The Damara (Khoekhoegowab: ǂNū-khoë, literally Black people, , referring to their extended stay in the hills of Khomas Highland, also called at various times the Daman or the Damaqua) are an ethnic group who make up 8.5% of Namibia’s population. They speak the Khoekhoe language (like the Nama people) and the majority live in the northwestern regions of Namibia, however they are also found widely across the rest of the country. They have no known cultural relationship with any of the other tribes anywhere else in Africa, and very little is known of their origin. It has been proposed that the Damara are a remnant population of southwestern Africa hunter-gatherers, otherwise only represented by the Cimba, Kwisi, and Kwadi, who adopted the Khoekhoe language of the immigrant Nama people. Their name in their own language is the “Daman” (where the “-n” is just the Khoekhoe plural ending). The name “Damaqua” stems from the addition of the Khoekhoe suffix “-qua/khwa” meaning “people” (found in the names of other Southern African peoples like the Namaqua and the Griqua). Prior to 1870 the Damara occupied most of central Namibia, but large numbers were displaced when the Namaqua and Herero began to occupy this area in search of better grazing. Thereafter the Damara were dominated by the Namaqua and the Herero, most living as servants in their households. In 1960, the South African government forced the Damara into the bantustan of Damaraland, an area of poor soil and irregular rainfall. About half of their numbers still occupy Damaraland.
