Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
m Dating maintenance tags: {{Cn}} |
||
| (30 intermediate revisions by 21 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
{{Short description|Southern African ethnic group}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{redir|Baster|the kitchen utensil|Basting (cooking)}}
{{Infobox ethnic group|
| group = Basters
| image = [[Image:Rehobothflag.svg|300px]]
| pop = 45,629 (2023 Census)<ref name="Census2023">{{cite web|url=https://census.nsanamibia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf|title=Namibia 2023 Population and Housing Census Main Report|publisher=Namibia Statistics Agency|access-date=2024-10-30|archive-date=10 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241110234059/https://census.nsanamibia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2023-Population-and-Housing-Census-Main-Report-28-Oct-2024.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| popplace = [[Namibia]]
| rels = [[Christianity in Africa|Protestantism]]
| langs = [[Afrikaans]]
| related = [[Afrikaners]], [[Coloureds]], [[Nama people|Nama]] ([[Oorlam]]), [[Griqua people|Griqua]]
}}
The '''Basters''' (also known as '''Baasters''', '''Rehobothers''', or '''Rehoboth Basters''') are a [[Southern Africa]]n ethnic group descended from [[Cape Coloureds]] and [[Nama people|Nama]] of [[Khoisan]] origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has been concentrated in central [[Namibia]], in and around the town of [[Rehoboth, Namibia|Rehoboth]]. Basters are closely related to [[Afrikaners]], Cape Coloureds, and [[Griqua people|Griquas]] of [[South Africa]] and [[Namibia]], with whom they share a
The name ''Baster'' is derived from "bastaard", the Dutch word for "[[Legitimacy (family law)|bastard]]"
▲The name ''Baster'' is derived from "bastaard", the Dutch word for [[Legitimacy (family law)|bastard]] (or "crossbreed"). While some people consider this term demeaning, the Basters [[Reappropriation|reappropriated]] it as a "proud name", claiming their ancestry and history, treating it as a cultural category in spite of the negative connotation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=A Concise History of the Rehoboth Basters until 1990|last1=Britz|first1=Rudolf|last2=Lang|first2=Hartmut|last3=Limpricht|first3=Corenlia|publisher=Klaus Hess Publisher|year=1999|isbn=9991674713|___location=Rehoboth|pages=12}}</ref> Their 7th Kaptein is Jacky Britz, elected in 2021;<ref name="Jason">{{Cite news | title=Britz elected Baster Kaptein …Van Wyk cries foul | last=Jason | first=Loide | newspaper=[[New Era (Namibia)|New Era]] | date=26 April 2021 | url=https://neweralive.na/posts/britz-elected-baster-kaptein}}</ref> he has no official status under the Namibian constitution. The Chief's Council of Rehoboth was replaced with a local town council under the new government.
▲The current numbers of Basters remain unclear; figures between 35,000<ref name="UNPO 2015"/> and 40,000 are estimated. Survival of the Baster culture and identity have been called into question in modern Namibia. Modern Namibia's politics and public life are largely dominated by the ethnic [[Ovambo people|Ovambo]] and their culture. Baster politicians and activists have called Ovambo policies oppressive towards their community.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newera.com.na/articles/50491/-Rehoboth-community-in-danger-of-extinction-|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130413155926/http://www.newera.com.na/articles/50491/-Rehoboth-community-in-danger-of-extinction-|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 April 2013|title=Rehoboth community in danger of extinction|last=Nunuhe|first=Margreth|date=18 February 2013|work=[[New Era (Namibia)]]}}</ref>
==History==
Line 24 ⟶ 23:
[[File:South African Sketches. Plate I. Out-Span - Charles Davidson Bell.jpg|thumb|right|Illustration of mixed-race "Afrikaner" [[Trekboer]] nomads in the Cape Colony, ancestral to the Baster people.]]
Basters were mainly persons of mixed-race descent who at one time would have been absorbed in the white community. This term came to refer to an economic and cultural group, and it included the most economically advanced non-white population at the Cape, who had higher status than the natives. Some of the Basters acted as supervisors of other servants and were the confidential employees of their white masters. Sometimes, these were treated almost as members of the white family. Many were descended from white men, if not directly from men in the families for whom they worked.{{cn|date=August 2025}}
The group also included [[Khoi]], [[Free Negro]], and persons of mixed-race descent who had succeeded in acquiring property and establishing themselves as farmers in their own right. The term [[Orlam]] (''Oorlam'') was sometimes applied to persons who could also be known as Baster. Orlams were the [[Khoi]] and [[Coloured]] (mixed-race) people who spoke Dutch and practised a largely European way of life. Some Basters distinguished themselves from the Coloured, whom they described as descendants of Europeans and [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malay]] or [[Indonesian people|Indonesian]] slaves brought to South Africa.
In the early 18th century, Basters often owned farms in the colony
After about 1780, increasing competition and oppression from whites in this area resulted in the majority of the Baster families moving to the frontier of the interior. They settled in the middle valley of the [[Orange River]], where they settled near [[De Tuin, South Africa|De Tuin]].<ref name="lang">{{cite journal|title=The Population Development of the Rehoboth Basters |author=Hartmut Lang|journal=Anthropos|volume= 93 |issue= 4./6 |date=1998 |pages=381–391|jstor=40464838}}</ref> Basters of the middle Orange were subsequently persuaded by [[London Missionary Society]] missionaries to adopt the name [[Griqua people|Griqua]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aridareas.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Allegra-Louw-Griqua-bibliography.pdf|title=Griqua identity|last=Louw|first=Allegra (comp.)|date=5 June 2019}}</ref> Some sources say they chose the name themselves in honour of an early leader.
===Move to central Namibia===
Line 37 ⟶ 36:
Basters announced their intention to leave the [[Cape Colony]] in 1868 to search for land in the interior north. About 90 families of 100 left the region, the first 30 in 1869, with others following. They settled in [[Rehoboth, Namibia|Rehoboth]] in what is now central [[Namibia]], on a high plateau between the [[Namib Desert|Namib]] and [[Kalahari Desert|Kalahari]] deserts. There they continued an economy based on managing herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. They were followed by [[Johann Christian Friedrich Heidmann]], a missionary of the Rhenish Mission, who served them from 1871 until his retirement in 1907.<ref name="lang"/>
By 1872, Basters numbered 333 in Rehoboth.<ref name="lang"/> They founded the Free Republic of Rehoboth (Rehoboth Gebiet) and designed a German-influenced national flag. They adopted a constitution known as the ''Paternal Laws'' (original title in {{
Basters established a community based on birth. Under these laws, a citizen is a child of a Rehoboth citizen, or a person otherwise accepted as a citizen by its rules.<ref name="lang"/> Families continued to join them from the Cape Colony, and the community reached about 800 by 1876, when 80 to 90 families had settled there. The area was also occupied by native [[Damara people]], but Basters did not include them in population reports.<ref name="lang"/>
While Basters remained predominantly based around Rehoboth, some Basters continued to trek northward, settling in the southern [[Angola]]n city of [[Lubango]]. There they became known as the ''Ouivamo.'' They had a similar culture based on maintaining herds of livestock.{{cn|date=August 2025}}
Through the 1870s, Basters of Rehoboth suffered frequent losses from their herds, with livestock raided and stolen by the much larger groups of surrounding [[Nama people|Nama]] and [[Herero people]]s, who were themselves in competition. In 1880, Jan Afrikaner gathered 600 men against the Herero, and different Nama groups mustered about 1,000 warriors, with the Herero fielding about the same number. Basters tried to make alliances to survive, as they were outnumbered by both sides.<ref name="lang"/> The wars continued until about 1884, and, while suffering losses, Basters continued.
Line 124 ⟶ 123:
South Africa passed the 'Rehoboth Self-government Act' of 1976, providing a kind of autonomy for the Basters. They settled for a semi-autonomous [[Basterland|Baster Homeland]] (known as ''Baster Gebiet'') based around Rehoboth, similar in status to the South African [[bantustan]]s.
This was established in 1976, and an election was held for Kaptein. In 1979, [[Johannes "Hans" Diergaardt]] won a court challenge to the disputed election, in which incumbent
In 1981, South West Africa had a population of one million, divided into more than a dozen ethnic and tribal groups, and 39 political parties. With not more than 35,000 people at the time, Basters had become one of the smaller minority groups in the country of over one million.<ref name="nyt"/>
Line 131 ⟶ 130:
===Independence===
The ''Baster Gebiet'' operated until 29 July 1989 and the imminent [[independence of Namibia]]. Upon assuming power in 1990, Namibia's new ruling party, the [[South West African People's Organisation]] (SWAPO), announced it would not recognise any special legal status for the Baster community. Many Basters felt that while SWAPO claimed it spoke for the whole country, it too strongly promoted the interests of its own political base in [[Ovamboland]].<ref name="nyt">[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/30/world/mixed-race-namibian-group-seeks-political-allies.html JOSEPH LELYVELD, Special to the New York Times, "MIXED-RACE NAMIBIAN GROUP SEEKS POLITICAL ALLIES"], ''New York Times'', 30 July 1981, accessed 9 April 2016</ref>
The Kaptein's Council sought compensation for Rehoboth lands that it claimed had been confiscated by the government, with much sold to non-Basters. The council was given ''locus standi'' (the right of a party to appear and be heard before a court), but "in 1995, a High Court verdict declared that Rehoboth lands were voluntarily handed over by the Rehoboth Baster community to the then new Namibian government."<ref name="challenge">[http://rehobothbasters.org/news/756-namibia-039-rehoboth-community-in-danger-of-extinction-039?id=756 Magreth Nunuhe, "Namibia: 'Rehoboth Community in Danger of Extinction' "]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, 18 February 2013, Rehoboth Basters website, first published in ''New Era (Namibia),'' accessed 9 April 2016</ref><ref name=padlangs/>
In 1998, Kaptein [[Hans Diergaardt]], elected in 1979 when Rehoboth had autonomous status under South Africa, filed an official complaint with the [[United Nations]] [[Human Rights Committee]], charging Namibia with violations of minority rights of Basters. In ''[[Diergaardt v. Namibia]]'' (2000) the committee ruled that there was evidence of linguistic discrimination, as Namibia refused to use [[Afrikaans]] in dealing with Basters.<ref>[http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/undocs/session69/view760.htm HRC views]</ref>
Line 139 ⟶ 138:
In 1999, following the death of Diergaardt, Basters elected [[John McNab]] as the 6th Kaptein of their community. He has no official status under the Namibian government. He has protested against the government's management of former Baster land and says his farmers were forced to buy it back at high prices. Much of it has been sold to others since independence.<ref name="challenge"/>
As preparations were underway for Sam Khubis Day in 2006, a respected social worker, Hettie Rose-Junius, asked the organising committee to "consider inviting a delegation from the Nama-speaking people to this year’s festivities and in future." The chairperson rejected the suggestion by saying that historically the Nama had a separate fight with the Germans and were not involved with the Basters. Activities on this day include a re-enactment of the attack on the Basters in 1915, a flag raising, wreath laying and a church service.<ref name="forBasters">[https://www.newera.com.na/2006/05/08/sam-khubis-day-is-for-basters/ Frederick Philander WINDHOEK, " ‘Sam Khubis Day Is for Basters’"]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''New Era (Namibia),'' 6 May 2006, accessed 10 April 2016</ref>
In February 2007, the Kapteins Council has represented the Basters at the [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO),<ref name="challenge"/> an international pro-democracy organisation founded in 1991. Operating in [[The Hague]], it works to "facilitate the voices of unrepresented and marginalised [[nation]]s and peoples worldwide, helping minorities to gain self-determination." Since November 2012, the UNPO has called on the Namibian government to recognise Basters as a 'traditional authority' in their historic territory,<ref name="challenge"/> as it has for some other ethnic groups in the country.
Line 152 ⟶ 151:
The Basters have had seven Kapteins since the Paternal Laws were enacted:
* 1872–1905: [[Hermanus van Wyk]]<ref name="KDV">{{cite web | url=http://klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_V.htm | title=Biographies of Namibian Personalities, V | last=Dierks | first=Klaus | author-link=Klaus Dierks | publisher=klausdierks.com | access-date=7 August 2018}}</ref>
* 1905–1914: Germans suspended the Kapteinship position and instead established a ''Basterrat'' ({{
* 1914–1924: [[Cornelius van Wyk]]<ref name="KDV"/>
* 1924–1925: [[Albert Mouton]]<ref name="KDM">{{cite web | url=http://klausdierks.com/Biographies/Biographies_M.htm | title=Biographies of Namibian Personalities, M | last=Dierks | first=Klaus | author-link=Klaus Dierks | publisher=klausdierks.com | access-date=7 August 2018}}</ref>
Line 170 ⟶ 169:
|page=6}}</ref> The newly independent Namibian government passed legislation about land use and title that took precedence over Baster traditions. Basters can no longer allocate land to their young men. The land is controlled by the local town council, which replaced the Chief's Council.
===Religion and genetics===
Basters from Mainline churches are mostly [[Calvinist]]. They sing traditional hymns almost identical to those of the 17th-century Netherlands; these songs were preserved in the colony and their group during a period when the Netherlands churches were absorbing new music.{{cn|date=December 2024}}
The average gene pool of Basters is about 48.4% European, 28,5% [[Khoisan|Khoe-San]], 17.1% Asian and 5.7% [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]];<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Petersen |first1=Desiree C. |last2=Libiger |first2=Ondrej |last3=Tindall |first3=Elizabeth A. |last4=Hardie |first4=Rae-Anne |last5=Hannick |first5=Linda I. |last6=Glashoff |first6=Richard H. |last7=Mukerji |first7=Mitali |last8=Fernandez |first8=Pedro |last9=Haacke |first9=Wilfrid |last10=Schork |first10=Nicholas J. |last11=Hayes |first11=Vanessa M. |date=2013-03-14 |title=Complex Patterns of Genomic Admixture within Southern Africa |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=e1003309 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003309 |doi-access=free |pmid=23516368 |pmc=3597481 |issn=1553-7404 }}</ref> according to a 2013 [[Autosome|autosomal genealogical DNA testing]].
===Traditional leadership===
{{expand section|date=December 2017}}
Largely through missionary work during the 19th century, they coalesced into fiercely independent, autonomous communities that maintained their identities even after being incorporated into the Cape Colony. Others moved farther north into what is now Namibia in the late 1860s because of pressure from Boer settlers and eventually established a settlement that became known as Rehoboth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baster {{!}} Khoisan, Namibia, Rehoboth {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baster |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
The first Kaptein was [[Hermanus van Wyk]], the '[[Moses]]' of the Baster nation, who led the community to Rehoboth from South Africa. He served as Kaptein until his death in 1905.<ref name="NE11">{{cite news
|url=http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=38914
Line 185 ⟶ 188:
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331025848/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=38914
|archive-date=31 March 2012
}}</ref> After his death, the German colonial government established a separate council. The Rehoboth Basters did not elect another Kaptein until the United Kingdom took over the territory as a [[British Protectorate]] in 1914 during World War I. Basters elected [[Cornelius van Wyk]] as Kaptein. He was not officially recognised by the [[South Africa]]n authorities, which administered the territory from 1915 to Namibian independence in 1990.
==Other Baster communities==
Similar terms are used for unrelated mixed-race Dutch and native communities in South Africa and elsewhere. For instance, a mixed-race community in the [[Richtersveld]] in South Africa are known as the 'Boslys Basters.'{{CN|date=July 2025}}
In [[Indonesia]], the people of mixed Dutch and Indonesian descent are called ''Blaster(an).''
| |||