Where did the Herero people come from?

Background. The Herero are said to have migrated southwards to Namibia from East and Central Africa, settling in northeast Namibia in the 1500s. Over the years, they moved further south and today, they have homesteads in various parts of Namibia, mostly the eastern, central and northeastern areas of the country.

What did Lothar von Trotha do?

ON OCTOBER 2nd 1904 General Lothar von Trotha issued what is now notorious as “the extermination order” to wipe out the Herero tribe in what was then German South West Africa, now Namibia. “Within the German borders every Herero, with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot,” his edict read.

Where is Herero found?

central Namibia
Herero, a group of closely related Bantu-speaking peoples of southwestern Africa. The Herero proper and a segment known as the Mbanderu inhabit parts of central Namibia and Botswana; other related groups, such as the Himba, inhabit the Kaokoveld area of Namibia and parts of southern Angola.

What happened to the Germans in Namibia?

Of a population totaling 100,000, about 80 percent of all Herero are believed to have died, according to historians. German soldiers shot Herero, hanged them, drove them into the desert and sealed off watering holes to stop survivors from returning. Prisoners were held, and died, in concentration camps.

Who was the leader of Nama?

Captain Hendrik Witbooi
Captain Hendrik Witbooi (1830?-1905), foremost leader among the Nama tribes of southern Namibia during the German colonial period, from the Namibian $100 dollar bill.

How many Namibians were killed by the Germans?

In Colonial Genocide and Reparations Claims in the 21st Century: The Socio-Legal Context of Claims under International Law by the Herero against Germany for Genocide in Namibia by Jeremy Sarkin-Hughes, a number of 100,000 victims is given.

What is a Tswana Herero?

The Herero (Otjiherero: Ovaherero) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. There were an estimated 250,000 Herero people in Namibia in 2013. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, there are also significant populations in Botswana and Angola.

Why did Germany want Namibia?

The reason Germany selected Namibia as its “protectorate” was influenced by the fact that a tobacco merchant from Bremen, Franz Luderitz, bought up coastal land in the area in 1882. This resulted in Germany actively establishing itself in the African country by 1884. They occupied Herero lands.

Can Namibians speak German?

About 31,000 Namibians speak German as a mother tongue, and several tens of thousands of Namibians, either white native speakers of English or Afrikaans or metropolitan black Namibians, speak German as a second language.

What percent of Namibia is white?

Whites make up only about 6 percent of Namibia’s population of 2.4 million, but overwhelmingly dominate business ownership. Geingob said Namibia had not seen significant transformation in the 27 years of independence from apartheid South African rule.

What does Nama people eat?

Nama Traditional roasted bread They are used for different purposes mostly as medicine. Sometimes these faeces are used when one of the cattle or goat is missing, they are then broken off into small pieces, mix them with coarse salt, spread them on the edge of the fire and cover them with charcoal.

Why does Namibia speak German?

After independence in 1990, English became the sole official language of Namibia, and German thus lost its official status, but German today continues to be used in a wide range of spheres of Namibian life.

Was South Africa German?

A significant number of South Africans are descended from Germans. Most of these originally settled in the Cape Colony, but were absorbed into the Afrikaner and Afrikaans population, because they had religious & ethnic similarities to the Dutch and French.

What is Herero traditional food?

Names. Fermented buttermilk is known as omashikwa in Ovambo, mpofu in Rukwangali, and omaere in Herero. Omaere is common in Namibia and used mostly with cooked oruhere (porridge, maize meal) by Herero people and by other several indigenous tribes, while many other tribes prefer to drink it on a daily basis.

What is the old name of Namibia?

South West Africa
Namibia, officially Republic of Namibia, also called (internationally until 1968) South West Africa, Afrikaans Namibië or Suidwesafrica, country located on the southwestern coast of Africa.

How German Is Namibia?

German colonialism in Namibia Having arrived in Namibia in 1884, German settlers remained after the country became a mandate of South Africa in 1915, and even when the country became independent in 1990 after a long, hard liberation struggle. Today, German-Namibians make up nearly 5% of the population.

What is the linguistic distribution of Herero?

Its linguistic distribution covers a zone called Hereroland, which is constituted of the region of Omaheke along with the Otjozondjupa and Kunene Regions. The Himba people, who are related to the Herero and Mbanderu, speak a dialect very close to Otjiherero.

Is Herero a Bantu language?

Herero language. Herero ( English: /hɛˈrɛəroʊ/, Otjiherero) is a language of the Bantu subfamily of the Niger–Congo group. It is spoken by the Herero and Mbanderu peoples in Namibia (206,000) and Botswana, as well as by small communities of this people in southwestern Angola. There are 73,600 speakers.

Who translated the Bible into Herero?

Because of the translation of missionary Gottlieb Viehe (1839–1901) of the Bible into Herero, at the end of the 19th century, the spoken language was transcribed to an alphabet based on the Latin script. Father Peter Heinrich Brincker (1836–1904) translated several theological works and songs.

Is Zimba a Herero language?

Botswana Herero consists of a few scattered islands in Botswana, with about 15% the population of Herero proper. Ethnologue separates Zimba as a distinct language but retains Himba, East Herero and Botswana Herero within the Herero language. However, it no longer recognizes Kuvale as a dialect.