# Red Nation (Namibia)

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The **Red Nation** (naq: ***Khaiǁkhaun***) is the main subtribe of the [Nama people](/source/Nama_people) in [Namibia](/source/Namibia) and the oldest Nama group speaking [Khoekhoegowab](/source/Khoekhoegowab), the language often called Damara/Nama.

The main settlement of the Red Nation is [Hoachanas](/source/Hoachanas), a small settlement in southern central Namibia, today part of the [Hardap Region](/source/Hardap_Region).[1]

## History

### Pre–colonial period

The word *Khaiǁkhaun* means "great defender" in Khoekhoe, from ǁkhau, "defend". There is no agreement as to where the name *Red Nation* originated from. [Heinrich Vedder](/source/Heinrich_Vedder) claims that the Khaiǁkhaun called themselves ǀAwa-khoi, "red people", whereas [Klaus Dierks](/source/Klaus_Dierks) declares that the Europeans later nicknamed the tribe *Red Nation*. In any case, the attribution is a reference to their slightly reddish face color.[1][2]

The first [Kaptein](/source/Tribal_chief) of the Khaiǁkhaun was ǂHâb who unified most of the Nama clans at the end of the 17th century. After ǂHâb's death in 1710 the [ǁKhauǀgoan](/source/%C7%81Khau%C7%80goan) (Swartbooi Nama) and the [ǂKharoǃoan](/source/%C7%82Kharo%C7%83oan) (Keetmanshoop Nama) were the first Nama groups to leave the union[3] and to settle at [Rehoboth](/source/Rehoboth,_Namibia) and [Keetmanshoop](/source/Keetmanshoop), respectively. Later other groups split from this union one by one and settled at different places in central and southern Namibia,[4] but the Red Nation is still regarded as the main Nama faction.[1]

With [Manasse ǃNoreseb](/source/Manasse_%C7%83Noreseb)'s ascent to chieftaincy in 1880, hostilities started between the Red Nation and other Nama clans. [Hendrik Witbooi](/source/Hendrik_Witbooi_(Nama_chief)), leader of the [ǀKhowesin](/source/%C7%80Khowesin) (Witbooi Nama) was an archenemy of Manasse. His superiority in power forced the Red Nation into alliances with other Nama factions such as the [ǁOgain](/source/%C7%81Ogain) (Groot Doden) and the [ǀHaiǀkhauan](/source/%C7%80Hai%C7%80khauan) (Berseba Orlam), but also the [Ovaherero](/source/Ovaherero), and later the [Imperial](/source/German_Empire) colonial administration of [German South-West Africa](/source/German_South-West_Africa).[5]

Witbooi attacked Hoachanas several times and broke the resistance of the Khaiǁkhaun. He installed a rival chief, ǃHoeb ǁOasemab ([Fritz Lazarus ǁOaseb](/source/Fritz_Lazarus_%C7%81Oaseb)) and confiscated the land of the Red Nation. The German protection treaty did not help, the Germans never had the intention to help single parties within the same tribe. [Heinrich Vedder](/source/Heinrich_Vedder) opined that Witbooi's plan was to defeat the Nama tribes one by one, lease the land back to them after he conquered it, and gain the position of a Nama Paramount Chief in the process.[6]

### German colonial period

When the [Herero and Nama War](/source/Herero_and_Nama_genocide) broke out in which the Germans attacked the indigenous Herero and Nama in [German South-West Africa](/source/German_South-West_Africa), Manasse ǃNoreseb and Hendrik Witbooi ceased their hostilities and fought together against the *[Schutztruppe](/source/Schutztruppe)* ("protection force", the units deployed to the German colonies). The Red Nation under Manasse, with only 100 armed men, took over the defense of the central eastern area of [Aranos](/source/Aranos), [Leonardville](/source/Leonardville,_Namibia), [Aminuis](/source/Aminuis), and Hoachanas.[5]

The German Empire's *Schutztruppe* defeated both the Nama and the Herero during this war. Manasse ǃNoreseb and Hendrik Witbooi died in 1905, survivors were detained in [concentration camps](/source/Concentration_camp), much the same way as the British had set up camps for forced labour in their [colony of South Africa](/source/Union_of_South_Africa) during the [Anglo-Boer War](/source/Anglo-Boer_War) of 1899–1902. Thousands of people, including women and children, died in these concentration camps from illness, neglect, and malnutrition,[7] leading to a [genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples](/source/Herero_and_Nama_genocide).[8][9]

After the defeat in the war, Namas were displaced all over the country, and even deported to the German colonies of [Togoland](/source/Togoland) and [Kamerun](/source/Kamerun).[7] The ethnical structures of the Nama people were destroyed; the Red Nation only got a new chief in 1922.[5]

## Traditional leaders

The following people have been chiefs of the Red Nation since the foundation of that tribe in 1695:[3]

1. ǂHâb (1695–1710)
1. ǁKhomab ǂHâmab (1710–1725)
1. ǁKhaub gaib ǁKhomab (1725–1740)
1. ǂÔ-ǁnâib ǁKhaumab (1740–1755)
1. ǀHanab ǂÔǁnâimab (1755–1770)
1. ǃGaob ǀHanamab (1770–1800)
1. Gaméb ǃGaomab (1800–1814)
1. Tsawúb Gamab (1814–1824)
1. !Na-khom Gamab (1824–1840)
1. ǁOaseb !Na-khomab (1840–1867)
1. ǂGoraxab ǀOasib (Barnabas, 1867–1871)
1. Gôbeb ǂGoraxab (Petrus, 1871–1880)
1. Manasse !Noreseb Gamab (1880–1905)
1. ǃHoëb ǁOaseb (Fritz Lazarus, 1922–1936)
1. Noach Tsai-Tsaib (1936–1948)
1. Matheus Kooper (1948–1986)
1. Petrus Simon Moses Kooper (since 1988)

## References

### Notes

1. Dierks, Klaus (3 December 2004). ["The historical role of the Nama nation"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160326183424/http://www.republikein.com.na/politiek-en-nasionale/the-historical-role-of-the-nama-nation.45136.php). *[Die Republikein](/source/Die_Republikein)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.republikein.com.na/politiek-en-nasionale/the-historical-role-of-the-nama-nation.45136.php) on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2011.

1. Vedder 1997, pp. 126f.

1. Dierks, Klaus. ["Hoachanas Heroes Day, 2004"](https://www.klausdierks.com/Chronology/Hoachanas_01.12.2004.htm). klausdierks.com. Retrieved 28 October 2011.

1. Malan, Johan S (1998). *Die Völker Namibias* [The Tribes of Namibia] (in German). Windhoek, Göttingen: Klaus Hess. pp. 120–125.

1. Shiremo, Shampapi (28 October 2011). ["Kaptein Manasse !Noreseb: The political strategist and gallant freedom fighter against German colonialism"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111029174415/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=41390). *[New Era](/source/New_Era_(Namibia))*. Archived from [the original](http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=41390) on October 29, 2011.

1. Vedder 1997, pp. 645–647.

1. Dierks, Klaus. ["Biographies of Namibian Personalities, W"](https://www.klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_W.htm). Retrieved 1 November 2011.

1. [Olusoga, David](/source/David_Olusoga) and Erichsen, Casper W (2010). *The Kaiser's Holocaust. Germany's Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism*. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-23141-6

1. Levi, Neil & Rothberg, Michael (2003). *The Holocaust: Theoretical Readings*. Rutgers University Press. p. 465. ISBN 0-8135-3353-8.

### Literature

- Vedder, Heinrich (1997). *Das alte Südwestafrika. Südwestafrikas Geschichte bis zum Tode Mahareros 1890* [South West Africa in early times; Being the story of South West Africa up to the date of Maharero's death in 1890.] (in German). 7th ed. Windhoek: Namibia Scientific Society. ISBN 0-949995-33-9.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Red Nation (Namibia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Nation_(Namibia)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Nation_(Namibia)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.