UCLA Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies Title Namibia: A Nation in the Making Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/75z272w9 Journal Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 14(3) ISSN 0041-5715 Author Melber, Dr. Henning Publication Date 1985 DOI 10.5070/F7143017027 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California NAMIBIA: A NATION IN THE MAKING Early Colonialism, Resistance and Subjugation. by Dr. Henning Melber* INTRODUCTION Namibian reality prior to the process of colonisatic demonstrates that the Namibian people bad a history of thej own. Far from being barbaric savages slaughtering each othe1 the local communities were in a process of constant intern< change, with social dynamics related to their specifj environment. Among the aims of this paper is to focl attention on this period of internal relations in Namibj before colonial activities emerged, the subsequent stages c (pre-) coJ.onial interaction and the final establishment c foreign rule, which, in the end, paved the way for present-di colonial relations in illegally occupied Namibia. Tl response of the Namibian people to the encroaching colonic system in the course of this process further demonstratE their overwhelming rejection of foreign domination and thej preparedness to fight colonial rule. This resistanc --culminating in the 'German-Namibian-War of J.940 to 190i \vhich resulted in the final subjugation--created a nt tendency of unification in the common rejection of colonic domination and gave birth to the Namibian nation in struggle. Finally, it is argued that the system forcefully imposE upon the people shaped the foundations and pillars of colonic relations under illegal South African occupation, as j continues to exist today. The national liberation movement c Namibia (the South West African People ' s Organizations) t unconditionally opposing this system, represents the traditic of anticolonial resistance. This resistance, which emerged c a broad scale a hundred yea.rs ago, has been alive as long c colonialism has existed. *This paper was originally presented to the Symposium on a Century of Heroic Struggle of the Namibian People against Colonial Occupation and was held at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, 31 October to 2 November 1984. The Symposium was organized by the United Nations Council for Namibia . This version of Dr. Melber' s paper was edited by Anita Pfouts, a former member of the Ufahamu editorial board. 178 -~- Local Interaction Around 1800, the prc~;ent territory of Namibia seemed to already represent a certain entity. The territory is bordered by perennial rivers in the South (Orange) and North(Kunene and Kavango) , by the Atlantic in the West and by the dry Kalahari sandveld in the East. People within those natural boundaries already had knowledge of and contacts among each other, as well as a perception of the surrounding regions and their inhabitants. Exchange patterns existed not only among people within this area, but also with neighbouring people to the south across the Orange river and, even more so, in the North, where communities of the various Ambo-societies settled on both sides of the Kunene . The northern region, a park landscape with more fertile soil and higher rainfall compared to the other regions, offered suitable natural conditions for a relatively sophisticated agrarian reproduction system. On the basis of a mixed economy (with mainly agricultural cultivation and limited livestock) several different and rather independently organized Ambo-groups gained a fairly secure existence. These Ovambo-communities, settled on a permanent basis, counted a considerable number of people. In the central and southern regions of the territory, the Herero and Nama societies followed a cattle-herding mode of production. The German colonialists realized that there would be more resistance from the more populous and settled Ovambo groups than there would, at least initially, from the pastoral societies. In addition , the central plateau area of Nam.ibia was more climatically suitable for Europeans to establish large farms for extensive cattle ranching. Therefore, the Europeans concentrated on the Central Plateau region. The northern pa.rts of Namibia were less directly touched by the emerging colonial system. The Ovambo ~creas were only integrated completely into the system during the early 20th century (though still on a basis of 'indirect' rule). Major parts of this paper, therefore, concentrate on the southern and central region of Namibia, with a social dynamic different from the one in the northern areas and of more direct relevance to the process of colonisation and capitalist penetration. The Herero, nomadic cattle-breeders who share with the Ambo-groups the linguistic background of being part of the Bantu language family, occupied large parts of the central Namibian region with Herero-clans operating far East and Northwest. The Nama groups, (later on denounced as Hottentotts in colonial terminology) with a similar mode of production, were generally less successful in cattle-breeding but supplemented their economic base with small-stock (goats and sheep) as they operated in the climatically less 179 favourable western and southern parts of Namibia . They ar part of the Khoisan language family, as arc the Damara and Sa peoples referred to by the colonial masters as Klippkaffer and Bushmen) . The latter two, smaller in numbers , were of te ignored or neglected in literature, as only located to th margins of local power during those days, with littl influence on the social dynamics and to a certain degre dependent upon the relations with Nama and Herero, who oftE integrated them into their own structures. Differing ecological factors must thus be emphasized < the determining characteristics of the varying forms c household production. A clear correspondence betweE environmental features, local identity, and the specifi economic form of reproduction is found among the variol societies. The development of class-structures, while stil in an embryonic stage throughout the territory , had progressE further among the Ovambo in the North than among the Nama ar Herero in the South. However, among the Herero, differencE in cattle wealth had already produced a rich elite, whi< operated on the periphery of the traditional tribe institutions. Further development of class differentiatior however, was hampered, as land was still used collectively ar no private property in natural resources existed. Within tl Nama societies, class division and separation betwe< production and possession was hardly discernable, al thou< some indications point to unequal power structures above tl unit of family and kinship. The level of internal trade : the North also showed a more progressive division of laboul including specialised artisans and traders . By the beginnir of the 19th century the Namibian people already possessed clear knowledge and consciousness of the natural territori. boundaries of Namibia and had continuous contact. The Aml traders exchanged goods for cattle mainly with the Herero ~ the Namibian conununities were connected via the Ambo with trade-network to the North . Relationships between Nama and Herero groups to a la~ extent were influenced, if not even determined, by t' existing ecological constraints in combination with the mod and means of production conunon to both of them. Large dependent on their cattle (and in the case of the Nama the small-stock), these nomadic pastoralists needed land, wat and grazing opportunities as the essential basis for the individual and collective reproduction. Meeting these nee tended to be expansionist in character. A clash of interes resulting in ambitions for control of more territory therefo was a logical consequence. In times of favourable natur conditions, the regulations to prevent an increased a notorious conflict, seemed to function. But in times natural constraints (e . g. droughts and other limitation competition f or control of the necessary means of product! 180 (land and water) increased. Accumulation of wealth was largely limited to this expansionism, necessarily conflicting not only with neighbouring socJ.eties with sinilar modes of production, but even leading to ccmpetitJ.on among units sharing the same "tribal" identity. As a consequence, ecological constraints and imperatives often resulted in military competition among different segments of the local population, including rivalry among meniliers or units of the same ethnic group, for control of the natural resources necPssary to maintain the production and reproduction basis. It can therefore be concluded, that at the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, in southern and central Namibia, internal forces were in a dynamic process of competition and of expansionism and competitive with regard to control of the natural resources necessary to their modes of production. Although highly sensitive to the natural factors of local environment and easily interfered with, this competition happened on a basis still contr olled by those involved in the process and led to a balance of powers concerning economic relations and social interactions, with the Herero groups being (the most influential, factor and generally in control of the situation. More recent research seems to suggest rather convincingly) that, in the southern and central parts of Namibia, this interaction of the local pcpulation prior to the phase of colonial conquest was only in part influenced (or dominated in the sense of being determined) by tribal background and indentity. The social formation encompassed, at least to a certain extent, a variety of factors based, not only on ethnic identity but on access to land and water use in exchange for military support. Simplistic reductions along 1 L the lines of ethnic identity, a pcint of view common to the ) colonial-apologetic pcsition fail to grasp the complexity of the situation. :! l An additional factor in the internal development of the country was represented by the immigration of the Orlam-clans, factions of the Khoi-khoi/Nama communities until this time living in Cape Province. These Orlam communities crossed the Orange River early in the 19th century.