Khoikhoi

Khoikhoi, also Khoekhoen, " real people " is a collective term for a group of culturally and linguistically closely related to each other peoples in South Africa and Namibia. Together with the San they populated the western part of southern Africa with the arrival of the first Europeans. While the San hunter-gatherers were traditionally operated the Khoikhoi especially cattle. Both are indigenous peoples of Africa and are collectively referred to as Khoisan. The Khoikhoi Khoisan speaking also include the Nama and Orlam.

Conceptual history

Originally, the people in southern Africa identified themselves as Khoi ( people ). Introduced by Europeans separation of the Khoi in two different groups of Khoikhoi and the San, dates back to the 17th century. In order to differentiate the residents used to physical and economic characteristics for classification. It described the cattle holding population as " Hottentots " and the hunter-gatherers as " Bushmen " ( Bosjesmannen ), regardless of whether these societies understood themselves as homogeneous groups. The separation based on economic aspects, however, was supported by the more prosperous by livestock group ( Khoikhoi ), who viewed the gathering as a "lower " activity. Therefore, the Khoikhoi called the hunter-gatherers ( Bushmen ) as San to illustrate this difference. The original concept Khoi is today reflected in the ethnological research with the term Khoisan.

History

The Khoikhoi lived mainly as nomadic herders. They were organized accordingly in smaller groups, which, owing to their economic base and the associated saw life as a homogeneous unit.

According to a controversial assumption, the Khoikhoi could be descended from the San. According to this theory, the Khoikhoi split 200 BC after an encounter with Bantu groups in the north of present-day Botswana by the San from. Of the Bantu, the Khoikhoi acquired livestock which made ​​them less dependent on hunting and also more sedentary than the San.

The Khoikhoi remained in spite of the newly acquired knowledge still nomads. They were able to stay longer at the village, but once the pastures were exhausted in the area, they had to move on. Larger groups or even state structure could not form because of this. The people of the Khoikhoi was instead divided into clans, which constitute loose connections of itinerant groups.

The related with the Khoi San were at the time when the Europeans arrived, outnumbered. Today, the ratio is reversed. Although the San resisted the encroaching Europeans, but after the first battle, they often withdrew from the area. The Khoi were hit to the last. DC during the colonization by the Dutch, the Khoikhoi in the Cape region were almost exterminated. Some of the San followed. Have been on many farms, and they are often employed as a shepherd.

The Nama in Namibia are Khoi, who fled to the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries from South Africa there.

Colonial

The Nama fought in the War of Independence 1903-1908 against German colonial rule. The German " protection force " imprisoned most of Nama in the concentration camps on Shark Island and in Swakopmund, where the prisoners had to perform forced labor. In these camps were poor climatic, homely and hygienic conditions - coupled with malnutrition - led to the most deadly diseases. According to the UN Convention of 1948 these acts are now classified as genocide, similar to that of the Herero. Historians estimate that more than half of that time about 20,000 Nama died.

Sarah Baartman

Sarah Baartman, a Khoi, was spent due to their anatomical peculiarities in 1810 as a young woman to Europe and exhibited there. After her death in 1816 she was dissected and preserved. Their physical characteristics should serve as a basis for essentialist theories of race that were designed to legitimize colonialism. Only in 1974 were taken her remains from the public exhibition of the Musée de l' Homme and transferred to the insistence of the South African President Nelson Mandela in their home in 2002 and buried solemnly.

Current situation

The future of the Khoi is uncertain, as they could not hold isolated as the San. In South Africa, in particular in the region of Cape Town, still live Khoi 2,400, of which approximately 150 maintain their ancient culture.

In Namibia, the number is approximately 3,400, of which 1,700 have remained true to their tradition. The Nama Khoi have 100,000 members, of which a large part is still living nomadic.

In Botswana, their numbers dwindled after migration to Namibia in recent years, from 2,900 to 1,900. Nearly 100 still live like a thousand years ago.