The Nama don’t always get the same recognition as the Herero in conversations about this genocide. I want to change that today.
“Those memories drove the Herero and Nama … to fight for freedom.”
Hendrik Witbooi was a Nama leader who resisted German colonialism with extraordinary courage. He was nearly 70 years old when he led his people back into armed resistance in 1904. He died in battle in 1905.
He knew he would likely lose. He fought anyway.
What Witbooi and the Nama understood is what Mama Namibia tries to honor: that resistance – even doomed resistance – is itself a form of dignity. A refusal to accept that your people’s existence is negotiable.
Three days until Namibia’s Genocide Remembrance Day, May 28th. 🇳🇦
How much did you know about the Nama people before this? I find some people know the Herero story but not theirs.