肉の狩猟者と配分者は両者とも、これらの文化の中で非常にパワフルな役割を担っているので、私たちは対等性の維持、権力の配分、協力関係の枠組みが確保できるように、これらの役割を分離する何らかのメカニズムが存在することを期待します。クン族に狩猟者の責任について尋ねると、「矢の所有者が肉の所有者です」という簡単な答えが返ってきます。一聞したところ、この諺は狩猟者と配分者の役割の分離というよりも同一視を意味しているので、逆説のように思えます。しかしながら、ある日の夕方、カラハリ砂漠に住むクン族の井戸の一つにある焚火の周りに座っていた賢い人類学者が、翌日の狩りで用いる矢を狩猟者が準備しているのを観察していたとき、「これは誰の矢ですか？」と聞くと、狩猟者は、狩猟グループの年配女性の一人を指し示しながら、「この矢は彼女のものです」と答えました。この人類学者の執拗な質問に答え、狩猟者は矢筒の中の矢１本１本について持ち主を特定しましたが、驚いたことに、この狩猟者自身の矢は１本もありませんでした。この調査によって、新しい可能性の全体像が示されました。クン族の狩猟者は狩りをするとき、必ずしも自分の矢を使うわけではないのです。これによって諺は、より完全な意味を持つようになり、その文化に関する私たちの理解も一層深まります。狩猟者は、肉の獲得に関してあまりにも大きな責任を背負っているので、配分者の役割も果たすことは期待されていません。さらに、他の文献から、異なる動物を殺すために異なる毒を塗った矢が使われていることがわかっています。どの動物を狩りの対象にするか、さらには、そのためにどの毒が適切かといった決定は、狩りの前夜の焚火を囲む集まりでなされます。つまり、矢の所有者と肉の所有者についての重要な決定は、狩りに先立って行われるのです。これらは、狩猟グループの社会的な責任、平等性、維持についての重要な決定です。
期待されるのは、こうした考察がまず、一時的注意（first-attention: 意識）と二次的注意（second-attention: 無意識）のバランスの領域についての理解に役立つということです。というのも、一時的すなわち意識的な考察において、「矢の所有者が肉の所有者」は単純な意味を提示していましたが、後になってクン族のさらに深くバランスの取れた、さらに複雑な関係性を含蓄していることが判明するからです。二番目に、複雑な社会的関係をめぐりバランスをとるための新しい説明が私たちに示されます。
（ニューコードNLPの原点「個人的な天才になるための必要条件」p.55-56）
The !Kung San or bushmen of the Kalahari are a fiercely egalitarian people, much like the BaMbuti of the Ituri rainforest, in that maintenance of a cooperative framework must occur in both cultures to insure the preservation of the hunting group. The promotion of symmetrical relationships among individuals insures that there is no concentration of power that may negatively affect the group, and insures that too much responsibility does not fall on one person for fulfilling a large and complex social role. Two very important roles among the !Kung San are the hunter and the distributor of the meat. The hunter has great responsibility for the acquisition of meat, so great in fact that when a successful hunter returns to camp he typically appears quite dejected and forlorn. When asked about the events of the day he berates himself as a hunter, claiming clumsiness and stupidity. However he will say he may have seen somethingーprobably not much, probably not worth eating. Through this kind of exchange the people at camp elicit important information about the kind and size of the prey. Then adjustments as to the number of people and implements needed to retrieve the meat are made.
Since both the distributor of the meat and the hunter are such powerful roles in the culture we would expect some mechanisms of separating these roles to ensure the maintenance of symmetry, distribution of power, and the cooperative framework. When asked about the hunter's responsibilities the !Kung San reply that it's quite simple, "The owner of the arrow is the owner of the meat." At first consideration this proverb appears to be a paradox as it collapses as opposed to separates the roles of hunter and distributor. However, one evening sitting around a fire at one of the !Kung San sip wells in the Kalahari, a clever anthropologist who was watching the hunters prepare their arrows for tomorrow's hunt asked, "Whose arrow is this one?" "Oh, that's hers," said the hunter, pointing to one of the older women in the hunting group. In response to the anthropologist's persistent questioning, the hunter inventoried the arrows in his quiver and to the anthropologist's amazement, not a single one belonged to the hunter himself. By this inventory a whole new set of possibilities were presented. The !Kung San hunter does not necessarily use his own arrows when hunting. Now the proverb takes on a fuller meaning achieving a new depth in our appreciation of the culture. Since the hunter has such great responsibility for acquisition of meat he is not also expected to fulfill the role of distributor. Further we know from other readings that different poisoned arrows are used to kill different animals. The decisions about what animals will be hunted and therefore which poisons are appropriate are made around the campfire the evening before the hunt. This implies that important decisions about owners of arrows and owners of meat are being made well in advance of the hunt. These are deep decisions about social responsibilities, equality, and maintenance of the hunting group.
Hopefully this offers some understanding first in the area of first- and second-attention balance, as on first, conscious examination the "owner of the arrow is the owner of the meat," presents an attitude of simplicityーwhich in turn implies much deeper balanced and more complex relationships for the !Kung San. Secondly, we are offered a new description of developing a balance with respect to complex social relations.
（TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN: Prerequisites to Personal Genius, p.25-27）
Judith Delozier
ジュディス・ディロージャ
記事更新日：2026/01/13
