Protected: San lands invaded in Namibia

Herero grave in Tsumkwe, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia. Since 2009 and partly because of a climate change induced drought, Herero pastoralists have been moving into Tsumkwe and their cattle are destroying the surrounding Nyae Nyae Conservancy, which is one of the two last surviving San lands in Namibia.

Tsamkxao ╪oma is the chief of the Ju|’hoansi at the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia. He has seen traditional ways of the Ju|’hoansi decline since the American anthropologist, Lorna Marshall, came to the area in 1951. ╪oma says, "The aim of the Conservancy was to preserve our future children and their children and their children's children but it doesn't look like we will achieve this goal because of people coming in with loads and loads of cattle."

Tsamkxao ╪oma is the chief of the Ju|’hoansi at the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia. His family surrounds him. He has seen traditional ways of the Ju|’hoansi decline since the American anthropologist, Lorna Marshall, came to the area in 1951. ╪oma says, "The aim of the Conservancy was to preserve our future children and their children and their children's children but it doesn't look like we will achieve this goal because of people coming in with loads and loads of cattle."

Xoan//a /ai!ae is on the managing committee of Nyae Nyae Conservancy. She tries to assist young Ju|’hoansi women who are facing an epidemic of rape, sexual assault, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse. /ai!ae says that, "When it was just the San community in Tsumkwe, we did not have these problems. But since 2009 when [Herero] farmers came in, that was when the issues started and has been non-stop from 2009 up to now."

Xoan//a /ai!ae is on the managing committee of Nyae Nyae Conservancy. She tries to assist young Ju|’hoansi women who are facing an epidemic of rape, sexual assault, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse. /ai!ae says that, "When it was just the San community in Tsumkwe, we did not have these problems. But since 2009 when [Herero] farmers came in, that was when the issues started and has been non-stop from 2009 up to now."

Xoan//a /ai!ae is on the managing committee of Nyae Nyae Conservancy. She tries to assist young Ju|’hoansi women who are facing an epidemic of rape, sexual assault, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse. /ai!ae says that, "When it was just the San community in Tsumkwe, we did not have these problems. But since 2009 when [Herero] farmers came in, that was when the issues started and has been non-stop from 2009 up to now."

Xoan//a /ai!ae is on the managing committee of Nyae Nyae Conservancy. She tries to assist young Ju|’hoansi women who are facing an epidemic of rape, sexual assault, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse. /ai!ae says that, "When it was just the San community in Tsumkwe, we did not have these problems. But since 2009 when [Herero] farmers came in, that was when the issues started and has been non-stop from 2009 up to now."

On Tsumkwe's main street. As an administrative centre, Tsumkwe falls under government control and not of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. The result is that people come into Tsumkwe with their cattle, which then wander into Ju|’hoansi lands. The cattle scare away game, which the Ju|’hoansi rely upon as a critical food source.

Sao ╪Oma is an attendant at Tsumkwe's only petrol station.

Zakutua Kandjiii (left) and Nguzerua Vindina (right) both belong to the Herero ethnic group. Dressed in their uniforms, they are on the way to the Tsumkwe Secondary School.

From left to right: Di//ao G╪kao, Xoan// Niani, Se//ae /Ai!ae, N//ing /Ai!ae, and Baqu /ui on the main street of Tsumkwe in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. While the Ju|’hoansi manage the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, the town of Tsumkwe is under government control and it is from the town that Herero cattle and goats spread out into the surrounding Conservancy. The Ju|’hoansi name for Tsumkwe is Tjum!|kui, which means 'poison arrows'. Note: the 'q' in 'Baqu' has two horizontal lines through the bottom half of it

Se//ae /Ai!ae. The Ju|’hoansi see their hunting and gathering traditions vital for the maintenance of their culture.

Xoan// N!ani. The Ju|’hoansi fear that their culture will die if cattle and goats continue to move into the Nyae Nyae Conservancy.

╪oma Tsamkxao (left), /ui /kunta (centre), Johannes Makalni (right) take a break from the sun at the Nyae Nyae Conservancy office in Tsumkwe.

Tsumkwe, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia. In 2020, a decade long drought (induced by climate change) broke with torrential rains not seen for at least a generation.

Herero goats and cattle spread out Tsumkwe into the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. This scares away the game and destroys the veldkos (bush food) that underpins both the food security and the culture of the Ju|’hoansi. Goats are particularly destructive.

Herero cow in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. The bell around the neck scares away the game that the Ju|’hoansi rely upon for food.

Herero cattle illegally grazing within Nyae Nyae Conservancy. ╪oma Tsamkxao, one of the leaders of the community, states that there are two sets of rules under the slogan One Nation, One Namibia, one for the San and one for everyone else: "Just go to Oshiwambo land and try to drive your cattle in, and see what happens to you. Immediately they will chase you out, you will get arrested."

With now scarce food resources from the invasion of cattle, the dogs of ╪omlolo village have little to scavenge.

╪omlolo village is one of the 38 villages in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, which has a total population of approximately 1450 people spread out over 9000km2.

G/aqo Kxao is the chief of ╪omlolo village. He says that if people continue to move into the area and cattle keep on spreading through Nyae Nyae “there will be no Conservancy. It will be a land grab. There will be no hope in the future. The San community will end up working for the farmers."

╪omlolo Village. Taking Instamax pictures is an instant hit with kids.

╪omlolo village is one of the 38 villages in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, which has a total population of approximately 1450 people spread out over 9000km2.

The flag of the ruling party in Namibia, SWAPO, in front of a Ju|’hoansi hut at ╪omlolo village. The village is one of the 38 villages in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, which has a total population of approximately 1450 people spread out over 9000km2.

N!aici cooking food aid at ╪omlolo village. Nyae Nyae is one of the last places where San people can still legally hunt. The Conservancy has strict rules on hunting: only traditional methods, such as bow and arrows, are allowed.

N!aici showing a government food parcel for the entire village of ╪omlolo. Food aid comes once or twice a year.

Cooking fire at ╪omlolo village.

Meal made from Namibian government food aid package. Owing to the invasion of Herero cattle, game and veldkos (bush food) are becoming increasing scarce.

Preparing steenbok skin for a traditional loincloth.

G/aqo Kxao, the chief of ╪omlolo village, prepares steenbok skin to make a loincloth but that tradition is under threat. He says that if people continue to move into the area and cattle keep on spreading through Nyae Nyae “there will be no Conservancy. It will be a land grab. There will be no hope in the future. The San community will end up working for the farmers."

Harvesting the medicinal Devil’s claw plant is one of the very few ways that people can earn cash, about R8000 for a family in a good year. G/aqo Kxao, the chief of ╪omlolo village, points out that, "Devil's claw is getting destroyed by the cattle." Veldkos is also being destroyed and Kxao predicts that "the people will be starving" if the cattle aren’t removed.

Inside a hut at ╪omlolo village. The village is one of the 38 villages in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, which has a total population of approximately 1450 people spread out over 9000km2.

The Ju|’hoansi at the Nyae Nyae Conservancy are one of the few San groups still allowed to hunt for game. The Conservancy has strict rules on hunting: only traditional methods, such as bow and arrows, are allowed.

Ju|’hoansi boy at ╪omlolo village, one of the 38 villages of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. The chief of the Ju|’hoansi, Tsamkxao ╪oma says, that “too many cattle overgrazing will cut down our tradition. Without the nature, there is nothing to show people, to your children. What does it mean to everyone? No culture. Culture will die.”

Ju|’hoansi boy at ╪omlolo village, one of the 38 villages of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. The chief of the Ju|’hoansi, Tsamkxao ╪oma says, that “too many cattle overgrazing will cut down our tradition. Without the nature, there is nothing to show people, to your children. What does it mean to everyone? No culture. Culture will die.”

Sarah Zungu, Senior Counsellor to the Traditional Authority of N#a Jaqna Conservancy, which is next to the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. Like the Ju|’hoansi, the !Xun and Khwe people of N#a Jaqna are trying maintain their culture and land in the face of land invasions.

Sarah Zungu standing before her house. She is a Senior Counsellor to the Traditional Authority N≠a Jaqna Conservancy, which borders the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. These are the only two San lands left in Namibia. She has received death threats because of her quest to protect !Xun, Khwe and Ju|’hoansi lands and culture.

Washing hanging up at Mangetti Dune, in N≠a Jaqna Conservancy which is just over 9100km2 and borders the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. About 2000 people (!Xun, Khwe and Ju|’hoansi) live in the Conservancy and they face the same problems as those in Nyae Nyae.

╪oma Tsamkxao (centre and surrounded by his family) is community leader active in efforts to protect the lives and culture of the Ju|’hoansi. The fortunes of his tour company have crashed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tourism was one of the few ways the Nyae Nyae Conservancy has been able to generate cash for the community.

╪oma Tsamkxao is community leader active in efforts to protect the lives and culture of the Ju|’hoansi. The fortunes of his tour company have crashed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tourism was one of the few ways the Nyae Nyae Conservancy has been able to generate cash for the community.

Evangeline Suos, a Ju|’hoansi netball player says that the game is “my talent but it has been really hard because I have never owned my own ball. The only place in Tsumkwe that has a ball is the school so sometimes I go there and play with the children. When Covid is over, I am going to try out for the police team and hopefully I will be able to get a job and then I will be able to play netball fulltime.”

Evangeline Suos, a Ju|’hoansi netball player says that the game is “my talent but it has been really hard because I have never owned my own ball. The only place in Tsumkwe that has a ball is the school so sometimes I go there and play with the children. When Covid is over, I am going to try out for the police team and hopefully I will be able to get a job and then I will be able to play netball fulltime.”

Evangeline Suos, a Ju|’hoansi netball player says that the game is “my talent but it has been really hard because I have never owned my own ball. The only place in Tsumkwe that has a ball is the school so sometimes I go there and play with the children. When Covid is over, I am going to try out for the police team and hopefully I will be able to get a job and then I will be able to play netball fulltime.”

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The town of Tsumkwe. The Ju|’hoansi name for Tsumkwe is Tjum!|kui, which means 'poison arrows'.

Tsumkwe, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia. In 2020, a decade long drought (induced by climate change) broke with torrential rains not seen for at least a generation.

Tsumkwe, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia. In 2020, a decade long drought (induced by climate change) broke with torrential rains not seen for at least a generation.