From a very early period, groups of foragers and hunters speaking Khoé and San languages were scattered across northern and north-eastern Namibia. Their economies differed from the centralized agricultural kingdoms farther east and north, although hunting and foraging remained important throughout the region. The extract emphasizes their continued presence in nineteenth-century northern Namibia.

The Hai||om lived in Ovambo during the nineteenth century. San-speaking Ju||’hoansi and Khoé-speaking ||Ani-Khoe, described as river-bank dwellers, inhabited many parts of the north-east. These communities occupied landscapes also used by Bantu-speaking populations whose livelihoods included fishing, farming, and herding.

The ||Ani-Khoe were associated with the Linyanti River, which later formed the southern boundary of the Caprivi Strip. The extract also places the Bantu-speaking Yeyi in this river environment, showing how the north-east contained overlapping communities linked to waterways, foraging, fishing, and movement.