18th century – 19th century
Central and southern Namibia, including the Gobabis area
The Khauas people were a Nama-speaking community whose political formation was connected to Oorlam and missionary networks. The group appears to have crystallised from the related Booys and Frederiks families, who had settled at Klipfontein, later Bethany, before leaving the Cape around the beginning of the nineteenth century. Under Piet Vlermuis and later leadership associated with Amraal Lambert, the Khauas moved through mission settlements and toward Gobabis.
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The Story
The Khauas people emerged as a coherent group through the movement and regrouping of families connected to the Cape frontier. They probably crystallised from the Booys and Frederiks families, who had settled at Klipfontein, later called Bethany. These families appear to have left the Cape around the beginning of the nineteenth century, partly because of possible conscription during the Dutch reoccupation of 1803–6 and partly because of Jacobus Boois’s illegal arms trading.
Unlike some Oorlam groups, the Khauas were formed under missionary influence. Piet Vlermuis, leader of an Oorlam group, settled with his people at the mission stations of Heirachabis and Bethany from 1813. In the 1830s he placed his people under the leadership of Amraal Lambert, who had arrived at Bethany in 1814. The group later moved with its followers to Naosonabis and then toward Gobabis.
The Khauas were part of a broader Nama-speaking political landscape that included the Kai||khaun, or Red Nation, and other communities in southern and central Namibia. Their history demonstrates how migration, mission stations, arms, and changing leadership contributed to the formation of political units that were not reducible to fixed ethnic categories.
18th century – 19th century
Central and southern Namibia, including the Gobabis area
The Khauas people were a Nama-speaking community whose political formation was connected to Oorlam and missionary networks. The group appears to have crystallised from the related Booys and Frederiks families, who had settled at Klipfontein, later Bethany, before leaving the Cape around the beginning of the nineteenth century. Under Piet Vlermuis and later leadership associated with Amraal Lambert, the Khauas moved through mission settlements and toward Gobabis.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Khauas people emerged as a coherent group through the movement and regrouping of families connected to the Cape frontier. They probably crystallised from the Booys and Frederiks families, who had settled at Klipfontein, later called Bethany. These families appear to have left the Cape around the beginning of the nineteenth century, partly because of possible conscription during the Dutch reoccupation of 1803–6 and partly because of Jacobus Boois’s illegal arms trading.
Unlike some Oorlam groups, the Khauas were formed under missionary influence. Piet Vlermuis, leader of an Oorlam group, settled with his people at the mission stations of Heirachabis and Bethany from 1813. In the 1830s he placed his people under the leadership of Amraal Lambert, who had arrived at Bethany in 1814. The group later moved with its followers to Naosonabis and then toward Gobabis.
The Khauas were part of a broader Nama-speaking political landscape that included the Kai||khaun, or Red Nation, and other communities in southern and central Namibia. Their history demonstrates how migration, mission stations, arms, and changing leadership contributed to the formation of political units that were not reducible to fixed ethnic categories.
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