Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History

Description

Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History brings together the work of experienced academics and a new wave of young Namibian historians - architects of the past. They are working on a range of public history and heritage projects, from late nineteenth century resistance to the use of songs; from the role of gender in SWAPO’s camps to memorialisation; and from international solidarity to aspects of the history of Kavango and Caprivi. In a culturally and politically diverse democracy such as Namibia, there are bound to be different perspectives on the past, and history will be as plural as the history-tellers. The chapters in this book reflect this diversity, and combine to create a remarkable collection of divergent voices, providing alternative perspectives on the past. The book writes ‘forgotten’ people into history; provides a reading of the past that reflects the tensions and competing identities that pervaded ‘the struggle’; and deals with ‘heritage that hurts’.

Sujets

• Histoire
• South
• History
• Africa

Informations

• Publié par: University of Namibia Press
• Date de parution: 13 juillet 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789991642284
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 16 Mo

Extrait

ReViewing Resistance in Namibian History

Edited by Jeremy Silvester

ii Jeremy Silvester

University of Namibia Press www.unam.na Private Bag 13301 Windhoek Namibia

© ‘Introduction: Re-Viewing Resistance, Liberating History’, Jeremy Silvester, 2015 © Individual chapters, stated authors, 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any re- trieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, e.g. electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the author.

Earlier versions of the chapters in this book were presented at a conference organised by the AACRLS project, 7-9 December 2009.

AACRLS Archives of the Anti-Colonial Resistance and the Liberation Struggle

First Published: Cover photograph: Design and layout: Printed by:

ISBN: 978-99916-42-27-7

2015 © John Liebenberg 1985 John Meinert Printers, Windhoek John Meinert Printers, Windhoek

Distribution: In Namibia by Demasius Publications: www.demasius-publications.com In South Africa by Blue Weaver: www.blueweaver.co.za Internationally by the African Books Collective: www.africanbookscollective.com

Contents

Introduction: Re-Viewing Resistance, Liberating History iii

List of Contributors...................................................................................................... v

List of Abbreviations................................................................................................. viii

Map of Namibia .......................................................................................................... ix

Introduction: Re-Viewing Resistance, Liberating History .......................................... 1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Transforming the Traumatic Life Experiences of Women in Post-Apartheid Namibian Historical Narratives ....................................................................... 22 Ellen Ndeshi Namhila

Hendrik Witbooi and Samuel Maharero: The Ambiguity of Heroes ............... 38 Werner Hillebrecht

The Vagciriku-Lishora Massacre of 1894 Revisited ....................................... 55 Shampapi Shiremo

Revolutionary Songs as a Response to Colonialism in Namibia ..................... 71 Petrus Angula Mbenzi

Of Storying and Storing: ‘Reading’ Lichtenecker’s Voice Recordings ............ 89 Anette Hoffmann

Colonialism and the Development of the Contract Labour System in Kavango ........................................................................................ 105 Kletus Muhena Likuwa

Liberals and Non-Racism in Namibia’s Settler Society? Advocate Israel Goldblatt’s Engagement with Namibian Nationalists in the 1960s ............... 127 Dag Henrichsen

The Caprivi African National Union (CANU) 1962–1964: Forms of Resistance ....................................................................................... 148 Bennett Kangumu Kangumu

Brendan Kangongolo Simbwaye: A Journey of ‘Internal’ Exile .................... 160 Bennett Kangumu Kangumu

The Kavango Legislative Council ................................................................. 170 Aaron Nambadi

iv Contents

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

The 1978 Election in Namibia ....................................................................... 178 Timoteus Mashuna

Waking the Dead: Civilian Casualties in the Namibian Liberation Struggle ....................................................................... 192 Jeremy Silvester and Martha Akawa

Okongo: Case Study of the Impact of the Liberation Struggle in the Ohangwena Region .................................................................................. 207 Lovisa Tegelela Nampala

The Liberation Struggle Inside Namibia 1966-1989: A Regional Perspective from the Kavango Regions ..................................... 221 Herbert Kandjimi Karapo

The Gendered Politics of the SWAPO Camps during the Namibian Liberation Struggle ....................................................................... 240 Martha Akawa

Solidarity with Liberation in Namibia: An Analytical Eyewitness Account from a West German Perspective........... 252 Reinhart Kössler

Finnish Solidarity with the Liberation Struggle of Namibia: A Documentation Project................................................................................ 266 Pekka Peltola

Colonial Monuments in a Post-Colonial Era: A Case Study of the Equestrian Monument .................................................................................... 276 Helvi Inotila Elago

Comment: Colonial Monuments – Heritage or Heresy? ............................... 292 André du Pisani

Heritage Education in the School Curriculum: A Critical Reection........298.... Gilbert Likando

Index ....................................................................................................................... 307

About the cover photograph .................................................................................... 317

Introduction: Re-Viewing Resistance, Liberating History v

List of Contributors

Martha Akawa(PhD in History, University of Basel; MA History, University of Western Cape) is a History Lecturer and Head of Department for Geography, History and Environmental Studies at the University of Namibia. A revised version of her PhD thesis, entitledThe Gender Politics of the Namibian Liberation Struggle, was published in 2014 by Basler Afrika Bibliographien. Her areas of interest include heritage issues and Namibian history, particularly the liberation struggle. Email: [e-mail]

André du Pisani(PhD in Philosophy, University of Cape Town) retired at the end of 2013 as Professor of Politics at the University of Namibia. He has published widely on the politics of Namibia and Southern Africa. He is also a photographic artist, collector of visual art, and a published poet.

Helvi Inotila Elagocurrently studying for an MA in Heritage Management at is the Athens University of Economics and Business and University of Kent. She was previously a Programme Assistant in Namibia for fesmedia Africa, the media project of the Fredriech-Ebert-Stiftung; worked at the UNESCO Windhoek Cluster ofîce as a Culture Programme Assistant; and was a researcher and co-author of the report entitled Heritage into Education: Education into Heritage, for the Namibian National Institute for Educational Development (NIED). She has also worked on the exhibition plan for the proposed City of Windhoek Museum. Email: [e-mail]

Dag Henrichsen(PhD in History, University of Hamburg) is a Namibian historian and archivist at the Basler Afrika Bibliographien (Namibia Resource Centre and Southern Africa Library) in Switzerland. He has published widely on Namibia’s (visual) history in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

Werner Hillebrechtgrew up in Germany. His involvement in the international anti- apartheid movement prompted him to begin documentary work on Namibia in the 1970s. He catalogued Namibia-related material in over 90 European libraries and the United Nations Institute for Namibia (UNIN) in Lusaka, Zambia, creating the foundations for the Namibian bibliographic database (NAMLIT), now housed at the National Library. He worked at the University of Bremen Centre for African Studies, and its Windhoek afîliate CASS (1986-1991), the National Archives of Namibia (1992-1995), the National Library of Namibia (1995-2002) and again at the National Archives from 2002. He retired from the post of Head of Archives in March 2013 but continues to work at the National Archives. He has published many bibliographies and articles on library matters and Namibian history. Email: [e-mail]

Anette Hoffmann(PhD in Cultural Studies, Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis) is a senior researcher at the Archive and Public Culture Research Initiative at the University of Cape Town, where she works on colonial sound/voice archives. She has published on sound recordings in recent years, and also curated the exhibition ‘What We See. Images, Voices, and Versioning’, which toured Europe and South Africa and was shown at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre in Windhoek in 2013.

Bennett Kangumu Kangumu(PhD in Historical Studies, University of Cape Town) is a Lecturer in the Department of Geography, History and Environmental Studies at the University of Namibia (UNAM), and Director of the UNAM Katima Mulilo Campus.

vi List of Contributors

His research interests are in the areas of political history, cross-border histories, identity formation, historical representations/public history (museums, festivals, memorials), and languages. Email: [e-mail]

Herbert Kandjimi Karapo (BEd majoring in History, University of Namibia; MA, University of Cape Town) is Principal of Mupini Combined School in Kavango West. He was born in Tsumkwe in eastern Namibia, and schooled at Rupara Combined School, Kandjimi Murangi Secondary, and Rundu Secondary Schools.

Reinhart Kössler is Director of the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute, Freiburg i.B., Germany, and Professor in the Politics Department of the University of Freiburg. Besides a regional focus on Southern Africa, his research includes social and development theory, political sociology, and memory politics. He is author ofIn Search of Survival and Dignity. Two Traditional Communities in Southern Namibia under South African Rule (2005) and a forthcoming bookNegotiating the Past: Namibia and Germany. Email: [e-mail]

Gilbert Likandoin Adult Education and Community Studies, University of (PhD Namibia; MA in Social Science, University of Salford, United Kingdom) is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Namibia (UNAM) and Director of the UNAM Rundu Campus. His research interests are in the area of education and heritage studies, on which he has published many articles and book chapters. Email: [e-mail]

Kletus Muhena Likuwa(BA in History and English, University of Namibia; MA and PhD, University of the Western Cape (UWC)) is a full-time researcher with the Land Programme of the Multidisciplinary Research Centre of the University of Namibia. He was born and grew up in the Kavango Region of north-east Namibia, matriculating later from Centaurus High School in Windhoek. He taught at Rundu Secondary School and in the History and Anthropology Departments at UWC. After completing his doctorate, he worked as a researcher on Indigenous Knowledge Systems before his current posting. Email: [e-mail]

Timoteus Mashuna(BEd, University of Namibia; MA in African Studies, majoring in History and Social Anthropology, University of Basel, Switzerland) is a Curator at the Namibian Ministry of Veterans Affairs, and a freelance journalist writing for the ‘Heroes and Heroines’ Column in New Era newspaper. Email: [e-mail]

Petrus Angula Mbenzi(PhD in Language Studies, University of Namibia) is a Lecturer in Oshiwambo at the University of Namibia. He has authored several Oshiwambo school books. His recent publications includeOshiwambo common phrases and expressions andfor beginners Oshiwambo .Oshiwambo common phrases and expressions was translated into Rukwangali, Silozi, Setswana, Otjiherero and Khoekhoegowab. His research interests include Oshiwambo onomastics and Oshiwambo language and culture. Email: [e-mail]

Aaron Nambadi(BA in History and English, University of Namibia; MA in Visual and Public History, University of the Western Cape) is the head of the new City of Windhoek Museum, and helped organise a reunion of former residents of the Old Location to gather material for the museum. He served as Vice-Chairperson of the Museums Association of Namibia for a three-year term and is the current Chairperson. He previously worked as a teacher and a researcher for the Archives of Anti-Colonial Resistance and the Liberation Struggle Project, at the National Archives of Namibia. His MA thesis was on the Kavango Legislative Council.

List of Contributors  vii

Ellen Ndeshi Namhila(MSc) in Library and Information Science at the University of Tampere, Finland; PhD candidate, University of Tampere) is the University Librarian at the University of Namibia. Educated in Angola, Zambia, The Gambia and Finland, she has published widely and is author of the 1998 Mbapira award-winningThe Price of Freedom (1997);Kahumba Kandola Man and Myth: the Biography of a Barefoot Soldier (2005);Tears of Courage: Five Mothers Five Stories One Victory (2009); andMukwahepo – woman, soldier, motherShe worked as Director of the (2013). Namibia Library and Archives Service in the Namibian Ministry of Education (1999- 2007); Deputy Director: Research, Information and Library Services at the Namibian National Assembly (1995-1999); and as a researcher/librarian at the Social Sciences Division of the University of Namibia (1993-1995). She also served as Vice President of UNESCO’s International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World (2007- 2010); Chairperson of the National Heritage Council of Namibia (2005-2010); and prepared the nomination dossier for the Namibian site of Twyfelfontein to be included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. She was an IFLA Governing Board member (2013- 2015), and has been on the IFLA Journal Editorial Committee since 2008. Email: [e-mail] or [e-mail] Lovisa Tegelela Nampala(MA in History, University of Namibia) is a History teacher at Uukelo Combined School in the Ohangwena Region. Her MA thesis interrogated the impact of Christianity on traditional practices in northern Namibia and a revised version was published in L. Nampala and V. Shighwedha (eds),Aawambo Kingdoms, History and Cultural Change. Perspectives from Northern Namibia (2006). She is currently researching the history of Ondangwa and its historical role in the contract labour recruiting system. Email: [e-mail] Pekka Peltola(PhD, University of Helsinki) is a Nordic Africa Institute Associate Special Expert. His doctoral thesis was published asLost May Day. Namibian The Workers Struggle for Independence. In addition to a number of articles published in Finnish, he co-authored the bookFinland and National Liberation of Southern Africa with Iina Soiri in 1999 and his bookAfrikassa, on more general issues concerning Southern Africa, including Namibia, was published in 2011. His latest book,Päätä seinään (Pushing against the Wall. The Life of an Idealist), published in 2014 by Into Publishers, Helsinki, discusses aspects of Finnish politics (1963-2005). He is planning a comparative study on Namibia and Botswana – close but interestingly different neighbours. Email:Pekka.peltola@kolumbus.î Shampapi Shiremo(BEd, Bachelor of Law, and MA in History, University of Namibia) is Head of Department for Social Sciences at Hochland High School in Windhoek. He was born at Mamono, near Nyangana Roman Catholic Mission Station in north-east Namibia. He did his primary schooling at Nyangana and secondary education at Linus Shashipapo and Rundu Senior Secondary schools. Email: [e-mail]

Jeremy Silvester (MA, University of York; PhD, SOAS, University of London) is the Project Planning and Training Ofîcer with the Museums Association of Namibia. He previously worked as a Lecturer in the History Department of the University of Namibia. He has published extensively on Namibia’s history and heritage, including the following publications:Dodging Disaster(2013),Consuming Culture(2012),The Heritage Handbook (2011),Posters in Action (2009),Words Can Never Be Found: An Annotated Reprint of the Blue Book (2003),The Colonising Cameraand (1999) Namibia Under South African Rule(1998). Email: [e-mail]

viii Jeremy Silvester

List of Abbreviations

AAB AACRLS AKTUR ANC CANU ELCIN ELOC FELM FINNIDA FNLA GDR ISSA MPLA NAN NUDO OMEG PLAN SADF SWA SWABC SWACO SWANLA SWAPO SWATF UN UNIN UNIP UNITA UNSWP WNLA ZANU

Anti-Apartheid Bewegung (West German Anti-Apartheid Movement) Archives of Anti-Colonial Resistance and the Liberation Struggle Aksienfront Vir Die Beihoud Van Die Turnhalle-Beginsels (Action for the Retention of the Turnhalle Principles) Africa National Congress Caprivi African National Union Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission Finnish International Development Agency Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) German Democratic Republic Information Service Southern Africa Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) National Archives of Namibia National Unity Democratic Organisation Otavi-Minen-und Eisebahngesellschaft (Otavi Mining and Railway Company) People’s Liberation Army of Namibia South African Defence Force South West Africa South West Africa Broadcasting Corporation South West Africa Company South West Africa Native Labour Association South West Africa People’s Organisation South West Africa Territorial Force United Nations United Nations Institute for Namibia United Independence Party (Zambia) União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) United National South West Party Witwatersrand Native Labour Association Zimbabwe African National Union

Map of Namibia

Angola

Introduction: Re-Viewing Resistance, Liberating History ix

Oshakati OHANGWENA Ongwediva Opuwo Ondangwa OSHIKOTO KAVANGO Rundu OSHANA WEST KUNENE OMUSATI KAVANGO EAST Skeleton Coast Park Etosha National Park Tsumeb Grootfontein OTJOZONDJUPA Fransfontein Otjiwarongo Khorixas Okakarara OMAHEKE Dorob National Park ERONGO

Swakopmund Walvis Bay

Lüderitz

Okahandja Windhoek

KHOMAS Rehoboth

HARDAP

Namib Naukluft Park

Gobabis

Mariental

Keetmanshoop

|| KARAS

Botswana

South Africa

Zambia Katima Mulilo ZAMBEZI

In 2013 the Kavango Region was divided into Kavango East and Kavango West and the Caprivi Region was renamed ‘Zambezi’.