This book contains ninety-eight longer or shorter texts in which individuals who would later be considered Khoesan gave their opinions on the political, social and ecclesiological events and proposals of largely the middle decades of the nineteenth century, from around 1828 to the 1860s, with outliers in both cases. This, then, is a continuation, or perhaps a reformulation, of work which I have conducted over the years, notably on the Griquas of Philippolis and the Kat River Settlement.

Between them, I hope, these texts, properly understood, provide a window into the experience and understanding of European colonial suppression, which the Khoesan were the first people in Africa to undergo. Their reactions to the circumstances in which they found themselves, and which they attempted to forge to their own advantage, were of course highly specific. The conditions under which the Khoesan had to endure colonial conquest and subjugation were significantly different from those of other South African peoples. Nevertheless, these texts provide a commentary on colonial life which is at once unique in its detail and extent, at least for the period, and which also presented a model for later forms of African nationalism. This was devised, in part, on the basis of precolonial Khoesan ideas of worth and right, and so can form an example for those who still, or again, consider themselves to be of Khoesan descent. At the same time, the importance of the conversations between the Khoesan and the missionaries for the formulation of these texts cannot be overstated.

The backstory

Before the European conquest of South Africa, the south-western parts of the continent were inhabited by people who called themselves Khoekhoe and called those around them San. The distinction between the two was economic and, to some degree, linguistic. Neither group practised agriculture, except for some narcotics, but the Khoekhoe had very considerable herds of sheep and cattle, while the San lived as hunter-gatherers and raiders. The wealth of some Khoekhoe formed the basis for political power, and as a result there were a number of long-lasting political groupings. Nevertheless, that power had to be continually demonstrated, and chiefs could lose their authority with their stock.