Batswana are divided into a number of subgroups or "tribes", There are approximately twenty-five totems, which crosscut "tribal" boundaries. Although Batswana received Christian missionaries in the early nineteenth century and most belong to a church today, precolonial beliefs retain strength among many Batswana. Missionaries brought literacy, schools, and Western values, all of which facilitated the transition to migrant wage labor. In precolonial times Batswana believed in a Supreme Being, Modimo, a creator and director, but nonetheless distant and remote. More immediate and having a greater influence in daily affairs were the ancestors, Badimo. Ancestor worship was reflected in the respect given to the elders and their capacity to influence the young; after death, their spirits left their bodies to join others.
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- Knovation Readability Score: 1 (1 low difficulty, 5 high difficulty)
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