporary individuals reclaim and construct their Khoisan identity. The themes that emerged from these two case studies reveal that identity is dynamic, multi-dimensional, personal, and communal, and is connected to self-esteem and self-respect. Finally, I draw on the literature and the case studies to explore a possible way of including Khoisan culture in curricula, which takes them from the margin to the centre of the decolonial debate.