The Relation of Nama and Dama Women to Hunting
Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika. Volume 7, no. 1 (1986): 329-349.
Sigrid Schmidt
Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika
1986
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Some Notes on the so-called Heitsi-Eibeb Graves in Namibia: Ancient Heaps of Stones at the Roadside
When the early European settlers and travellers in South Africa looked for traces of the religion of the indigenous peoples they did not find any temples or altars or religious services. They only observed how the Khoekhoen (whom they called Hottentots) and the San (Bushmen) threw stones or branches on certain cairns when they passed by and showed obvious signs of reverence to these places. When the people were asked why they did this they said that this was their custom yet they could not give any further explanation. During the 19th century it became known that such a cairn was the grave of their deity but that, as there were many of such “graves”, he was not actually buried in them. In Namibia the heaps of stones were and still are called “Heitsi-eibeb graves”. They seemed to offer the clue for learning about Heitsi-eibeb and the old Khoe and San (= Khoisan) religion(s). Therefore particular attention has been given to this Southern African special characteristic and the number of references is immense; the following collection of notes is but a random selection made over more than 50 years. First three basic topics have to be discussed: Heitsi-eibeb, common graves and, in more detail, Heitsi-eibeb graves. Later I shall add my own observations, mainly based on interviews in 1981 at various places in Namibia when I tried to learn somewhat more about Haiseb. I quote Dutch, Afrikaans or German references in my English translation. BAB Working Paper 2014:03 Presented at Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 8 July 2014
Sigrid Schmidt
http://baslerafrika.ch/wp-content/uploads/WP-2014-3-Schmidt.pdf
Basler Afrika Bibliographien
2014
© The author © Basler Afrika Bibliographien
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Charles John Anderson: Trade and Politics in Central Namibia 1860-1864
Charles John Andersson Papers, vol. 2 - "The author of the present record, Charles John Andersson, is not unknown among students of Namibian history, or Africana book collectors. He was born in Vanersborg (Sweden) to a Swedish mother (Kajsa Andersdotter) and an English father (Llewellyn Lloyd) in 1827. His papers record at least six siblings: Marie, Sophie, Henrietta, Joseph, Wilhelm and Philip. After a short spell at the University of Lund in 1847, he left to hunt and trade with his father. In 1849 he sailed to England from where he planned to take up a life of hunting and exploration In Iceland. However, meeting Galton and being Invited to accompany him to South Africa. Andersson changed his plans, and in early 1850 the two sailed for Cape Town. For a decade, interrupted only by two years In England and one year as manager of the Matchless copper mine, he travelled and hunted for Ivory in south-western Africa, visiting King Nangolo in Ondonga, exploring Lake Ngami and even reaching the Okavango River. By 1860 he had set himself up as the principal trader in central Namibia, purchasing the WBMC's assets in Otjimbingwe and fitting out a number of hunter/traders to bring in oxen and ivory. His financial situation - probably in many aspects similar to that of other European traders - remains obscure. No doubt he returned from his explorations of Lake Ngami with a fortune in ivory, stock and other saleable goods. Furthermore, the publication of his book, 'Lake Ngami', was an immense success; there were intimations of Cape civil service posts offered him until at least I860, and he was courted by British officials and scientists for his then highly interesting and precious map of the interior of southern Africa. Between 1856 and 1860 Wallis records a series of major cash outlays for fitting out hunters and traders and especially his partner Green; however, no details concerning the exact nature of these 'partnerships', nor the returns of these outlays, could be traced. Wallis claims that the establishment in Otjimbingwe, set up only five years after his return from Lake Ngami, was based partly on credit and in spite of the fact that Andersson recorded the huge sum of £20.000 as due to him in April and May 1864, by September of that year he was in financial difficulties and a few months later seems to have been a pauper. For reasons which this editor could not exact it seems that the Cape-Namaland cattle and ivory trade held the constant promise of immense profits to be made; yet it was precarious enough to ruin a trader's fortunes within months. The next four years are traced in detail by the present record; Andersson's trading activities in the early 1860s, marred by the spreading lungsickness epidemic, soon brought him into direct conflict with the Namaland chiefs and especially the sovereign, Jonker Afrikaner (succeeded by his sons, Christian and then Jan Jonker, following Jonker's death in 1861). By 1864, immobilised by a nasty leg wound received in battle against the Oorlam Afrikaners, Andersson's career as a trader came to a near standstill. [...]"
Brigitte Lau (ed.)
National Archives of SWA/Namibia
1989
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The Matchless Copper Mine in 1857: Correspondence
Charles John Andersson Papers, vol. 1 - "The present text documents a year's copper mining activity in Namaland, SWA/Namibia. The year is 1857 and the country ruled by groups of chiefs, the mine is called Matchless, the company exploiting the mine is the Walfisch Bay Mining Company, and the mine manager whose letters to the directors have been published here, is Charles John Andersson." (p.vi)
Brigitte Lau (ed.)
National Archives of SWA/Namibia
1987
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A Critique of the Historical Sources and Historiography Relating to the Damaras in Pre-Colonial Namibia
Despite being only a B.A. Honours Thesis, Brigitte Lau's work has stood up as a solid resource in Central Namibian historiography and early Namibian history
Brigitte Lau
University of Cape Town
1979
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English
Damara in Namibia: Naturally Namibian and Proudly #Nu-Khoe - Geschichtsproduktion im Spannungsfeld von Tradition und Politik
Dr. Phil. Dissertation: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz in Historical/Cultural-studies - Teil I: VOM NUTZEN DER GESCHICHTSPRODUKTION – ZIELSETZUNG, THEORIE UND METHODIK DER FORSCHUNGSARBEIT Teil II: DAMARA IN GESCHICHTE UND GEGENWART NAMIBIAS Teil III: AUF DER SUCHE NACH DER „VERLORENEN GESCHICHTE“
Jutta MacConnell
https://publications.ub.uni-mainz.de/theses/volltexte/2018/100002054/pdf/100002054.pdf
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
2017
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German
Namibia in Jonker Afrikaner's Time
The study Namibia in Jonker Afrikaner's Time is founded on the thesis of Brigitte Lau which was originally submitted to the University of Cape Town in 1982.
Brigitte Lau
National Archives of Namibia
1987
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A Haven of Tribalism' - Reflections of Ethnicity and Politics in Okombahe - A 'Labour Reserve' in Western Namibia
"I spent five months in Namibia, from March to August 1989. Four of these were spent living just outside the village of Okombahe in Damaraland, the "homeland" of the Damara population group, in western central Namibia. In this village, there is strong support the ethnic-based political party, the Damara Council. Over 90% of Okombahe's residents are members of this party. This paper is an exploration of the strength of support for the Damara Council in this community. This stronghold of ethnic political support occurs in a country where by the far the most popular and powerful political forces is the nationalist "liberation" movement. Supporters of nationalism frequently explain ethnic politics in terms of "tribalism". According to them, those who support ethnic-based parties do so because they aspire to ethnic separatism rather than national integration. This was also the view I help of ethnic party supporters when I embarked upon my fieldwork. However, as I learned more about Okombahe and about what life involves for the people who live there, it became clear to me that this view was inappropriate in this situation. Support for the Damara Council in this village cannot by explained as the manifestation of a long-term collective aspiration towards the preservation of ethnic autonomy, as opposed to national assimilation. Rather, when it is considered with the total context of Okombahe social life, it becomes obvious that ethnic political support is a strategy undertaken by individuals seeking to fulfill the much more immediate needs and aspirations of daily existence, in a society whose economic, political and social forces determine that such support is a necessary condition for survival."
Sandra Brown
http://www.cas.ed.ac.uk/research/publications/archive/show_paper?result_page=25
University of Edinburgh
1991
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Afternoons in Damaraland: Common Land and Common Sense in One of Namibia's Former 'Homelands'
"This dissertations reflects my attempts to understand the practice of 'common sense' or the logic of practice in people's day-to-day lives in the harsh, impoverished environment of the Damaras...."
Richard F. Rohde
http://www.cas.ed.ac.uk/research/publications/archive/show_paper?result_page=33
University of Edinburgh
1993
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Frühe Kolonialgeschichte Namibias 1880-1930
Contents: 1. Einführung - Wilhem J.G. Möhlig 2 - Unmaking a Market: The Encapsulation of a Regional Trade Network: Northwest Namibia between the 1860s and 1950s. - Michael Bollig 3. Mit Kreuz, Gewehr und Handelskarre: Der Kavango 1903 im kolonialen Fokus - Andreas E. Eckl 4. Herero and Missionaries: The Making of Historical Sources in the 1920s - Jan-Bart Gewald 5. Diversifizierung und politische ökonomie der Damara im 19. Jahrhundert - Martina Gockel 6. Demographische Entwicklung und ökonomie im Norden Namibias zwischen 1900 und 1930 - Carmen Humboldt 7. Hendrik Witbooi und das Versaeumnisurteil: Ein Herrscher der Nama begegnet deutschem Recht in Namibias kolonialer Frühzeit - Harold Sippel Index "Der vorliegende Sammelband vermittelt dem Leser einen Einblick in die vielfältigen Aspekte der laufenden Forschungsprojekte vor allem aus der Abteilung „Raumnutzungs- und Überlebensstrategien“. Grundthese der Untersuchungen ist, daß die im südlichen Afrika ablaufenden Anpassungsprozesse an zunehmend schlechter werdende Umweltbedingungen grundsätzliche Erkenntnisse erlauben, die sich auch auf die wesentlich älteren Prozesse in den heutigen Wüstengebieten Nordost-Afrikas anwenden lassen. Dabei wird mit der Fülle ethnohistorischer und zeitgeschichtlicher Quellen und Methoden ein möglichst breiter geographischer bzw. ethnischer Bereich abgedeckt."
Wilhem J.G. Möhlig (ed.)
Rüdiger Köppe
2000
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German and English