Die Veldkind

The term ‘veldkind’ is a singular noun (pl. ‘veldkinders’) that combines two words— ‘veld’, meaning ‘field’ or, better, the indigenous, uncultivated land in Southern Africa, and ‘kind’, which means ‘child’— to loosely refer to a ‘child of the earth’. Despite this etymology, the term ‘veldkind’ is not an endearing descriptor for a child but a racially and religiously loaded term used during the colonial and apartheid periods in South Africa to characterize Africans as childlike savages without religion. I explore what it means to encounter and appreciate this term with research collaborators from the Leliefontein Communal Area in South Africa who identify with the term even though their ancestors were previously classified as and subjugated for being ‘veldkinders’. I show how the research collaborators embody and express veldkind as an ontology and epistemology that illustrates their ways of being with and knowing the sacred through, with, and as the veld, plants, and sacred. Finally, I reflect on how the ontologies and epistemologies of research collaborators informed the research methods I used to ethically and respectfully observe and describe their engagement with the sacred, including deep listening, play, and plant intimacies.