Heinrich Vedder

Adi Inskeep

Heinrich Vedder's The Bergdama

Louis Fourie

Carl Hugo Linsingen Hahn

Published by the South African colonial administration in the late 1920s, the purpose of this book was to present to the League of Nations a short sketch of each of the principal "tribes" in Namibia. Three of the chapters were written by Heinrich Vedder ("The Herero", "The Namas", "The Berg Damara"), while the chapters on "The Owambos" and "The Bushmen" were written by C.H.L. Hahn and L. Fourie, two South African colonial officials. The articles are mainly concerned with "anthropological zoo-ism",and are quite interesting as a distillation of the prejudices of colonial officials and as a reflection of the knowledge they thought they had on the historical/ethnological background of the peoples in the territory. The interest of the authors lie in magico-religious beliefs and "superstition", physical characteristics, puberty and initiation rites, laws and customs, the holy fire, and marriage and courtship, while there is less information on social conditions, material culture, production and trade.The contributions by Vedder contain some sections on history, based on premises such as that "the history of the Berg Damaras commences with the history of missionary activities amongst them". There are several photos and a brief bibliography at the end of each chapter. (Eriksen/Moorsom 1989).

The Native Tribes of South West Africa

This book was originally published in 1966. This detailed study of the history of South West AFrica up to the date of Maharero's death in 1890 was originally published in German and appeared in an English version for the first time in 1938 when it was recognised as the first standard work on the subject. The author's extensive ethnological and linguistic studies made him especially well equipped to give a detailed account of the country and its people, and of the customs and languages of the different tribes. A considerable part of the book deals with the gradual colonization of the country by European pioneers whose various adventures are recorded in a mass of 'old notes, letters, reports and diaries'; and the historical side is supplemented by an ethological account of the native tribes. This is a scholarly work which, with its regard for folklore and tribal tradition as well as for the facts of history, must recommend itself to all lovers of South West Africa.

Heinrich Vedder

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