Introduction

The Nama, who today number about 90,000, are the best known of the Khoekhoe groups. As a distinct people, they probably originated in the northern Cape and later divided into their two large subdivisions, Great Nama and Little Nama (cf. Westphal 1963: 251). The Great Nama settled in the Great Namaqualand area of Namibia prior to European contact. Most of the Little Nama migrated to Namibia in tribal groups during the nineteenth century. Those who remained south of the Orange River have largely been absorbed into South Africa's ‘Coloured’ population, although Nama customs are still in evidence in the northeastern Cape. The bearers of these customs will be examined at the end of this chapter. They too are, in part, representatives of the Khoisan culture area.

Nama history, in the sense of chiefs, battles, and migrations, is well recorded, but our concern here is rather with ‘traditional’ Nama social organization, in so far as this can be extracted from historical accounts, early ethnography, and recent studies. Even the best of the early ethnography, that of South African anthropologist Winifred Hoernle, is itself a construction from the memory of her informants. A letter from Hoernle to the Secretary for South-West Africa, dated 14 April 1923, is most revealing.