How the Khoikhoi society was organized Political Organization

The KHOI- KHOI (KHOI)

The Khoikhoi or Khoi were herders who settled on the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Natal coast near the Indian Ocean. They are also believed to be one of the earliest migrants of South Africa.

Like the San, the Khoikhoi belonged to the Bushrnoraid race. They were taller than the San, but like the San they were yellowish brown skinned and their language was full of a click sound but not croaks.

They are at times called Hottentots or Hottentoes- a name given to them by the early or first Europeans (Dutch) who met them. And called themselves Khoikhoi (meaning men of men)

Before they migrated and settled in South Africa, the Khoikhoi lived in Central and other parts of Eastern Africa. They were forced southwards by stronger and more organized Bantu speaking people.

By the time the Portuguese came, the Khoikhoi were living at Saldanha Bay. They reached the Cape in the thirteenth and fourteenth Centuries.

By the middle of the Seventeenth Century, the Khoikhoi were living around the Cape, along the banks of the Orange River and on the coast in Natal and over mucb of modem Namibia and the shores of the Table Bay and the Great Fish River.

At present the Khoikhoi live in South Africa and Namibia. The half breed Khoikhoi (Korannas) settled on the banks of the Orange and the Vaal Rivers. The other breed, the Namaquas settled in Namibia.

How the Khoikhoi society was organized

Political Organization

The Khoikhoi had no centralized system of government. However, they had a political system, which helped them manage their own affairs.

They lived in large camps or group each consisting of several related clans. In each camp was a village, which operated an independent political unit.

Each camp had a chief who ruled with the help of elders who headed the clan in that camp or village. The chief usually settled disputes between members of different clans in the camp. He even had powers to sentence a man to death.

However the chief's power was at times limited, for instance the relatives of the murdered person had a right to act or even kill the murderer without being restrained. Chiefs among the Khoikhoi were also responsible for the safety of the camps.

The chief’s among the Khoikhoi ruled through customary established practices, which defined their powers. The leading clan elders settled disputes among clan members. The chief of the group together with the different clan heads settled the differences between members of different. Among the Khoikhoi, the chief had clearer and heavier responsibilities.

The Khoikhoi held their political meetings in public and ordinary members were free to attend the proceedings. This kind of political organization of the Khoikhoi was better than that of the San.

Economic organization

The Khoikhoi were nomadic and largely grew no crops for food. They moved from place to place in search of pasture and water for their animals.

They were great herders who kept large flocks of fat tailed sheep. In order to supplement food provided by their animals, the Khoikhoi also carried out hunting, fishing and gathering of wild fruits, leaves, roots and insects. They also jealously guarded their hunting grounds.

It was rear for the Khoikhoi to slaughter their cattle for meat, but they only slaughtered them for important ceremonies or feasts. Their best food was milk. They also fed on honey, wild fruits, roots and fish. They killed wild animals by use of poisoned arrow heads.

The Khoikhoi practiced Iron working and pottery making. The San did not have these skills. They carried out barter trade with the Bantu and later with the Europeans, for instance the Dutch and Portuguese. They exchanged cattle and other related products for European goods like brass, copper, beads, cloth and porcelain, among others.

The Khoikhoi had a lot of mineral wealth. They also had permanent shelters, as Oxen carried their tents. The Khoikhoi had a stronger economy and lived in larger political groups, which included between 600 to 2,000 people.

Social organization

The nature of the economy among the Khoikhoi influenced their social organisation. They were always moving in order to get food, water and pasture. This meant that they could not have permanent settlements.

The Khoikhoi Lived in simple homesteads each consisting of a beehive shaped hut. The huts were made of reed mats or tents and could be carried by their Oxen when they moved.

The Khoikhoi boys underwent initiation where their hunting skills were tested, which prepared them for adulthood. Initiation was mainly performed at puberty.

Marriage among the Khoikhoi was more complex. It was only after initiation and marriage within the same clan was forbidden. The young couple stayed with the bride's parents until the birth of their first born child.

Sheep were presented to the bride's parents before the bride was taken and then the bride would go with her own animals as presents from her family, which remained her property in their new home.

Polygamy was widely practiced, but the Khoikhoi had few children. Many children would be a burden to Khoikhoi nomadic families.

They used traditional healing herbs as medicine, which skill was taught to their youths.

The Khoikhoi celebrated important occasions or moments like birth, puberty, marriage and death by sprinkling the personwith the gall of a sacrificial animal.

They danced at the new and full moon and treated the preying mantis with respect because it was a symbol of wealth and good fortune.

'Tsuiguab' (their god) was worshiped and believed to be the giver of rain, property and good health. He was called father of our father. The most important ceremony among the Khoikhoi was sacrifice to rain because they lived in dry areas. The Khoikhoi also believed in the soul of a dead person accompanied with a ghost.

Ghosts were thought to be responsible for harm and death. They were associated with their super natural being- Tsuiguab who was held responsible for sickness, shooting stars, eclipse of the moon and the sun.

Reasons for the migration of the Kboisan speakers in South Africa

Being nomadic they moved to search for hunting grounds and areas where they could advance normadism by necessity- being animal rearers.

They were forced to move southwards by stronger tribes especially the Bantu speakers.

They could not compete with these more advanced cultures.

Due to internal and external threats, some of the Khoisan speakers were absorbed by their enemies and others retreated southwards.

Many may have settled in South Africa due to terrible periods of drought and famine (food crisis).

For the Khoikhoi, they relied on hunting, fishing and gathering to supplement their diet - these activities forced them to wander in search for survival.

Clan disputes, conflicts with stronger tribes over animals, grazing lands -might have led to the migration of the Khoikhoi people in South Africa.

The outbreak of diseases contributed to the migration of the Khoisan speakers.

The San and the Khoikhoi only could move as long as their traditional land(s) were not invaded by people with better and strong weapons. Thus in face of these invaders in their cradle land; the hunters and herders had the choice to withdraw, be absorbed or migrate for South Africa.

Archaeologists and many historians say that having developed some stages of culture, which was appropriate for different environments (of climate and vegetation), the Khoisan speakers decided to move.

The man made crisis or conflicts that led to ‘overpopulationamong the Khoisan'

The climatic changes of in South Africa were important for people who lived as hunters and gatherers because new vegetation meant new animals and edible plants for which new weapons and tools might be needed.

The youth were tired of receiving orders from the elders on matters of land and the rigid customs. Others also moved because their neighbors, friends and relatives were also moving.

The youth were also wander- lust who wished to see what lay beyond their boundaries. In other words, they had the spirit of adventure.

Pressure on land to settle peacefully without conflicts.

The desire to export their social influence over other societies southwards.

Their parents’ home may have witnessed misfortunes that claimed many people including their children and women.

They might have experienced poor or no leadership in their homelands forcing them to move southwards.