Hendrik Witbooi

Who is Hendrik Witbooi?

Hendrik Witbooi was Kaptein (chief) of the ǀKhowesin branch of the Nama people in what is today central and southern Namibia. Born around 1830 in Pella in the Cape Colony, he was raised in the Lutheran mission tradition and became chief of the ǀKhowesin in July 1888 after uniting several Nama groups under his leadership. He initially resisted German colonial encroachment; his forces were attacked at Hornkranz by German troops in April 1893, after which he fought a two-year guerrilla campaign against the German colonial administration before agreeing to a conditional peace at the Treaty of Gurus in September 1894. After a decade of uneasy coexistence under German rule, he led the Nama into renewed revolt on 3 October 1904, joining the wider Herero and Nama resistance against German South West Africa. He was killed in action near Vaalgras on 29 October 1905. Namibia's Parliament later named him one of the country's national heroes at Heroes' Acre, and founding president Sam Nujoma honored him at his 2002 inauguration as the first African leader to take up arms against German imperial occupation. His portrait appears on all Namibian dollar banknotes of N$50 and above.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Hendrik Witbooi (Namaqua chief)" · South African History Online, "Hendrik Witbooi, Chief of the Nama, dies" · Britannica, "Hendrik Witbooi"