For
thousands of years, the KhoeSan peoples
of South Africa and southern Namibia maintained
a pastoral way of life, tending their
flocks of goats and sheep, gathering firewood,
and collecting wild honey. Following the
discovery of diamonds at the mouth of
the Orange River in the 1920s, however,
prospectors began moving into the region,
establishing towns at Alexander Bay and
Port Nolloth, a process that accelerated
the appropriation of traditional lands
that had begun early in the colonial period.
Under apartheid, remaining pastoralists
were encouraged to abandon their traditional
lifestyle in favor of village life.
Today, the Richtersveld district of
South Africa’s Northern Cape is one
of the few places where old ways survive.
Here, the Nama still move with the seasons
and speak their ancient tongue, one
of the vanishing KhoeSan, or “click,”
group of languages. The traditional
Nama dwelling—the |haru oms, or portable
rush-mat covered domed hut—is a reflection
of a nomadic way of life, offering a
cool haven against the blistering heat
of the sun, yet easy to pack and move
if grazing lands become scarce. In 1991,
a portion of Namaqualand, home of the
Nama and other KhoeSan peoples and one
of the last true wilderness areas of
South Africa, became the Richtersveld
National Park. In December 2002, ancestral
lands, including the park, were returned
to community ownership and this past
winter, the governments of South Africa,
Namibia, and Angola embarked on the
development of a transfrontier park
along the west coast of southern Africa
that is to absorb Richtersveld National
Park.
While much is being done to preserve
the region’s fragile ecosystem and encourage
eco-friendly tourism, little had been
done until recently to preserve its
vanishing culture. Following listing
in 2004, ICOMOS South Africa drafted
a plan to carry out a cultural inventory
of the area. The survival of traditional
Nama ways in the coming decades will
require the adoption of a sound cultural
heritage management strategy.
