Nikanor Hoveka (ca. 1875–1951) was

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

of the

Ovambanderu The Mbanderu (''Ovambanderu'') are a population inhabiting eastern parts of Namibia and western parts of Botswana. They speak Herero language, Mbanderu (''Otjimbanderu)'' a Bantu language History and Culture Etymology While earlier theories of ...

, a

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Namaqua Genocide * Herero chat, a species of b ...

clan in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

(then

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

). He succeeded his father Kanangati Hoveka in 1896 as chief of the Ovambanderu. This came at the time when

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

had just begun to colonise the area and to establish

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

. When the Herero and Namaqua War of 1904–1907 broke out, Hoveka fought against the Germans. In 1905 he was interned at ''Otjihaenena''

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

near Okatumba. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Hoveka became engaged in early

Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

. He was one of the first Namibians to support and spread this idea and helped to set up the

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

office of the

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(UNIA) in 1922. In April 1946, the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n administration of South-West Africa held a referendum among the indigenous population to gather support for an incorporation of the area as its fifth province. The referendum was worded in a deceiving way, offering choices "to join the Chinese, the Russians, or even the British", blurring the real issue of surrendering their territory to the South Africans. The referendum went in favour of the South Africans but was rejected by the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. Nikanor Hoveka and

Hosea Kutako Chief Hosea Katjikururume Komombumbi Kutako (1870 – 18 July 1970), was an early Namibian nationalist leader and a founder member of Namibia's first nationalist party, the South West African National Union (SWANU). "During his life, he exp ...

were the first to petition the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

about this issue. Nikanor Hoveka died in 1951. He was succeeded as chief of the Ovambanderu by Stephanus Hoveka.

References

1870s births 1951 deaths Herero people {{Namibia-bio-stub