The Namib’s diamonds were discovered, attracting yet more incomers with a lust for wealth. More and more white settlers arrived, pushing tribesmen off their cattle-grazing lands with bribes and unreliable deals. Major Theodor Leutwein began by playing off the Nama and Herero tribes against each other. The Germans made South West Africa their own colony, and settlers moved in, followed by a military governor who knew little about running a colony and nothing at all about Africa. Hendrik Witbooi (sitting on the chair) with fighters of the Nama tribe, ca 1904-1905ĭuring The Berlin Conference of 1888 Germany was awarded South West Africa (what is now called Namibia).
The tribes now settled their disputes with lethal violence: corruption of a peaceful culture was under way. Later, big guns and European military systems were introduced. They opened up trade outlets for ivory and cattle they also brought in firearms, with which they traded for Namib treasures. Herero - Near old German mission cemetery in Okahandja - Otjozondjupa Region - 1900īefore the Germans, only a few Europeans had visited it: explorers, traders and sailors. The Nama and the Herero were livestock farmers, and they were the two main tribes in the 1840s when the Germans (first missionaries, then settlers, then soldiers) began arriving in South West Africa. The Ovambo grew crops in the north, where there was more rain, but also worked in metal. The San were nomads, hunters and gatherers. These tribes lived and traded together more or less peacefully, each with their own particular way of living, wherever the land was fertile enough. For most of the region’s history, only metal was of interest to the native tribes. Namibia also has gold, silver, lithium, and natural gas. But the very sand of the Skeleton Coast is the dust of gemstones uranium, tin and tungsten can be mined in the central Namib, and copper in the north and in the south there are diamonds. Namibia’s scarcest commodity is water: this is a country of little rainfall, and the rivers don’t always run. Behind it is the central mountain plateau, and east of that the Kalahari desert. The land had other values, too: it provided bases for further take-overs and further military threats and, above all, it contained riches.Īlong the coastline of Namibia runs the Namib desert, a 1,200 mile long strip of unwelcoming sand dunes and barren rock.
The land was desirable for itself: it provided new territory, new possessions and new trade, both for individuals and their countries. And in the 19th century white Europeans began moving into Africa to occupy the land as well. White Europeans sent their missionaries to change black people’s religion to their own. White Europeans deprived black people of their homes and communities and cultures. White Europeans forced black Africans to become slaves. They – we – have often treated it, and its inhabitants, with brutality, indifference and contempt. Many thousands of years later their European descendants gained glory and wealth by rediscovering the southern hemisphere, and plundering it. They also spread to the lands north of the Mediterranean Sea. From it the earliest people ventured into Asia and then across the long-vanished land bridge to the Americas, or across the Pacific island chains to Australasia. The Herero are herders and the plains of central Namibia are perfect for grazing the cows that are foundational to their culture.īefore the Genocide Was Committed on HererosĪfrica is almost certainly the birthplace of the human species. Things were relatively peaceful for the Herero for the next 150 years or so except for the occasional skirmish with the tribes from the south who were pushed north by South Africans who desired their grazing lands. They spent the next two centuries migrating to southwestern Africa where they settled in central Namibia. Oral history has it that the Herero people group left the great lakes region of eastern Africa in the 1500s. The Herero have also scattered throughout southern Angola. The Herero make up approximately 7% of Namibia's population. The red accents in the uniforms indicate membership in the Red Flag factionĪpproximately 150,000 Herero live in Namibia and about 20,000 in Botswana. A procession of Hereros dressed in traditional military-style uniforms led by Uetuesapi Mungendje (center) and Keeper of the Holy Fire Chief Tjipene Keja (left).
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