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Herero
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Herero | |||||||||
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| Three Herero women. | |||||||||
| Total population | |||||||||
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240,000 |
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| Regions with significant populations | |||||||||
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| Language(s) | |||||||||
| Herero as well as Portuguese in Angola, English in both Botswana and Namibia, and Afrikaans in Namibia | |||||||||
| Religion(s) | |||||||||
| Ancestor Worship mixed with Christianity | |||||||||
| Related ethnic groups | |||||||||
| Bantu |
The Herero are a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today. The majority of the Herero live in Namibia, with the remainder living in Botswana and Angola. Most are employed as workers on large farms or earn their living as merchants or tradesmen in the cities, there also a growing number of professionals. The Ovaherero comprise several subgroups, including the Ovahimba, the Ovatjimba(not actually a tribal connotation, but a class one.), the Ovambanderu and the vaKwandu, groups in Angola include the vaKuvale, vaZemba, Hakawona, Tjavikwa and Tjimba(poor Herero) and Himba who regularly cross the Namibia/Angola border when migrating with their herds. During the colonial period, Europeans attempted to define these as separate ethnic groups, but the people consider themselves all to be Ovaherero. They speak Herero(Otjiherero) as well as Portuguese in Angola, English in both Botswana and Namibia, and Afrikaans in Namibia.
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During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Herero migrated to what is today Namibia from the east and established themselves as herdsmen. In the beginning of the 19th century, the Nama from South Africa, who already possessed some firearms, entered the land and were followed, in turn, by white merchants and German missionaries. At first, the Nama began displacing the Herero,this led to bitter warfare between the two groups which lasted the greater part of the 19th century, but later both peoples entered into a period of cultural exchange.
During the late 19th century, the first Europeans began entering to permanently settle the land. Primarily in Damaraland, German settlers acquired land from the Herero in order to establish farms. In 1883, the merchant Franz Adolf Eduard Lüderitz entered into a contract with the native elders. The exchange later became the basis of German colonial rule. The territory became a German colony under the name of German South-West Africa.
Soon after, conflicts between the German colonists and the Herero herdsmen began. Controversies frequently arose because of disputes about access to land and water, but also the legal discrimination against the native population by the white immigrants.
In 1904, those conflicts resulted in an uprising, known as the Herero Wars, by the Herero and Nama. (Interestingly, the uprising was planned in an exchange of letters among tribal leaders and some of these documents have been preserved). After a period of success for the well-equipped insurgents, the German Empire sent a military expedition corps of about 15,000 men under the command of Lothar von Trotha. The war and the subsequent genocide ordered by von Trotha resulted in the death of between 25,000 and 100,000 (possibly 65,000) Hereros, about 10,000 Nama and 1,749 Germans, three quarters of the Herero are believed to have been killed[1]. Since the insurgents had been ordered not to harm priests, clerics were falsely accused of collaboration and sometimes taken into custody. However there have recently been critics questioning whether the extent and numbers killed during this incident may have been overestimated[citation needed].
At the 100th anniversary of the massacre, German Minister for Economic Development and Cooperation Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul commemorated the dead on site and apologized for the crimes on behalf of all Germans. But the Herero feel that an apology is not enough and they are demanding financial reparations.
Ovaherero are a Bantu-speaking people,the Herero-speaking people were traditionally cattle herding pastoralists and trekked from spring to spring with their huge herds of cattle. Herero land (Ehi Rovaherero) belonged to the community and had no fixed boundaries, it was everywhere Ovaherero could be found. Herero tradition revolves around cattle, in Herero culture a man without cattle is nothing. The Herero have a biletaral descent system, a person traces their heritage through thier father's oruzo (plural; otuzo) and their mother's eanda (plural; omaanda). Chieftancies had little power in Herero society, each group established itself independant of the other, these groups often raided each other. But during time of when the nation was facing an external threat the various chiefs would band together.
The Herero are not a homogeneous people, this is because the main group in central Namibia (Herero proper) has been heavily influenced by western-culture during the colonial period, creating a mixture of European and Herero culture to create a whole new identity. Even though the different groups share the same language, culture and origin, their traditions differ sharply. The north-western groups ( Himba, Kuvale and Tjimba, etc.) are more conservative, preserving cultural aspects that have been lost by the southern groups (Herero proper and Mbanderu). For example the southern Herero have traded in their leather garments for the type worn by Europeans in colonial times. The southern Herero are involved in the economies of Namibia and Botswana, mostly as cattle breeders and other professions. The Kaokoland Herero and those in Angola have remained isolated and are still pastoral nomads, practicing limited horticulture.
The Herero language (Otjiherero)is a South-Central-Bantu language, part of the Niger-Congo family of languages. Otjiherero group of languages comprise many dialects, including Oluthimba or Otjizemba (Dialect of Angola), which differ mainly in phonology. Other dialects include Otjihimba and Otjikuvale, all the dialects differ from Standard Herero (central), except Mbanderu which is the same as Standard Herero, but are mutually intelligible. A southern Herero can be understood by a northwestern Herero and vise-versa. Standard Herero is used in the Namibian media and is also taught in schools through-out the country.
A group of Hereros living in Germany who were inducted into the German military during the Second World War appear in a major part in Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow. The genocide under von Trotha plays a major role in another novel by the same author; V.
German author Uwe Timm's novel "Morenga", set in German South-West Africa, also includes several Herero characters.
- Hans Schinz, Deutsch Südwest-Afrika, (Oldenburg and Leipzig, 1891)
- S. Passarge, Südafrika, (Oldenburg and Leipzig, 1908)
- Rachel Anderson, Redressing Colonial Genocide Under International Law: The Hereros' Cause of Action Against Germany, 93 CALIF. L. REV. 1155 (2005)
- Africa on the Matrix: Herero People of Namibia — Photographs and information.