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Baster

Basters

Rehobothflag.svg

The flag of the Rehoboth Basters
Total population
25,181 (1981)
Regions with significant populations
Namibia
Languages
Afrikaans, English
Religion
Protestantism
Related ethnic groups
Coloureds, Khoikhoi, Namaqua, Griqua, Oorlam, Afrikaners

Rehobothflag.svg

The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers or Rehoboth Basters) are a Namibian ethnic group descended from European settlers and indigenous African women from the Dutch Cape Colony. Since the second half of the 19th century, they have lived in central Namibia, in and around the town of Rehoboth. In ancestral history, they are similar to the groups classified as Coloured or Griqua people in South Africa.

The name Baster is derived from bastaard, the Dutch word for "bastard" (or "crossbreed"). While some people consider this term demeaning, the Basters use it as a "proud name", claiming their ancestry and history, treating it as a cultural category in spite of the negative connotation. Their 6th Kaptein is Joseph McNab, elected in 1999; he has no official status under the Namibian constitution. The Chief's Council of Rehoboth was replaced with a local town council under the new government.

The current numbers of Basters remain unclear (figures between 20,000 and 40,000 are estimated.) The Basters are concerned that their unique minority heritage will be lost in modern Namibia. The government and society are dominated by the ethnic Owambo people, who constitute nearly half of the population.

The Basters were mainly persons of mixed-race descent who at one time would have been absorbed in the white community. This term came to refer to an economic and cultural group, and it included the most economically advanced non-white population at the Cape, who had higher status than the natives. Some of the Basters acted as supervisors of other servants and were the confidential employees of their white masters. Sometimes, these were treated almost as members of the white family. Many were descended from white men, if not directly from men in the families they worked for.


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