Ancient rock art, the uprooting of the indigenous Damara people, German colonization, and the eventual integration into an independent Namibia are all part of the millennium-long history of Damaraland, which is now part of Namibia. The tale of the area is one of cultural fortitude in the face of tremendous pressure from European powers and migrant tribes.
Rock engravings at Twyfelfontein, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, document Damaraland’s early history. Early hunter-gatherer cultures left behind these petroglyphs, some of which date back more than 6,000 years, and reveal information about the region’s first occupants.
One of Namibia’s oldest nations is the Damara people. They started engaging in a combination of hunter-gathering, small-scale farming, and herding as early as 2000 BCE. Anthropologists disagree over the Damara’s origins because they are a distinct Bantu group that speaks a Khoisan dialect. They were given their name, which translates to “black person,” by the Khoekhoe, who speak the same language.
The Nama and Herero peoples’ presence in the 19th century significantly changed the socioeconomic structure of Damaraland. Many Damara were slaughtered and displaced by the Nama and Herero in search of better grazing land for their livestock. The more powerful Nama and Herero were able to subdue the Damara, who had a flexible social structure based on community land ownership, and were therefore at a disadvantage in these battles. Many Damara were compelled to work as servants in Herero and Nama homes.
German colonization in 1884 followed the arrival of European commerce and missionaries in the late 19th century. The area became German South West Africa, a colony of settlers where Germans disrupted traditional life by stealing animals and land from the locals.
The Herero and Nama peoples rebelled against German control at the beginning of the 20th century. Now acknowledged as the first genocide of the 20th century, the German response was a ruthless extermination campaign. Tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people perished as a result of the “annihilation order” given by German General Lothar von Trotha. The survivors were forced to work in detention camps.
Following Germany’s defeat in World War I, South Africa seized the region in 1915 and imposed its apartheid regime, which it maintained for decades. The Damara people were forcibly relocated into a “homeland” known as Damaraland by the South African government in the 1960s using the Odendaal Plan.
As a designated bantustan, this new land was inappropriate for the Damara’s agricultural and herding customs due to its poor soil and erratic rainfall. When Namibia gained its independence in the late 1980s, the bantustan regime was finally overthrown.
Cultural resurgence and modern Damaraland
“Damaraland” was no longer used as a political entity after Namibia attained independence in 1990. These days, it refers to the area where a large number of Damara still reside. The Damara people have started projects like the Living Museum of the Damara in an attempt to protect their endangered culture. Through these initiatives, Damara customs—including their own language, music, and crafts—are being restored and celebrated.
In recent decades, a successful community-based conservation movement has emerged in the region, providing jobs and protecting the area’s rich wildlife, including its famous desert-adapted elephants.