| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 333,400 | |
| Languages | |
| Khoekhoegowab | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity,Traditional African religions | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| San people,Basters,Coloured people,Tswana people,Xhosa people |
Khoikhoi (/ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/KOY-koy) (orKhoekhoe in Namibian orthography)[a] are the traditionallynomadic pastoralistindigenous population ofSouth Africa. They are often grouped with thehunter-gathererSan (literally "foragers") peoples, the accepted term for the two people beingKhoisan.[2] The designation "Khoikhoi" is actually akare or praise address, not an ethnic endonym, but it has been used in the literature as an ethnic term forKhoe-speaking peoples of Southern Africa, particularly pastoralist groups, such as theInqua,Griqua,Gonaqua,Nama,Attequa. The Khoekhoe were once known asHottentots, a term now considered offensive.[3]
The Khoekhoe are thought to have diverged from other humans 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.[b][5] In the 17th century, the Khoekhoe maintained large herds ofNguni cattle in theCape region.[according to whom?][citation needed] They mostly gave up nomadic pastoralism in the 19th to 20th century.[6]
TheKhoekhoe language is related to certain dialects spoken by foragingSan peoples of theKalahari, such as theKhwe andTshwa, forming theKhoe language family. Khoekhoe subdivisions today are theNama people of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa (with numerous clans), the Damara of Namibia, the Orana clans of South Africa (such as Nama or Ngqosini), the Khoemana or Griqua nation of South Africa, and the Gqunukhwebe or Gona clans which fall under the Xhosa-speaking polities.[7]
The Xirikua clans (Griqua) developed their own ethnic identity in the 19th century and settled inGriqualand West. Later, they formed another independent state in KwaZulu-Natal namedGriqualand East, which was annexed into theBritish Empire roughly a decade later. They are related to the same kinds of clan formations asRehoboth Basters, who could also be considered a "Khoekhoe" people.[according to whom?][citation needed]
The broad ethnic designation of "Khoekhoen", meaning the peoples originally part of a pastoral culture and language group to be found across Southern Africa, is thought to refer to a population originating in the northern area of modernBotswana.[citation needed] This culture steadily spread southward, eventually reaching the Cape approximately 2,000 years ago.[citation needed] "Khoekhoe" groups includeǀAwakhoen to the west, andǀKx'abakhoena of South and mid-South Africa, and the Eastern Cape. Both of these terms mean "Red People", and are equivalent to theIsiXhosa term "amaqaba".[citation needed] Husbandry of sheep, goats and cattle grazing in fertile valleys across the region provided a stable, balanced diet, and allowed these lifestyles to spread, with larger groups forming in a region previously occupied by thesubsistence foragers.[citation needed]Ntu-speaking agriculturalist culture is thought to have entered the region in the 3rd century AD, pushing pastoralists into the Western areas.[citation needed] The example of the close relation between theǃUriǁ'aes (High clan), a cattle-keeping population, and the!Uriǁ'aeǀ'ona (High clan children), a more-or-less sedentary forager population (also known as "Strandlopers"), both occupying the area ofǁHuiǃgaeb, shows that the strict distinction between these two lifestyles is unwarranted,[citation needed] as well as the ethnic categories that are derived.[citation needed] Foraging peoples who ideologically value non-accumulation as a social value system would be distinct, however, but the distinctions among "Khoekhoe pastoralists", "San hunter-gatherers" and "Bantu agriculturalists" do not hold up to scrutiny,[misquoted][dubious –discuss] and appear to be historicalreductionism.[misquoted][8] While there are several theories about the Damaran and their links to the rest of the Khoekhoe, it is undeniable that they were originally the first inhabitants of Namibia along with the San, as such it is dubitable that the Nama and Damara peoples both had a hand in the creation of the Khoekhoe language as it spread southward. Following the migration of Bantu groups such as the Herero, the Damaran were displaced and migrated throughout all corners of what is today Namibia, this can be noted in a word used by Damaran when referring to the country.[citation needed]
Portuguese explorers and merchants are the first to record their contacts, in the 15th and 16th centuries A.D.[citation needed] The ongoing encounters were often violent.[according to whom?][citation needed] In 1510, at theBattle of Salt River,Francisco de Almeida and fifty of his men were killed and his party was defeated[9][10] by ox-mounted!Uriǁ'aekua ("Goringhaiqua" in Dutch approximate spelling), which was one of the so-called Khoekhoe clans of the area that also included the!Uriǁ'aeǀ'ona ("Goringhaicona", also known as "Strandlopers"), said to be the ancestors of the !Ora nation of today.[according to whom?][citation needed] In the late 16th century, Portuguese, French, Danish, Dutch and English but mainly Portuguese ships regularly continued to stop over in Table Bay en route to the Indies.[citation needed] They traded tobacco, copper and iron with theKhoekhoe-speaking clans of the region, in exchange for fresh meat.[citation needed]
The local population reduced aftersmallpox epidemics spread through European contact.[citation needed] The Khoe-speaking clans suffered high mortality due to a lack of acquired immunity to the disease. This increased, as military conflict with the intensification of the colonial expansion of theUnited East India Company that began to enclose traditional grazing land for farms. Over the following century, the Khoe-speaking peoples were steadily driven off their land, resulting in numerous northwards migrations, and the reformulation of many nations and clans, as well as the dissolution of many traditional structures.[citation needed]
According to professors Robert K. Hitchcock and Wayne A. Babchuk, "During the early phases of European colonization, tens of thousands of Khoekhoe andSan peoples lost their lives as a result of genocide, murder, physical mistreatment, and disease."[11] During an investigation into "bushman hunting" parties and genocidal raids on the San, Louis Anthing commented: "I find now that the transactions are more extensive than did at first appear. I think it not unlikely that we shall find that almost all the farmers living near this border are implicated in similar acts ... At present I have only heard of coloured farmers (known as Bastards) as being mixed up with these matters."[12]
"Khoekhoe" social organisation was thus profoundly damaged by the colonial expansion and land seizure from the late 17th century onwards. As social structures broke down, many Khoekhoen settled on farms and became bondsmen (bondservants, serfs) or farm workers; others were incorporated into clans that persisted. Georg Schmidt, aMoravian Brother fromHerrnhut, Saxony, now Germany, foundedGenadendal in 1738, which was the first mission station in southern Africa,[13] among the Khoe-speaking peoples in Baviaanskloof in theRiviersonderend Mountains.
The colonial designation of "Baasters" came to refer to any clans that had European ancestry in some part and adopted certain Western cultural traits. Though these were later known as Griqua (Xirikua or Griekwa) they were known at the time as "Basters" and in some instances are still so called, e. g., the Bosluis Basters of theRichtersveld and the Baster community ofRehoboth, Namibia, mentioned above.[citation needed]
Arguably responding to the influence of missionaries, the states ofGriqualand West andGriqualand East were established by the Kok dynasty; these were later absorbed into theCape Colony of theBritish Empire.[citation needed]
Beginning in the late 18th century,Oorlam communities migrated from the Cape Colony north toNamaqualand. They settled places earlier occupied by the Nama. They came partly to escapeDutch colonial conscription, partly to raid and trade, and partly to obtain herding lands.[14] Some of these emigrant Oorlams (including the band led by the outlawJager Afrikaner and his sonJonker Afrikaner in theTransgariep) retained links to Oorlam communities in or close to the borders of the Cape Colony. In the face of gradual Boer expansion and then large-scaleBoer migrations away from British rule at the Cape, Jonker Afrikaner brought his people into Namaqualand by the mid-19th century, becoming a formidable force for Oorlam domination over the Nama and against theBantu-speakingHereros for a period.[15]
By the early 1800s, the remaining Khoe-speakers of the Cape Colony suffered from restricted civil rights and discriminatory laws on land ownership. With this pretext, the powerful Commissioner General of the Eastern Districts,Andries Stockenstrom, facilitated the creation of the "Kat River" Khoe settlement near the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony. The more cynical motive was probably to create a buffer-zone on the Cape's frontier, but the extensive fertile land in the region allowed people to own their land and build communities in peace. The settlements thrived and expanded, and Kat River quickly became a large and successful region of the Cape that subsisted more or less autonomously. The people were predominantlyAfrikaans-speaking !Gonakua, but the settlement also began to attract other diverse groups.[citation needed]
Khoekua were known at the time for being very good marksmen, and were often invaluable allies of the Cape Colony in itsfrontier wars with the neighbouringXhosa politics. In theSeventh Frontier War (1846–1847) against the Gcaleka, the Khoekua gunmen from Kat River distinguished themselves under their leaderAndries Botha in the assault on the "Amatola fastnesses". (The youngJohn Molteno, later Prime Minister, led a mixed commando in the assault, and later praised the Khoekua as having more bravery and initiative than most of his white soldiers.)[16]
However, harsh laws were still implemented in the Eastern Cape, to encourage the Khoena to leave their lands in the Kat River region and to work as labourers on white farms. The growing resentment exploded in 1850. When theXhosa rose against theCape Government, large numbers Khoeǀ'ona joined the Xhosa rebels for the first time.[17] After the defeat of the rebellion and the granting of representative government to the Cape Colony in 1853, the new Cape Government endeavoured to grant the Khoena political rights to avert future racial discontent. Attorney General William Porter was famously quoted as saying that he "would rather meet the Hottentot at the hustings, voting for his representative, than meet him in the wilds with his gun upon his shoulder".[18] Thus, the government enacted theCape franchise in 1853, which decreed that all male citizens meeting a low property test, regardless of colour, had the right to vote and to seek election in Parliament. However, this non-racial principle was eroded in the late 1880s by a literacy test, and later abolished by the Apartheid Government.[19]
From 1904 to 1907, the Germans took up arms against the Khoekhoe group living in what was thenGerman South-West Africa, along with theHerero. Over 10,000 Nama, more than half of the total Nama population at the time, may have died in the conflict. This was the single greatest massacre ever witnessed by the Khoekhoe people.[20][21] In addition to the Nama and Herero deaths, the Damara are lesser-known victims of the genocide who lost around 57% of their population.[22]
As native African people, Khoekhoe and other dark-skinned, indigenous groups were oppressed and subjugated under the white-supremacistApartheid regime. In particular, some consider Khoekhoe and related ethnic groups to have been some of the most heavily marginalized groups during Apartheid's reign, as referenced by previous South African presidentJacob Zuma in his 2012 state of the nation address.[23]
Some Khoekhoe in South Africa were classified as "Coloured" under Apartheid. While this meant that they were offered a few privileges not given to the population deemed "black" (such as not having to carry a passbook), they were still subject to discrimination, segregation, and other forms of oppression. This included the forced relocation caused by theGroup Areas Act, which broke up families and communities. The destruction of historical communities and the blanket designation of "coloured" (ignoring any nuances of the Khoekhoe peoples' specific cultures or subgroups) contributed to an erasure of Khoekhoe identity and culture, one which modern Khoekhoe people are still working to undo.[24]
Apartheid ended in 1994 and so too did the racial "Coloured" designation.
After apartheid, Khoekhoe activists have worked to restore their lost culture, and affirm their ties to the land. Khoekhoe and Khoisan groups have brought cases to court demanding restitution for 'cultural genocide and discrimination against the Khoisan nation’, as well as land rights and the return of Khoesan corpses from European museums.[24]
The religious mythology of the Khoe-speaking cultures gives special significance to theMoon, which may have been viewed as the physical manifestation of a supreme being associated with heaven.Thiǁoab (Tsui'goab in Nama andǁGamab in Damara mythology) is also believed to be the creator and the guardian of health, whileǁGaunab is primarily an evil being, who causes sickness or death.[25] Many Khoe-speakers have converted to Christianity andNama Muslims make up a large percentage of Namibia's Muslims.[26]
UNESCO has recognised Khoe-speaking culture through its inscription of theRichtersveld as aWorld Heritage Site. This important area is the only place wheretranshumance practices associated with the culture continue to any great extent.
TheInternational Astronomical Union named the primary component of thebinary starMu¹ Scorpii after the traditional Khoekhoe language nameXami di mûra ('eyes of the lion').[27]
The classification of Khoekhoe peoples can be broken down roughly into two groupings:Northern Khoekhoe &Southern Khoekhoe (Cape Khoe).
The Northern Khoekhoe are sub divided into two groups, namely theNama and the Damara, orǂNūkhoen. Each of these two groups are further subdivided into several clans. The clans of Nama are:
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Among the Nama are also theOorlams who are a southern Khoekhoe people of mixed-race ancestry that trekked northwards over theOrange River and where absorbed into the greater Nama identity. The Oorlams themselves are made up of five smaller clans:
These Nama inhabit the GreatNamaqualand region ofNamibia.There are also minor Nama clans that inhabit the LittleNamaqualand regions south of theOrange River in north westernSouth Africa.
The southern Khoekhoe peoples (Sometimes incorrectly called the Cape Khoe due to the importance of the Cape of Good Hope) inhabit theWestern Cape andEastern Cape Provinces in the south western coastal regions ofSouth Africa. They are divided into four subgroups:Eastern Cape Khoe,Central Cape Khoe,Western Cape Khoe andPeninsular Cape Khoe.[36] Each of these subgroups are further divided into nations and subtribes who constitute an integral part of the Khoekhoe form of government.
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Goringhaiqua: The Goringhaiqua are a single tribal authority made from the two houses of the Goringhaikona and Gorachouqua.
A commissionedGrammar and Dictionary of the Zulu Language, published in 1859, put forward the idea of an origin from Egypt that appears to have been popular at the time. The reasoning for this included the (supposed) distinctive Caucasian elements of the Khoekhoe's appearance, a "wont to worship the moon'", an apparent similarity to the antiquities of Old Egypt, and a "very different language" to their neighbours. TheGrammar says that "the best philologists of the present day ... find marked resemblances between the two".[37][38]
The nomadic pastoral Khoikhoi kraals were dispersed and their organization and culture broken. However, their successors, thetrekboers and their Khoikhoi servants, managed flocks and herds similar to those of the Khoikhois. Thetrekboers had adapted to African-style, extensive pastoralism in this region. In order to obtain optimal pasture for their animals, early settlers imitated the Khoikhoi seasonal transhumance movements and those observed in the larger wild herbivores.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Hottentots".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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