BACKGROUND/HISTORY

The history of Batswapong is characterized by migrations of peoples into the country from the north and west and particularly from the east and south, as well as internal movements of groups of people. The group which eventually emerged as most numerous, and dominant, were the Batswana. Their pattern of dividing and migrating saw the formation of numerous Tswana tribes, and they eventually occupied the northren area of the country.
The term "Batswapong" refers to the ethnic group of people who speak the Setswapong language and share the Sotho-Tswana culture. Today, Batswapong, in its contemporary usage, refers to Tswapong citizens of the Republic of Botswana. The singular is "Motswapong": a citizen of the country.

CULTURE

The Batswapong come from the eastern regions around Selebi Phikwe. Tswapong is not all just safaris and more safaris. There is a rich cultural heritage that expresses itself in an evolving modern art that is still rooted in deep traditional values.

FARMING AND SETTLEMENTS

Cattle, and to a lesser extent goats and sheep, have always played an important social and economic role within Batswapong tribe. Cattle in particular are kept, not only for food and clothing, but also as a measure of wealth.
The larger their herd's size the greater the influence an individual or family has within the community. Cattle are also traditionally used as the primary means of exchange. Disputes and punishments handed down by the kgotla were settled with payments of cattle, and men paying their bogadi (bride price) would deliver cattle to the woman's family.

BELIEFS

Traditional Tswapong belief was centred around the high God (Modimo), who was regarded as the Creator of all things, and the person responsible for all human destiny.
He controlled human destiny by sending different weather, in order to indicate through winds, hail, heat, rain (or its absence), and death,his discontent with some departure from tradition and from the proper Tswapong order of things, particularly significant events were acts of God or, in the case of death, could also be signs of witchcraft and, therefore, of human envy and greed. Modimo however, was distant from people, and the ancestral spirits were usually called on to intercede for the Tswapong.