Red Nation (tribe)

The Red Nation (Khoekhoe: Khaiǁkhaun) is the main subtribe of the Nama people in Namibia and the oldest Nama group speaking Khoekhoegowab, the language often called Damara/Nama.

The main settlement of the Red Nation is Hoachanas, a small settlement in southern central Namibia, today part of the Hardap Region.

The word Khaiǁkhaun means "great defender" in Khoekhoe, from ǁkhau, "defend". There is no agreement as to where the name Red Nation originated from. Heinrich Vedder claims that the Khaiǁkhaun called themselves ǀAwa-khoi, "red people", whereas Klaus Dierks declares that the Europeans later nicknamed the tribe Red Nation. In any case, the attribution is a reference to their slightly reddish face color.

The first Kaptein of the Khaiǁkhaun was ǂHâb who unified most of the Nama clans at the end of the 17th century. After ǂHâb's death in 1710 the ǁKhauǀgoan (Swartbooi Nama) and the ǂKharoǃoan (Keetmanshoop Nama) were the first Nama groups to leave the union and to settle at Rehoboth and Keetmanshoop, respectively. Later other groups split from this union one by one and settled at different places in central and southern Namibia, but the Red Nation is still regarded as the main Nama faction.

With Manasse ǃNoreseb's ascent to chieftaincy in 1880, hostilities started between the Red Nation and other Nama clans. Hendrik Witbooi, leader of the ǀKhowesin (Witbooi Nama) was an archenemy of Manasse. His superiority in power forced the Red Nation into alliances with other Nama factions such as the ǁOgain (Groot Doden) and the ǀHaiǀkhauan (Berseba Orlam), but also the Ovaherero, and later the Imperial colonial administration of German South-West Africa.

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