Country: Namibia

Group: Damara

Date Finalized:11/20/2020

Team: Johanna McCombs (lead), Ann Thomas, Ethan Pelland

Content Warning: slavery, genocide, concentration camps, experimentation, violence against children

Approximate Time Period: 1700-1910

Based on the sources found the Damara did experience slavery and forced labor in Namibia.

Although some reports mention Herero and Nama groups capturing and enslaving Damaras as early as the 13th century (New Era Reporter, 2018), most peer-reviewed sources point to evidence starting in the 18th century (Gewald, 1995; Henrichson, 2008). One European observer in the 19th century noted that the Damara worked for the Herero in a slave-like relationships (Henrichson, 2008). During the 18th and 19th centuries, there was alsoan increase of firearms in the homelands of the Damara, and as result the Damara had to withdraw north into the mountains. During the same period, the Namaqua who lived in Namibia supplied the colonial market in South Namibia with cattle and slaves. Many of these captives used as slaves were the Damara. There were numerous groups that carried out these raids including English sailors, who sold the captive Damara to Indian ocean slavers, who were mainly English, Portuguese, and French. These captive Damara also included children (Gewald, 1995).

 During the period of German colonial rule over Namibia from the 1800’s to 1904, the Damara faced a campaign of genocide which saw 50% of their population murdered to establish white control over their territory. As well, their nomadic lifestyle was destroyed by colonial restrictions on their traditional migration routes. The surviving Damara were sent to concentration camps, the most notorious being Shark Island, where they were subject to forced labor and experimentation (COHRE, 2019).

The data quality is a 3 as the sources are reliable and outline clear evidence of other ethnic groups in Namibia, the English and the Germans using the Damara as a source of forced labor.

Sources

  1. New Era Reporter (2018). Damaras want reparations from local tribes. Retrieved from https://neweralive.na/posts/damaras-want-reparations-from-local-tribes
  2. COHRE. (2019, July 8). GENOCIDE SERIES: Herero and Namaqua. Center On Human Rights Education. https://www.centeronhumanrightseducation.org/genocide-series-herero-and-namaqua/
  3. Gewald, J. B. (1995). Untapped sources: Slave exports from southern and central Namibia up to the mid-nin[e]teenth century. The Mfecane Aftermath, 419 – 435 (1995).
  4. Henrichsen, D. (2008). ‘Damara’labour recruitment to the Cape Colony and marginalisation and hegemony in late 19th century central Namibia. Journal of Namibian Studies: History Politics Culture, 3, 63-82.