2019-Namibia

The Damara belong to the most ancient peoples of Namibia. Their original culture was a mixture of archaic hunter-gatherer and herder cattle, goats and sheep. Due to their weak social structures, the Damara were unable to protect themselves from the aggressors during the colonization of Namibia. This is one of the reasons their culture is largely forgotten.

The Damara belong to the most ancient peoples of Namibia. Their original culture was a mixture of archaic hunter-gatherer and herder cattle, goats and sheep. Due to their weak social structures, the Damara were unable to protect themselves from the aggressors during the colonization of Namibia. This is one of the reasons their culture is largely forgotten.

The Damara are an ethnic group who make up 8.5% of Namibia's population. The majority live in the northwestern regions of Namibia, however they are also found widely across the rest of the country. They have no known cultural relationship with any of the other ethnicities anywhere else in Africa, and very little is known of their origin. It has been proposed that the Damara are a remnant population of South-Western Africa hunter-gatherers. Prior to 1870 the Damaran hunter-gatherer occupied most of central Namibia they used to practice pastoralism with sheep and cattle, but were also agriculturalist planting pumpkins, corn, tobacco. The Damaran were also copper-smiths known for their ability to melt copper and used to make ornaments, jewellery, knives and spear heads out of iron.