Heritage Day Celebration at Oudemolen Village

It gives me great pleasure, as a representative of the Khoe and San Active Awareness Group (KSAAG), to invite you and your family to, the Heritage Day Celebration on 24 September 2009 at the Oudemolen Village in Pinelands, 12:00pm. (The gathering will take place infront of the horse stable area on the location.)This location is of national and historic value as this was the very place where the First Khoe Dutch War in 1659 broke out (which was the first resistance against the Colonial Forces); this was also the place where part of the first separation/ segregation fence was erected to cut the First Nations from their ancestral land used for grazing of cattle. Furthermore this was also the very place where Paramount Chief Gogosoa's kraal was situated and where he came to his final resting place.

Khoe & San National Language Body Meeting

On request of Mr. Boichoko Moremi, Northern Province PanSALB Manager, the Chairperson of KSAAG attended the KSLB national meeting on 16 July 2009 at the PanSALB offices in Kimberley.

On the programme for the day, time was allocated between 11:35 – 13:00 for 3 presentations by:
• Mr.Louis Nel (Western Cape Department of Sport & Cultural Affairs- Language Unit) dealing with maintaining Partnerships
• Mr. Bradley van Sitters (Nama Activist- KSAAG Chairperson) focusing on Nama promotions, plans, challenges & Partnerships
• Mr. Billies Pamo (SASI- South African San Institute) discussing their progress in Platfontein and beyond)

Video Section

Maria performing a NAMA poem at the Sarah Baartman Event at UWC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqKsBvszdGw

1. ABOUT KSAAG 

Notes on the formation of the KhoeSan Active Awareness Group

KSAAG Mission Statement

For the first time in 1996, the South African Constitution included constitutional reference to Khoekhoe and San people. Article 6 (2) affirms: “Recognising the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of our people, the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages”. The majority of the languages recognized under apartheid were referred to as “indigenous”, which became the 11 official languages in 1994, but it however excludes the KhoeSan languages.

KSAAG Vision & Objectives

VISION

To campaign for the establishment of Nama as one of the official languages
To canvas the reawakening/ revival of cultural identity for the descendents of the Khoe San  

MISSION

To raise the level of public awareness around the Khoe Khoen and San cultures, and its influences on other languages and cultures.
To set processes in place for the preservation of Nama; which is one of the oldest yet one of the most endangered languages in Southern Africa

2. NEWS AND VIEWS

The Basic Introduction to the Nama language Workshops

Western Cape Nama Conference

NAMA KONFERENSIE VERSLAG OOR DIE  BEWUSTHEIDSVELDTOG IN DIE WES-KAAP

The strength of a culture is the strength of its language

On 2 November 2008, I stood along the ancestral graves of the |Khowese Nama people in Gibeon, Namibia, along the banks of the Great Fish River in Greater Namaqualand, north of the !Gurib (Orange-)river. The |Khowese Heroes Day Festival is a commemoration held on the day King Hendrik Witbooi (3rd King of the |Khowese) died in battle against the German authorities who occupied Namibia from the late 1800s. This year's Festival took place against the backdrop of the Celebration of the 30 years of continued and dedicated Chieftainship of the 8th King of the |Khowese people, Paramount King Dr. Rev. Hendrik Witbooi.

3. EVENTS & FESTIVALS

103rd /Khowese Annual Heroes Day Festival

A delegation of KSAAG members attended the 103rd /Khowese Annual Heroes Day Festival from the 29 October to 2 November 2008, on invitation from Tamen /Ui ╪Naseb. At this momentous event we received a warm welcome from the \Khowese Traditional Authority’s Paramount King Hon. Captain Rev. Dr. Hendrik Witbooi & Vice-Captain Christian Rooi, along with other Nama Royal House Representatives from Namibia. This was a historic occasion as the descendents of the Khoehoen and San from the Motherland in the Cape was uniting again with the elders from the Ancestral Fatherland, in the Greater Namaqualand, north of the !Garip.

 Read more about the 2008 Festival Programme

Speech of Paramount King Dr. Rev. Hendrik Witbooi

Speeches by Western Cape Delegation

 Speeches made at the Ceremony at the Ancestral Graves In Gibeon

Bradlox van Sitters !Gurub (KSAAG Representative in Gibeon, Namibia)

Ek wil hierdie geleentheid gebruik om dankie te sê vir Paramount King Dr. Rev. Hendrik Witbooi, kei gangans , en die Royal families van Greater Namaqualand ook vir hierdie kans om mense hier in Gibeon aan te spreek, groot dankie kei gangans.

 Ons het baie verloor in die Kaap; ons land, ons taal , ons kultuur... Ek voel vandag soos ʼn verlore seun wat terugkom na sy Pa toe en vra, "Pa (van ons nasie) vat my terug, want ek soek my regte taal my kultuur wat van my ontneem was."

Paramount King Hendrik Witbooi’s address to the KSAAG delegates

You can even go now to the symbolic grave of our great Kaptain Witbooi which is also the actual grave of King Isak Witbooi (5th King of the /Khowese). and put these stones there. (The grave next to this one which is also honoured on this day is of the bones repatriated from a massacre of the /Khowese community by German soldiers at Hoornkrantz in 1893.)

FROM !HU //GAIS (CAPE TOWN) MOTHERLAND TO KHAXUTSUS (GIBEON) FATHERLAND AND BACK

On 29 October 2008, dignitaries from Western Cape attended the 103rd Annual Heroes Festival of the |Khowese Traditional Authority in Gibeon, Namibia. The |Khowese Heroes Day Festival is a commemoration held on the day King Hendrik Witbooi (3rd King of the |Khowese) died in battle against the German authorities who occupied Namibia from the late 1800s. This year’s Festival took place against the backdrop of the Celebration of the 30 years of continued and dedicated Chieftainship of the 8th King of the |Khowese people, Paramount King Dr. Rev. Hendrik Witbooi.

Restoration of land and unity of people’ Ceremony

Ceremony Opening Address

Blessing by Niyabingi Priest Negus

Opening Prayer by Pedro Dausab

Pansalb Member, Teacher and Nama Workshop Facilitator, Pedro Dausab, graced the ceremony by an Opening Prayer in Nama. All those who attended formed a circle of love around the symbolic burial site of Chief Gogosoa on the Ouden Molen Grounds.

Welcoming Address

Ron Martin- Heritage Consultant

/Khowese Traditional Authority Representative- Tamen /Ui ‡Naseb

 KSAAG Delegation Speeches

Chief Basil Coetzee

Speeches made at OudeMolen, Cape Town at the Unity of Land and its People's Ceremony

The National Council of Khoe Chiefs in South Africa accepts this and I will submit it to the Council with great thanks and to be honoured to be in this position today. I also undertake on behalf of the National Council of Khoe Chiefs to return a similar document to brothers and sisters in Namibia with your permission. Baie dankie almal! U sal sien ek het nou n “gown” aan. Ek het u netnou verwelkom, maar nou is ek in n ander mode. A Mode that speaks straight to the heart to the point, because where we as a people are there are no place or space to speak and say, ”ah shame did I hurt someone’s feelings. No. That I leave for somebody else. So when I have this on and this authoritive staff in my hand, I speak truthfully. And we know that truth hurts. And love hurts, but truth I believe hurts more.

Sarah Baartman Ceremony in Hankey

Two representatives, Bradley van Sitters (CochoKhoe Council) and Brenton Edson, from KSAAG were invited to the Sarah Baartman Ceremony in Hankey, Eastern Cape, on Sat. 7 March 2009, which was also attended by Royal Khoe Khoe and San Chieftainships, Traditional Council Members, government officials and approximately 5 000 observers. The ceremony was a two prong event whereby it was moved the following day to the University of Western Cape.

4. RESEARCH DOCUMENTS  

Cruel Justice at the Cape 

But let us go back to the beginning and trace the awesome history of this infamous place and review the atrocities perpetrated there in the name of justice. There is not a square of ground in South Africa which has a more gory or shameful background than this quarter-acre of blood-soaked earth. The Castle Good Hope, though not finally completed until 1697, came into use officially in 1674 when the garrison took possession. During this period at the Cape only the Castle and a small settlement of burger dwellings existed. The Castle housed the Governor, the garrison and all the Dutch East India servants, including the Council of Justice.

A Journey into the Colourful and Fascinating history of the Cape
July / August 2004 – Volume 4 Issue 7 No. 40

DIE KHOI-KHOIN- EN SANTAALLANDSKAP VAN DIE WES-KAAP:  DIE VERLEDE, HEDE EN TOEKOMS

Hierdie navorsingsprojek het ‘n lang voorgeskiedenis.  Die gedagte het ontstaan by ‘n byeenkoms by “Poem se Voetrus” te Oudtshoorn oor die naweek van 10-12 Oktober 2000.  Verteenwoordigers van verskillende Khoingroepe het op uitnodiging van die Wes-Kaapse Taalkomitee hier vergader.  Verskillende projekte was bespreek en 17 aanvaar.  Die twee wat uiteinedlik werklikheid geword het, was hierdie navorsingsprojek en die Wes-Kaapse Taalkomitee se bewusmakingsveldtog (meer oor hierdie twee projekte in hoofstuk 4).  Tussen Maart 2001 en Maart 2002 is ‘n reeks vergaderings oor hierdie navorsingsprojek gehou.  Op die 8 tot 10 Maart 2002 vergadering te Knysna was die onderwerp van hierdie projek gefinaliseer.

KHOISAN PERSONAL ORNAMENTS FROM THE LATER STONE AGE

The purpose of my study is to determine variation within the manufacture of personal ornaments and how these functioned in a symbolic role within Khoisan society. The material of interest for my master thesis will be examined and analysed carefully under microscope, and a detailed description of size, weight, raw materials, wear traces etc. will be given. The focus will be set on the Nassarius kraussanius tick shell beads from Blombos Cave and OES beads. The N. kraussanius beads are similar to those from the 75.000 years old MSA levels at BBC, the oldest known personal ornaments yet recovered (d’Errico et al. 2005). My study will not entirely focus on the physical properties of the material, but also on the personal ornament’s social meanings and how they functioned symbolically within LSA societies. Ethnographic accounts of the Khoisan people in southern Africa will be useful in this matter.

 

5. INDIGENOUS POEMS, STORIES & PRAYERS  

Nama poem

Aboxan gowa                          Language of the Gods
//gûxan gowa                         Language of our forefathers
Ais gowatse                            my mother tongue
Ti gowatse                              my language

NAMA PRAYER- SIDA ÎTSE OUR FATHER

Nama story – The shepherd

ǂKam ǃũi-aob gye ǁẽib di gūna ǃhomi ǃna gye ǃũi hã i. ǀGui tsēb gye ǃgare-ǀuiï di ǃkhareï ei heiï di somi ǃna gye ǂnõa i, tsĩb gye ǁom tsĩ sĩgurase gye ǃgan-tana, tanaba ra ǃhororose. Ob gye ǁẽib ǁgūse gyere ǃũ beiraba ǃũi-aob ta ǃkamsa ǁgoa bi, ti gye ǂẽi. ǁNatib gye ǂnirase gye ǂhomisen, tsĩb gye ǁhei-ǂnu ei bi nĩse ǃgũṅ tsĩ ǀnĩ dā-ǃharoroti gose gye ǂgai-ǃoa-ǃoasen, tsĩb gye ǃũi-aob ei ǁhei-ǂnũ tsĩ ǁkhōse gye ǃkhā bi.

Asakai !Huba i Khoena /Gui/gui’

Restoration of land and unity of people Ceremony

On 29 October 2008, dignitaries from Western Cape attended the 103rd Annual Heroes Festival of the |Khowese Traditional Authority in Gibeon, Namibia. The |Khowese Heroes Day Festival is a commemoration held on the day King Hendrik Witbooi (3rd King of the |Khowese) died in battle against the German authorities who occupied Namibia from the late 1800s. This year’s Festival took place against the backdrop of the Celebration of the 30 years of continued and dedicated Chieftainship of the 8th King of the |Khowese people, Paramount King Dr. Rev. Hendrik Witbooi.