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.