The Oorlam or Orlam people (also known as Orlaam, Oorlammers, Oerlams, or Orlamse Hottentots) are a subtribe of the
Nama people
Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Nama language of the Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama also speak Afrikaans. The Nama Pe ...
, largely assimilated after their migration from the
Cape Colony (today, part of South Africa) to
Namaqualand
Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...
and
Damaraland
Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of what later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. It was bounded roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the east, and Windhoek in ...
(now 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 ...
).
Oorlam clans were originally formed from
mixed-race
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
descendants of
indigenous Khoikhoi
Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...
, Europeans and slaves from
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
,
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. In ...
.
Similar to the other
Afrikaans-speaking group at the time, the
Trekboers
The Trekboers ( af, Trekboere) were nomadic pastoralists descended from European settlers on the frontiers of the Dutch Cape Colony in Southern Africa. The Trekboers began migrating into the interior from the areas surrounding what is now Ca ...
, Oorlam originally populated the frontiers of the infant
Cape Colony, later living as semi-nomadic
commandos
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
of mounted gunmen. Also like the Boers, they migrated inland from the
Cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. T ...
, and established several states in what are now South Africa and
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 ...
. The Oorlam migration in South Africa also produced the related
Griqua people
The Griquas (; af, Griekwa, often confused with ''!Orana'', which is written as ''Korana'' or ''Koranna'') are a subgroup of heterogeneous former Khoe-speaking nations in Southern Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Cap ...
.
History
Beginning in the late 18th century, Oorlam communities migrated from the
Cape Colony north to
Namaqualand
Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...
. They settled places earlier occupied by the Nama. They came partly to escape
Dutch colonial
Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Rev ...
conscription, partly to raid and trade, and partly to obtain herding lands. Some of these emigrant Oorlams (including the band led by the outlaw
Jager Afrikaner and his son
Jonker Afrikaner
Jonker Afrikaner ( 1785, ''Roode Zand'' near Tulbagh, South Africa – 18 August 1861, Okahandja) was the fourth Captain of the Orlam in South West Africa, succeeding his father, Jager Afrikaner, in 1823. Soon after becoming ''Kaptein'', h ...
in the
Transgariep) retained links to Oorlam communities in or close to the borders of the Cape Colony. In the face of gradual Boer expansion and then large-scale
Boer migrations away from British rule at the Cape, Jonker Afrikaner brought his people into Namaqualand by the mid-19th century, becoming a formidable force for Oorlam domination over the Nama and against the
Bantu-speaking Hereros for a period.
Emerging from populations of Khoikhoi servants raised on Boer farms, many of them having been orphaned and captured in Dutch
commando
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
raids, Oorlams primarily spoke a
version of Dutch or proto-
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans grad ...
and were much influenced by
Cape Dutch
Cape Dutch, also commonly known as Cape Afrikaners, were a historic socioeconomic class of Afrikaners who lived in the Western Cape during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The terms have been evoked to describe an affluent, apolitical se ...
colonial ways of life, including adoption of horses and guns, European clothing, and Christianity.
[Legassick, 368-69; Penn, 42.]
However, after two centuries of assimilation into the Nama culture, many Oorlams today regard
Khoikhoigowab (Damara/Nama) as their mother tongue. The distinction between Namas and Oorlams has gradually disappeared, so that today they are regarded as a single ethnic group, despite their different origins.
Clans
The Orlam people comprise various subtribes, clans, and families. In South Africa the
Griqua are an influential Oorlam group.
The clans that migrated across the Oranje into South West Africa are, in order of their time of arrival:
* The
ǀAixaǀaen (Orlam Afrikaners), the first group to enter and permanently settle in Namibia. Their leader
Klaas Afrikaner left the
Cape Colony around 1770. The clan first built the fortress of
ǁKhauxaǃnas, then moved to
Blydeverwacht, and finally settled at
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 202 ...
.
* The
ǃAman (Bethanie Orlam) subtribe settled at
Bethanie at the turn of the eighteenth century.
* The
Kaiǀkhauan (Khauas Nama) subtribe formed in the 1830s, when the Vlermuis clan merged with the Amraal family.
Their home settlement became Naosanabis (now
Leonardville), which they occupied from 1840 onward.
This clan ceased to exist after military defeat by
Imperial German ''
Schutztruppe
(, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...
'' in 1894 and 1896.
* The
ǀHaiǀkhauan (Berseba Orlam) subtribe formed in 1850, when the Tibot and Goliath families split from the ǃAman to found
Berseba.
* The
ǀKhowesin
The ǀKhowesin (literally ''queen bees'', also: Witbooi Nama or Witbooi Orlam) are one of five clans of the Orlam people in Namibia. They originated from Pella in the Cape Colony in South Africa and migrated to South West Africa the 19th century, ...
(Witbooi Orlam) subtribe was the last to take up settlement in Namibia. They originated at
Pella
Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great.
On site of the ancient c ...
, south of the
Orange River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/ Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the n ...
. Their home town became
Gibeon.
Notable Oorlam people
*
Oude Ram Afrikaner
*
Klaas Afrikaner
*
Jager Afrikaner
*
Jonker Afrikaner
Jonker Afrikaner ( 1785, ''Roode Zand'' near Tulbagh, South Africa – 18 August 1861, Okahandja) was the fourth Captain of the Orlam in South West Africa, succeeding his father, Jager Afrikaner, in 1823. Soon after becoming ''Kaptein'', h ...
*
Christian Afrikaner
*
Jan Jonker Afrikaner
*
Hendrina Afrikaner
*
Amraal Lambert
*
Kido Witbooi
See also
*
Oorlams creole
*
Coloured
Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...
*
Griqua people
The Griquas (; af, Griekwa, often confused with ''!Orana'', which is written as ''Korana'' or ''Koranna'') are a subgroup of heterogeneous former Khoe-speaking nations in Southern Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Cap ...
*
Baster
The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from white European men and black African women, usually of Khoisan origin, but occasionally also enslaved women from the Cape, ...
s
*
Nama people
Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Nama language of the Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama also speak Afrikaans. The Nama Pe ...
*
Khoikhoi
Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...
*
Goffal
Notes
Further reading
*
{{authority control
Afrikaner culture in Namibia
History of Namibia
Afrikaner diaspora
Ethnic groups in Namibia
Ethnic groups in South Africa
Multiracial affairs in Africa