Hoachanas
Encyclopedia
Hoachanas is a settlement of 3,000 inhabitants in the Hardap Region
of southern central Namibia
, located 55 kilometres (34.2 mi) northeast of Kalkrand. It is situated at the junction of the main road C21 from Kalkrand, and C15 from Dordabis
to Stampriet
and belongs to the Mariental Rural
electoral constituency.
Inhabited since at least 1695, Hoachanas is the main settlement of the Khaiǁkhaun (Red Nation), the largest and most important of the subtribes of the Nama people. All chiefs
of the Red Nation had their main residence at this settlement. Hoachanas is also the home of Markus Kooper
, reverend, educator and anti-apartheid activist.
Hoachanas has a Junior Secondary School that is named after Khaiǁkhaun chief Noach Tsai-Tsaib
tree and shrub savanna
typical for the Kalahari. The area has an elevation of 1200 to 1500 m (3,937 to 4,921.3 ), the average annual rainfall is 200 to 250 mm (7.9 to 9.8 ). The settlement is cut by the !Guwisib River, a tributary to the ephemeral Auob River.
The majority of the houses at the settlement are shacks made from iron sheets. Almost half of the villagers are unemployed, literacy levels are low. The main economic activity is small livestock farming with goats and sheep.
The Hoachanas Peace Treaty of 1858 saw an alliance formed between Orlam chief Jonker Afrikaner
and Nama chief ǁOaseb, two of the most powerful tribal leaders in South-West Africa of that time. This treaty partitioned southern and central South-West Africa into Namaland
and Hereroland
, with the area controlled by the Nama people reaching from the Kalahari to the Auas Mountains near Windhoek
. Although not of Herero descent, Jonker Afrikaner was accepted as the leader of Hereroland and remained in that position until he was defeated by Maharero
in 1880. 13 Nama chiefs ratified the treaty.
When Manasse ǃNoreseb
assumed chieftaincy of the Red Nation in 1880, Hendrik Witbooi
, leader of the ǀKhowesin (Witbooi Nama), had risen to considerable power. Witbooi was an archenemy of Manasse. He installed a rival chief for the Red Nation, ǃHoeb ǁOasemab (Fritz Lazarus ǁOaseb), and attacked Hoachanas several times. Manasse and his clan, although since 1885 under a protection treaty with the German Empire
which had in 1884 established the colony of German South-West Africa
, fled their home settlement in 1889 and moved to Seeis
, which was situated in an area under the control of Maharero. After Witbooi's troops were defeated by the Germans in 1894, Manasse returned to Hoachanas.
confirmed Hoachanas as the home area of the Red Nation and created a reserve of 50000 hectares (123,552.6 acre). When the Herero and Nama War
broke out in which the Germans attacked the indigenous Herero and Nama in their colonial territory, Manasse ǃNoreseb and Hendrik Witbooi ceased their hostilities and fought together against the Schutztruppe
("protection force", the unit deployed to the German colony). Manasse, with only 100 armed men, took over the defense of the central eastern area of Aranos
, Leonardville
, Aminuis
, and Hoachanas.
The German Empire's Schutztruppe defeated both the Nama and the Herero during this war. Namas were displaced all over the country, and even deported to the German colonies of Togoland
and Kamerun
. The ethnical structures of the Nama people were destroyed, and Hoachanas lost its importance as community centre. All land and lifestock was confiscated by the Germans, and the Red Nation only got a new chief in 1922.
s, Afrikaans
-speaking white farmers. The Boers tried to have the Nama people move to their bantustan
in the area of Tses
and Aminuis
north of Keetmanshoop
. The size of the Hoachanas reserve was decreased to 14000 hectares (34,594.7 acre), and an eviction order was obtained that was confirmed by the High Court in Windhoek
in 1959. However, only Markus Kooper
, spiritual leader of the Nama, was forced to relocate with his family to the village of Itsawisis. The rest of the Nama resisted eviction throughout the apartheid era, and Kooper also was brought back by the community.
bought the farms Blankenese and Gomchanas and integrated them into the Hoachanas area, raising its total size to 22000 hectares (54,363.1 acre).
Hardap Region
Hardap is one of the thirteen regions of Namibia. It is home to the Hardap Dam.Hardap stretches the entire width of Namibia, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Namibia's eastern national border. In the northeast, it borders the Kgalagadi District of Botswana, and in the southeast, it borders...
of southern central Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, located 55 kilometres (34.2 mi) northeast of Kalkrand. It is situated at the junction of the main road C21 from Kalkrand, and C15 from Dordabis
Dordabis
Dordabis is a village in the Khomas Region of central Namibia, 80 km east of the capital Windhoek. It belongs to the Windhoek Rural electoral constituency and has approximately 1,500 inhabitants. The village normally receives an annual average rainfall of , although in the 2010/2011 rainy season ...
to Stampriet
Stampriet
Stampriet is a village in Hardap Region, Namibia. It is located 10 km north of Mariental.-Local authority results, 2010:In the 2010 local authority election, a total of 349 votes were cast in the village. SWAPO won with approximately 74% of the vote...
and belongs to the Mariental Rural
Mariental Rural
Mariental Rural is a constituency in the Hardap region of Namibia. It has a population of 13,596....
electoral constituency.
Inhabited since at least 1695, Hoachanas is the main settlement of the Khaiǁkhaun (Red Nation), the largest and most important of the subtribes of the Nama people. All chiefs
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
of the Red Nation had their main residence at this settlement. Hoachanas is also the home of Markus Kooper
Markus Kooper
Reverend Markus Kooper was a Namibian activist, educator and religious figure. From Hoachanas in the Hardap Region, Kooper was one of the first Namibians who traveled to the United Nations to petition for his country's independence from apartheid South Africa...
, reverend, educator and anti-apartheid activist.
Hoachanas has a Junior Secondary School that is named after Khaiǁkhaun chief Noach Tsai-Tsaib
Geography
Hoachanas is situated on Namibia's Central Plateau in an AcaciaAcacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
tree and shrub savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
typical for the Kalahari. The area has an elevation of 1200 to 1500 m (3,937 to 4,921.3 ), the average annual rainfall is 200 to 250 mm (7.9 to 9.8 ). The settlement is cut by the !Guwisib River, a tributary to the ephemeral Auob River.
The majority of the houses at the settlement are shacks made from iron sheets. Almost half of the villagers are unemployed, literacy levels are low. The main economic activity is small livestock farming with goats and sheep.
Pre–colonial period
Hoachanas has been the main settlement of the Red Nation, a subtribe of the Nama people, since the formation of this group at the end of the 17th century. There is a perennial spring at the centre of today's settlement, located behind the old Lutheran church.The Hoachanas Peace Treaty of 1858 saw an alliance formed between Orlam chief Jonker Afrikaner
Jonker Afrikaner
Jonker Afrikaner was the fourth Captain of the Orlam Afrikaners in South West Africa, succeeding his father, Jager Afrikaner, in 1823...
and Nama chief ǁOaseb, two of the most powerful tribal leaders in South-West Africa of that time. This treaty partitioned southern and central South-West Africa into Namaland
Namaland
Namaland was a bantustan in South West Africa , intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Nama people. A centrally administered local government was created in 1980....
and Hereroland
Hereroland
Hereroland was a bantustan in South West Africa , intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Herero people. It was set up in 1968 and self-government was granted two years later....
, with the area controlled by the Nama people reaching from the Kalahari to the Auas Mountains near Windhoek
Windhoek
Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level. The 2001 census determined Windhoek's population was 233,529...
. Although not of Herero descent, Jonker Afrikaner was accepted as the leader of Hereroland and remained in that position until he was defeated by Maharero
Maharero
Maharero was one of the most powerful paramount chiefs of the Herero people in South-West Africa, today's Namibia.-Biography:...
in 1880. 13 Nama chiefs ratified the treaty.
When Manasse ǃNoreseb
Manasse ǃNoreseb
Manasse ǃNoreseb Gamab was the thirteenth Kaptein of the Khaiǁkhaun , a subtribe of the Nama people in Namibia, between 1880 and 1905...
assumed chieftaincy of the Red Nation in 1880, Hendrik Witbooi
Hendrik Witbooi (Namaqua chief)
Hendrik Witbooi was a king of the Namaqua people, a sub-tribe of the Khoikhoi. He lived in present day Namibia. His face is portrayed on the obverse of all Namibian dollar banknotes.-Names:...
, leader of the ǀKhowesin (Witbooi Nama), had risen to considerable power. Witbooi was an archenemy of Manasse. He installed a rival chief for the Red Nation, ǃHoeb ǁOasemab (Fritz Lazarus ǁOaseb), and attacked Hoachanas several times. Manasse and his clan, although since 1885 under a protection treaty with the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
which had in 1884 established the colony of German South-West Africa
German South-West Africa
German South West Africa was a colony of Germany from 1884 until 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa and administered as South West Africa, finally becoming Namibia in 1990...
, fled their home settlement in 1889 and moved to Seeis
Seeis
Seeis [ˈseːaɪs] is a small settlement in the Khomas Region of central Namibia. It is situated on the B6 national road east of Hosea Kutako International Airport on the turnoff of the dirt road D1458. The Seeis Rivier, an ephemeral river, cuts the settlement...
, which was situated in an area under the control of Maharero. After Witbooi's troops were defeated by the Germans in 1894, Manasse returned to Hoachanas.
German colonial period
In 1902 Imperial GermanyGerman Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
confirmed Hoachanas as the home area of the Red Nation and created a reserve of 50000 hectares (123,552.6 acre). When the Herero and Nama War
Herero and Namaqua Genocide
The Herero and Namaqua Genocide is considered to have been the first genocide of the 20th century. It took place between 1904 and 1907 in German South-West Africa , during the scramble for Africa...
broke out in which the Germans attacked the indigenous Herero and Nama in their colonial territory, Manasse ǃNoreseb and Hendrik Witbooi ceased their hostilities and fought together against the Schutztruppe
Schutztruppe
Schutztruppe was the African colonial armed force of Imperial Germany from the late 19th century to 1918, when Germany lost its colonies. Similar to other colonial forces, the Schutztruppe consisted of volunteer European commissioned and non-commissioned officers, medical and veterinary officers. ...
("protection force", the unit deployed to the German colony). Manasse, with only 100 armed men, took over the defense of the central eastern area of Aranos
Aranos
Aranos is a settlement in Hardap Region, Namibia. Since August 2010 it has town status. The place normally receives an annual average rainfall of , although in the 2010/2011 rainy season were measured.-Politics:...
, Leonardville
Leonardville
Leonardville is the name of the following settlements:* Leonardville, Kansas* Leonardville, Namibia...
, Aminuis
Aminuis
Aminuis is a settlement in the Omaheke Region of Namibia and the district capital of the Aminuis electoral constituency. It is the hometown of politicians Steve Mogotsi and Kuaima Riruako, and matron Hulda Shipanga....
, and Hoachanas.
The German Empire's Schutztruppe defeated both the Nama and the Herero during this war. Namas were displaced all over the country, and even deported to the German colonies of Togoland
Togoland
Togoland was a German protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana. The colony was established during the period generally known as the "Scramble for Africa"...
and Kamerun
Kamerun
German Cameroon was a West African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon.-History:-1800s:...
. The ethnical structures of the Nama people were destroyed, and Hoachanas lost its importance as community centre. All land and lifestock was confiscated by the Germans, and the Red Nation only got a new chief in 1922.
South African mandate period
In the 1950s, Hoachanas was populated by approximately 400 Nama and a number of BoerBoer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
s, Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
-speaking white farmers. The Boers tried to have the Nama people move to their bantustan
Bantustan
A bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...
in the area of Tses
Tses
Tses is a village in Karas Region, Namibia with a population of approximately 1000; probably 1000 more live in the surrounding semi-desert farming hinterland. It is situated one kilometre off the main B1 highway from Windhoek to Cape Town and Johannesburg, opposite the turning to Berseba and...
and Aminuis
Aminuis
Aminuis is a settlement in the Omaheke Region of Namibia and the district capital of the Aminuis electoral constituency. It is the hometown of politicians Steve Mogotsi and Kuaima Riruako, and matron Hulda Shipanga....
north of Keetmanshoop
Keetmanshoop
Keetmanshoop is a city in Karas Region, southern Namibia, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. It is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and founder of the city....
. The size of the Hoachanas reserve was decreased to 14000 hectares (34,594.7 acre), and an eviction order was obtained that was confirmed by the High Court in Windhoek
Windhoek
Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level. The 2001 census determined Windhoek's population was 233,529...
in 1959. However, only Markus Kooper
Markus Kooper
Reverend Markus Kooper was a Namibian activist, educator and religious figure. From Hoachanas in the Hardap Region, Kooper was one of the first Namibians who traveled to the United Nations to petition for his country's independence from apartheid South Africa...
, spiritual leader of the Nama, was forced to relocate with his family to the village of Itsawisis. The rest of the Nama resisted eviction throughout the apartheid era, and Kooper also was brought back by the community.
Independent Namibia
In 1996, Government of NamibiaGovernment of Namibia
The Government of Namibia consists of the executive, the legislative and the judiciary branches. The Cabinet is the executive organ of government, implementing the laws of the country. It consists of the President, the Prime Minister and his deputy, as well as the Ministers. The legislative organs...
bought the farms Blankenese and Gomchanas and integrated them into the Hoachanas area, raising its total size to 22000 hectares (54,363.1 acre).