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| Khoe | |
|---|---|
| Name | Khoe |
| Population | c. 400,000–700,000 (est.) |
| Regions | Southern Africa: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe |
| Languages | Khoe languages, Afrikaans, English |
| Related | San people, Bantu peoples, Khoekhoe |
Khoe The Khoe are a cluster of indigenous peoples of Southern Africa associated with a family of Khoe languages and a pastoralist and agro-pastoralist lifeway. Historically concentrated in areas of present-day South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, they have played roles in regional contact with Bantu expansion, European colonization of Africa, and neighboring pastoral groups. Contemporary Khoe communities participate in national politics, cultural revival, and legal claims addressing land, identity, and rights.
Scholars adopted the term based on linguistic classification used in studies by researchers associated with institutions such as the University of Cape Town, the University of Stellenbosch, and the University of Namibia. The designation distinguishes the Khoe cluster from other Southern African indigenous groups like the San people and aligns with nomenclature used in works published by the International African Institute and the Society for Applied Anthropology. Alternative names appear in colonial records from the Dutch Cape Colony and the British Empire in Africa, and in ethnographic reports compiled by figures like Ludwig Pöch and Ehrenreich, leading to multiple exonyms documented in repositories at the British Museum and the National Archives of South Africa.
Archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence situates ancestors associated with the Khoe cluster in Southern Africa prior to and during the early stages of the Bantu expansion. Palaeoecological studies tied to sites such as those investigated by teams from the University of the Witwatersrand and the Iziko South African Museum point to pastoral adaptations emerging in the first millennium CE. Contact episodes with groups labeled in colonial sources, including the Dutch East India Company's settlers and later populations tied to the Great Trek, reshaped demographic patterns through trade, conflict, and assimilation. Missionary accounts linked to organizations like the London Missionary Society and legal encounters before courts such as the Supreme Court of Namibia further affected landholding and social status.
The languages associated with the Khoe cluster belong to a branch of the larger family sometimes called the Khoisan languages, and include varieties studied by linguists affiliated with the School of Oriental and African Studies and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Prominent documented languages and dialect groups appear in grammars and lexicons produced under the auspices of the Société Linguistique de Paris and national language commissions. Language shift toward Afrikaans and English has been documented in sociolinguistic surveys by the South African Centre for Applied Language Studies and the Namibian Ministry of Education, while comparative phonetic work on click consonant systems has been advanced at the University of Cape Town and the University of the Free State.
Social organization among Khoe communities historically featured age-set structures and lineage arrangements recorded in ethnographies by researchers connected with the Royal Anthropological Institute and the American Ethnological Society. Material culture documented in collections at the South African National Museum of Cultural History includes distinctive beadwork, livestock ornamentation, and ephemeral architecture. Rituals tied to pastoral cycles and seasonal movement were described by missionaries such as Johann Hahn and by fieldworkers from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies. Artistic traditions interact with contemporary platforms including exhibitions at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa and performances at the National Arts Festival.
Historically the economy combined herding of cattle, sheep, and goats with foraging and small-scale cultivation reported in colonial surveys by the Cape Colony Land Commission and agricultural studies conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization's regional offices. Exchange networks linked Khoe pastoralists to market towns established under entities like the South African Republic and trading itineraries recorded in the archives of the South African Railways. Contemporary economic activities include participation in sectors regulated by the South African Department of Agriculture, employment in mining regions associated with companies like De Beers and Anglo American plc, and involvement in community-based tourism initiatives promoted by the Namibia Tourism Board.
Relations with neighboring Bantu peoples and forager groups documented in colonial correspondence and ethnographic monographs show patterns of trade, intermarriage, raiding, and alliance formation. Conflicts involving armed forces of colonial administrations, settler militias, and indigenous coalitions are recorded in the histories of the Cape Frontier Wars and regional incidents described in the Journal of Southern African Studies. Missionary and missionary-educational institutions such as the Berlin Missionary Society influenced conversion patterns and schooling, while land dispossession occurred under legal regimes administered by authorities like the Union of South Africa and the South West Africa Administration.
Contemporary demographic profiles derived from censuses by the South African Department of Home Affairs and the Namibia Statistics Agency indicate urban migration, multilingualism, and contested categories of ethnic identification. Legal and political mobilization has engaged courts such as the Constitutional Court of South Africa and parliamentary commissions in debates over land restitution, cultural recognition, and affirmative measures championed by civil society organizations including the Legal Resources Centre and Namibia's Affirmative Repositioning movement. Health and development interventions by agencies like the World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Programme address disparities in access to services, while cultural revival projects collaborate with film festivals such as the Durban International Film Festival and archives at the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Category:Ethnic groups in Southern Africa