The Cape Wild Dog

Structure, compassion, protection

The Cape Wild Dog is one of two symbols represented in the masthead of the Gorinhaiqua Cultural Council. The Gorinhaiqua led the campaign to establish the First Nations Heritage Centre within the Riverlands precinct. Among the critical defining elements of the Cape Wild Dog is its highly developed social structure and its compassionate and protective approach to the young, the weak and the vulnerable of the pack.

“We believe that the Creator is our Protector. Both as hunter-gatherers and livestock owners we trusted God to protect us and our flock from dangers. Even when death sets in we are still protected and escorted into the Red Light. The Cape wild dog is the symbol of that divine quality: to protect its own. We believe that it is God who carried us through, as His first nation, during the cruel colonial and apartheid eras and will undoubtedly still guide us as we move forward.”

-Dr. Willa Boezak
Text from Struggle of an Ancient Faith: the Khoi-San of South Africa. Cape Town: Bidvest Data, 2017.