TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE - DAMARA KINGS COUNCIL DAMARA PEOPLE: THE OLDEST INHABITANTS OF NAMIBIA The Damara are unique ancient and aboriginal hunter-gatherers but now agriculturalist-animal husbandry and Khoekhoe-speaking people inhabiting the environs of the Brandberg and Xorixas, which is now the Erongo Region of Namibia. They once inhabited large parts of central Namibia and are regarded as the oldest inhabitants of Namibia alongside San (Bushmen) and Khoekhoe (Hottentots). The Damara have been giving anthropologists and historians serious headaches and continue to do so with regard to their actual origins. Their physical appearance and language indicate two completely different lines of descent. The language of the Damara is a Khoekhoe language similar to that of the Nama (Khoekhoe/Hottentots) and recognizable by its characteristic clicks. However, unlike Nama (Khoekhoe) whose physical appearance is of much lighter skin colour, the Damara are completely different and possesses some light but dark skin which resembles any Bantu groups. The Damara are also known as Khoekhoegowab: ǂNū-khoë, which literally means Black people. The German clolonialist called them Berg Damara, referring to their extended stay in the hills of Khomas Highland. At various times the Damrara (Daman or the Damaqua) as an ethnic group make up 8.5% of Namibias population with total number of about 140,000 people. Some Damara people now lives outside their homeland. They live in the capital Windhoek, Okanhandja, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Otavi and Tsumeb. Some of Namibia’s most eloquent and influential politicians are Damara, notable examples being King of the Damaras Justus |uruhe ||Garoeb, President elect and Prime Minister, Dr Hage Geingob, late Hon. Labour Minister Moses ||Garoeb, Chief Fritz Gariseb, Liberation Hero, the speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Theo-Ben Gurirab, and Hon. Dr Libertine Amathila, Deputy Prime Minister. The Damara speak Khoekhoe language, like that Nama people. The majority live in the central, western, northwestern and eastern regions of Namibia, however they are also found widely across the rest of the country. They have no known cultural relationship with any of the other tribes anywhere else in Africa. Their name in their own language is the Daman (where the -n is just the Khoekhoe plural ending). The name Damaqua stems from the addition of the Khoekhoe suffix -qua/khwa meaning people (found in the names of other Southern African peoples like the Namaqua and the Griqua). History The Damara are widely believed to be the oldest inhabitants of Namibia after the Bushmen (San) and Nama (Khoekoe/Hottentots). Thought they share similar language and customs with the Nama (Hottentots) people, but their historical origins still shrouded in a mystery. There are two schools of thoughts or theories concerning Damara origins. One theory avers that which their physical Bantu features, the Damara were the first Bantu people to migrate from West Africa to Namibia where they live along side the San people and as a result acquired similar language and customs through acculturation. The other theory suggests that the Damara evolved alongside the San in Botswana thousands of years ago. And that explains the similarities in language and culture between them. The theory states that the Damara later migrated to Namibia.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 13:34:03 +0000
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