Khoi prayer
When the Pleiades appeared on the eastern horizon in spring, the Khoi held an important communal ritual. It involved slaughtering and a dance at which a song, very much like a hymn, was sung in honour of Tsuni-||Goam. Tsuni-||Goam, a founding hero or sky god identified with the Supreme Being, was believed to control rain, which had religious significance in a land sometimes prone to drought.
{mp3}Khoi_prayer1{/mp3}
Tsui-||goatse! | Thou, oh Tsui||goa! |
Abo-itse! | Thou Father of the Fathers – i.e. All Father! |
Sida itse! | Thou our Father! |
|Nanuba \avire! | Let stream – i.e. let rain – the thunder cloud! |
En xuna uire! | Let please live (our) flocks! |
Eda Sida uire! | Let us (also) live please! |
Khabuta gum goroö! | I am so very weak indeed! |
||Gas xao! | From thirst! |
|As Xao! | From hunger! |
Eta xurina amre! | That I may eat field fruits! |
Sats gum xave sida itsao! | Art thou then not our Father! |
Abo itsao! | The Father of the fathers! |
Tsui-||goatse! | Thou Tsui\\goa! |
Eda sida gangantsire! | That we may praise thee! |
Eda sida ||khava |khaitsire! | That we may give thee in return (i.e. that we may bless thee) |
Abo itsao! | Thou Father of the fathers! |
Sida! Khutse! | Thou our Lord |
Tusi-||goatse! | Thou, oh Tsui-|goa! |
Theophilus Hahn, Tsuni-||Goam: The Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi, Trübner & Co., London, 1881.