THE TOPNAARS OF NAMIBIA

THE TOPNAAR

The Topnaar belong to the Nama people, who in turn belong to the Khoi-Khoin ethnic group. The Khoi-Khoin were called Hottentots by the first European settlers, probably due to their Nama language, a language of "clicks". The four clicks used by the Nama are l “Dental click”, ll “Side click”, “!” “palatal click” and ≠ “alveolar click”. The Khoi-Khoin, a term that means "men of men", was a people with a greater distribution and population in southern Africa. The Khoi-Khoin tribes in Namibia today are three groups; the Nama, the Oorlam and a number of SAM groups.

The Nama are divided into 9 tribes, two of which are the Topnaar of the lower Kuiseb River valley and the Topnaar of Sesfontein. The name "Topnaar", is of Dutch origin, and means "the people of the upper land or those who are above". This is probably a direct translation of the Nama ≠Aonin. Etymologically it derives from ≠aob, which in Nama means upper edge, edge. There are various explanations for this name of the ≠ Aonin: the best known is “: people on the edge”, living in the mountains (KOHLER, 1969); “people who are above the Nama” (this ethnic group currently lives south of the Kuiseb river), (KOHLER, 1969); "people who live in a marginal area", on the edge of the Nama territory (BUDACK, 1977) or "people who live on the edge of the sea" (KOHLER), 1969.

The Topnaar tribe is divided into sibs (clans) and the tribal government consists of a chief and his council. In the past the leadership was hereditary, but now the Topnaar also have a say in the elections for a new chief.

The Topnaar are the oldest settlers in Namibia. His story is not fully known. The earliest recorded presence of Topnaar in the Walvis Bay area is from 1670 when the Dutch East India company's ship, "Grundel", entered Sandwich Bay, just south of Walvis Bay. The crew recognized the indigenous people on the shore as Hottentots, but noted that their language was different from that of the Cape Hottentots (which had been known since the first Dutch East India Company voyages to South Africa). At that time the Kuiseb still emptied into the sea at Sandwich Bay.Seven years later, in 1677, the ship "Boode" of the "Dutch East India Company" visited Sandwich Harbor and observed Hottentots, who were herding cattle and collecting the seeds of !Nara. In 1973, Dr. Beatrice Sandelowsky discovered some fragments of a Khoi clay pot near Concepción Bay, which were dated to approximately 650 years old. This probably means that the Khoi-Khoin lived already along off the coast of Namibia in the 14th century. It is not certain, however, whether these people were Topnaar or belonged to another tribe.

According to oral tradition, the Topnaar came from the north before occupying the territory of Walvis Bay. The exact area of origin, however, has not yet been specified.

The Topnaar are also the first traders in Namibia. From 1677 they traded with European sailors: beef, goats, milk, nara, and fresh water in exchange for tools, clothing, weapons, and alcohol.

Historically, the Topnaars ranged most extensively from the coast, east along the Kuiseb and south to !Hu-daob, and from Concepción Bay in the south to north to the Swakop River (BUDACK, 1977). KOHLER, 1969. The Herero drove them out of this area as they migrated from the north and from the other the Nama who migrated from the south.

There are varying opinions as to how some Topnaars migrated to Sesfontein, 500 kilometers north of the Kuiseb in the Kaokoveld. HOERNLE (1925) says that he was told by the Topnaar that some of them return to the north they previously occupied in the Walvis Bay area. Other sources (KOHLER 1969; Kooitjie, in his opinion) that in the 1880's, during the Nama-Herero wars, a group of Topnaar joined Jonker Afrikaner, to fight the Herero, and remained afterwards in the north, in a place called !Am-!Am-eib. Forced by the drought, they later moved to Sesfontein, where from then on they lived together with other tribes, such as the African Bushmen and Bergdama. Another group of Nama people, the Swartboois, followed them further on.

Topnaar way of life in the lower Kuiseb River valley

The Topnaar of the lower Kuiseb Valley have traditionally lived by herding, gardening, and gathering the !nara (Acanthosicyos horridus. The latter is a cucurbit that grows wild. It is endemic to coastal Namibia and provides food and water. to the Topnaar. The Topnaar are therefore also called !Naranin, people who live off the !nara. However it is a derogatory name for them as it indicates their dependence on "veldkos" (literally food from the field, referring to the use of plants native foodstuffs for food).

!nara grows abundantly on the dunes near Walvis Bay. Each family owns a number of !nara bushes. In this the Topnaar differ from the other Khoi-Khoin: the !nara bush, not the land on which it grows, is private, while the land is communal. This perpetual right to the !naras was approved by Queen Victoria. Each family can only harvest their own !nara bushes. The rights are hereditary. If the parents die, the !nara field is divided among the children who are interested in the !nara. The chief and his council can mediate conflicts if necessary. During the !nara harvest season, entire families move to the !nara coastal fields and stay there until the end of the harvest. Only a few people remain in the villages to tend to the cattle.

In the past, the Topnaar of the Kuiseb area were divided into the Hurinin, the hunter-gatherers and fishermen who lived along the coast, and the !Naranin, who lived further inland along the Kuiseb River. The latter were the dominant group. Now they have melted. In addition these Topnaar have also mixed with some Herero, Ovambo, Damara and Eurafricans who lived in the same area.

The Khoi-Khoi people are traditionally nomadic. The mobility of the Topnaars in the Kuiseb, however, is restricted by the environmental conditions of the area. The people depend on the water wells in the river bed and the !nara fields. Another drastic influence on their mobility and general way of life is the fact that in 1907 a large area of the Namib desert was declared a National Park. This means that there is since then a control over hunting and prohibits the gathering of cattle or any other type of activity outside the riverbed. The implementation of the South African Odendaalplan (the aim of this plan was to return all black people from South Africa and Southwest Africa (now Namibia) to their respective countries or areas of origin), some farms in the South were bought, in Namaland, with the intention of moving and settling the Topnaar outside of the Namib-Naukluft park. The Topnaar, however, refused to leave their territory, which they defend and claim as their traditional tribal area since they have lived there for centuries. Their culture is linked to the !nara and they depend on the sea and its resources as a source of food. There are also legal treaties that respect their traditional rights such as the use of the !nara plants.

For years the presence of the Topnaar in the Namib-Naukluft park was a subject of conflict between the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the Topnaar. Something that was made evident by the few investments that were carried out and developed in the area. Only in 1979 did the Water Department improve the water supply in the villages by building windmills, dams, pipelines and reservoirs.

The first known chief of the Topnaar of the Kuiseb was Frederik Khaxab (in the mid-19th century). After his death Piet Haibeb was the last king and died in 1910, leaving no heirs, after which two factions fought for the Topnaar government, but to no avail. Thus for 66 years the Topnaar had no leader. This resulted in the loss of some of their traditions, culture and tribal unity. In 1976, when the possibility of Namibia becoming independent became apparent, there was a need for a Topnaar spokesperson at the national level. They appointed a new leader, Esau Kooitjie, who ruled until 1981, when he retired they chose his 18-year-old son Seth Kooitjie as his successor. The Topnaars have since had someone to represent them and to promote their interests on a national level. Today about 500 Topnaar live along the Kuiseb River, divided into 14 semi-permanent settlements, all situated on the right bank of the river, far enough from the river so that occasional floods do not destroy houses.

The settlements, from east to west, are Homeb, Oswater, Natab, Gobabeb, Soutriver, Klipneus, Swartbank, Eduseb, \ Goatanab, Dawe-draais, and Armstraat de Ururas .From one to ten families reside in each village. Another 400 Topnaar live between Walvis Bay and Henties Bay.