Re-thinking the South African School History Curriculum: Theorising Indigenous Archives of History

The current South African school history curriculum is embedded in and shaped by colonial ideas of history linked to Enlightenment thinking. Tied to this are Western archives of history that are problematic as they have been epitomised in an objective and universal way that only imputes truth to colonial ideas of history. Considering that most people within the South African education system come from indigenous communities, the curriculum becomes completely incompatible with their realities, bearing no relevance to their own lives since the Western archives of history fail to capture and narrate indigenous histories using archives that are more relatable. In this chapter, I argue that these conventional archives imbued in the curriculum have left out indigenous voices, experiences, epistemologies, and ontologies. The post-apartheid curriculum has failed to provide alternative archives of history while grappling with issues of coloniality that continue to define the curriculum. Subsequently, I argue that there is a need to re-think the curriculum in a way that recognises indigenous archives of history. To do that, I propose theorising alternative archives of history which should be derived from a wide range of indigenous sources such as Umlando (oral traditional archives), Izithakazelo (clan praises), and intwaso (ancestral archives).