The 2nd annual Nama Culture Festival returns bigger and better

The second annual Nama Culture Festival will be held on Friday and Saturday at Lokgwabe village, Kgalagadi North. The festival will attract members of the Nama community from Botswana and Namibia, as well as guests who include Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi, Kgalagadi South MP Frans Van Der Westhuizen and Gantsi North MP Noah Salakae.

Also expected to grace the event is a delegation from the University of South Africa Sol Plaatjie Institute and University of Botswana San Research Centre. Kgosi Molatole will welcome all the guests in a regal ceremony. According to the festival public relations officer, Nichodimas Cooper, the festival is growing in leaps and bounds. He divulged that opening a Trust has made it easier for stakeholders to come on board.

The German Embassy, European Union, Metropolitan Botswana and the National Museum sponsor the event. In an interview, Cooper told Vibe that they aimed to ensure that the Nama culture is celebrated and recognised.The Nama are derived from the Khoi Khoi. He explained that the event would begin with a trek to the Simon Cooper monument in Kaartlwe Pan, situated about nine kilometres from Lokgwabe. In 2011, the area was recognised as a national monument by the Botswana Museum. Simon Cooper, who passed on in 1913, is the chief who led the Nama people from Namibia to Botswana following the German wars.

“We always honour him and celebrate his legacy. In our culture we refer to chiefs as captains. Our Captain Cooper is celebrated for his resilience and strength in helping fight the Germans in Namibia,” he said. Cooper further noted that Simon Cooper, who is also known by his Nama name, /Gomxab, was the only Nama chief who died a natural death as the previous chiefs had all been killed by the Germans.

“He managed to evade being killed and would retreat to Botswana and fight the Germans from this side. We will share this history at the event,” he said. The Nama and Herero were amongst the ethnic African communities who fought against racial extermination and punishment meted on them by the Germans in then German South West Africa (now Namibia) between 1904 and 1907.

Approximately 10, 000 Nama people died during those wars. Cooper added that other activities at the festival would include Nama stap dances as well as other traditional dances, horse karding and parades as well as dramatic depiction of the German-Herero-Nama war and the cultural practices of the Nama people. “We will show how a boy child and girl child are raised. We will also show how we conduct affairs such as birth, marriage and so forth.” The Nama people are known for their colourful attires which they make themselves, and upbeat dance moves.