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Proud to Be a People: The Basters of Rehoboth, Namibia
| Article
# : |
16715 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1998 |
249 Words |
| Author
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Mark Downey
Mark Downey, a frequent contributor to the Culture section,
is
a freelance photographer based in California. |
They became a seminomadic people who both farmed and hunted. By the midnineteenth century, their number had grown to five thousand. Finally, in 1870, after many temporary stops, they settled in the area called Rehoboth, in what is now Namibia. Purchasing the land for a few head of cattle, they negotiated for political autonomy and, in 1885, signed a friendship treaty with the Germans (Namibia was a German colony at the time). During the First World War, however, the Basters refused to fight alongside the Germans. The Germans declared war on them in March 1915, but the fighting ended on May 8, when German forces withdrew. South Africa then seized control of the territory.
The Basters aspired for self-determination and gained some levels of autonomy and local government under South Africa's 1976 "Homelands" policy. Some Basters thought of themselves as an independent people within the borders of Namibia. Since March 21, 1990, when Namibia became an independent state with a multiparty democracy, Baster demands for independence have largely subsided.
Afrikaans-speaking and largely Lutheran Protestant--as are most Namibians--the Rehoboth settlement is now the largest Baster community in southern Africa. The people keep cattle and practice subsistence-level farming, and Baster migrant labor is found in nearby ports and mines. Numbering about thirty-five thousand, Basters account for 2 percent of Namibia's population. Their generations of intermixing have produced a spirited ethnic community that finally has a distinct identity and home. With evident pride, they affectionately refer to themselves as the Basters of Rehoboth.
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