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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Khwe and West Caprivi before Namibian independence: matters of land, labour, power and alliance
Author:Boden, GertrudISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:Journal of Namibian Studies
Issue:5
Pages:27-71
Language:English
Geographic term:Namibia
Subjects:San
colonialism
social history
ethnic identity
Abstract:This article outlines the pre-independence past of the Khwe, a San population in West Caprivi, Namibia. Besides consolidating material from previous publications, it also presents fresh insights based on archival and oral sources. While the transregional networks and power relations, in which the Khwe participated before the onset of colonialism, remain blurred due to scarce source material, the article shows that the German colonial power, while not profoundly affecting the daily lives of West Caprivi residents, nevertheless had significant and long-lasting effects through the definition of the boundaries, which, although permeable for local residents, became crucial in rendering activities illegal, delineating territories of refuge and marking out areas affected by conflicts in the neighbouring countries. During the first decades of South African administration, the situation on the ground was not much different from that under German control. From 1940 onwards, however, the State intervened in local interethnic relations as well as in the economic lives of the Khwe in a number of ways: by making West Caprivi first a livestock free territory, then a nature conservation area and finally a military no access zone. In addition, the State had an impact by promoting the recruitment of Khwe men for mine labour, installing native guards and Khwe leaders, courting the Khwe as useful people and hiring Khwe as soldiers for the South African Defence Force (SADF). The article demonstrates how, over the decades, the categorization of the Khwe as a hybrid or mixed population was used in multiple and contradictory ways in order to serve different political agendas. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]