Namibia Holiday & Travel - People of Namibia - The Damara
The origins of the Damara people are an enigma to anthropologists. One of several puzzling aspects is that while they differ completely from the Nama and Hai||om people, they also speak the Khoekhoegowab language. Another is that although they are dark skinned, in most other respects they differ from other people of Bantu origin in Namibia.
Traditionally the Damara community consists of a number of subdivisions, called haoti. These are clusters of clans and extended families that were formerly concentrated in specific areas, consisting of about eleven sub-groups. The Hai||om had the widest geographic distribution in Namibia, ranging from an extensive area surrounding the Kuiseb River, south east of present-day Walvis Bay, up towards the Swakop River; the central parts of the country from Rehoboth and Hoachanas to the Khomas Hochland, west of Windhoek, and especially the area where they are concentrated today, namely the environs of Outjo, Kamanjab, Khorixas and Brandberg. The names of various Damara groups were mostly geographic references, for example the Tsoaxüdaman, the Swakop Damara or Dâuredaman, and the Brandberg Damara.
Before the arrival of the White settlers, the Damara’s way of life was similar to that of the nomadic San insofar as they lived from hunting and veldkos. There is also ample archaeological evidence that they kept small herds of stock, especially goats, for centuries. The small family group formed the nucleus of socioeconomic activities. At the heart of their religion lay the so-called ‘sacred fire’, associated mainly with their hunting activities. In addition they practised small-scale horticulture, growing primarily tobacco and pumpkins, and mined and smelted copper, trading with articles made from copper and soapstone.
The Damara were ousted from their traditional areas by advancing Nama and Herero. In German colonial times they settled in the Okombahe environs and in 1973 an area of approximately 4.7 million hectares was proclaimed as Damaraland, with Khorixas as its administrative capital. Following independence this area became part of the Erongo Region. According to the latest census (2001), 107 629 people live here, virtually double the number recorded in the 1991 census.
Nowadays rural Damara people cultivate corn and vegetables, while livestock production has become an important source of income. Many work on commercial farms, in mines, where some make a living from small mining in the Erongo Region, and in urban centres as teachers, clerics and officials. Some of Namibia’s most eloquent and influential politicians are Damara, notable examples being former Prime Minister, Hage Geingob, and the speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Theo-Ben Gurirab, also a former Prime Minister.
