Damara people

The Damara, plural Damaran (Khoekhoegowab: ǂNūkhoen, Black people, German: Bergdamara, referring to their extended stay in hilly and mountainous sites, also called at various times the Daman or the Damaqua) are an ethnic group who make up 8.5% of Namibia's population. They speak the Khoekhoe language (like the Nama people) and the majority live in the northwestern regions of Namibia, however, they are also found widely across the rest of the country.

Genetic studies have found that Damara are closely related to neighbouring Himba and Herero people, consistent with an origin from Bantu speakers who shifted to a different language and culture.

Their name in their own language is the "Daman" (where the "-n" is just the Khoekhoe plural ending). The name "Damaqua" stems from the addition of the Khoekhoe suffix "-qua/khwa" meaning "people" (found in the names of other Southern African peoples like the Nama and the Griqua).

Prior to 1870, the hunter-gatherer Damaran occupied most of central Namibia. They used to practice pastoralism with sheep and cattle, but were also agriculturalists, planting pumpkins, corn, and tobacco. The Damaran were also copper-smiths, known for their ability to melt copper and used to make ornaments, jewellery, knives and spear heads out of iron. The Damaran - just like the Sān - believed in communal ownership of land, meaning that no individual owned land as God had given land to everyone. Thus, rather than one person owning good grazing land and another seeking out an existence, all would live in harmony. It was for this reason that many were displaced when the Nama and Herero began to occupy this area in search of better grazing. Thereafter the Damara were dominated by the Nama and the Herero, most living as servants in their households.

In 1960, the South African government forced the Damara into the bantustan of Damaraland, an area of poor soil and irregular rainfall. About half of their numbers still occupy Damaraland.^{[citation needed]}

According to written accounts of the history of the Damaran which dates back to the leadership of the Damaras as far back as the 14th century (1390), substantiated by archaeological and ethnological evidence reflected to those records, the Damaran next to the Sān, are the first inhabitants of what is today known as Namibia. Oral tradition has it that the Damaran came to Namibia from ǁKhaus (Equatorial Rainforest) through ǃĀǂkhib centuries ago.

The Damaran initially settled between Huriǂnaub (Kunene River) and ǃGûǁōb (Kavango River), before entering what later-on centuries long after became known as ǀNaweǃhūb (Ovamboland). The Damaran moved southwards and were living peacefully as a single group in the area that is a stone's throw and an eagle's flight in the surrounding of Dâureb (Brandberg Mountain), Paresis Mountains, ǃHōb (Waterberg), the Omatako Mountains, Otavi Mountains and ǃOeǂgâb (Erongo Mountains). Oral and written historical records have it that intruders, reportedly under the leadership of a certain Mukumbi (Mûtsixubi) invaded that area in 1600, and clashed with the Damaran.

The Damaran dispersed in splinter groups as a result of the aftermath of this battle wherein the then Damara Gaob (King), Gaob ǀNarimab succumbed due to injuries sustained in the battle. The Damara, besides the ǀGowanîn, splinter groups then settled all over the country in areas where there was an abundant water and shelter in the form of mountains.