Hoachanas

History

Hoachanas has been the main settlement of the Red Nation, a subtribe of the Nama people, since the formation of this group at the end of the 17th century. When Manasse ǃNoreseb assumed chieftaincy of the Red Nation in 1880, Hendrik Witbooi, leader of the ǀKhowesin (Witbooi Nama), had risen to considerable power. Witbooi was an archenemy of Manasse. He installed a rival chief for the Red Nation, ǃHoeb ǁOasemab (Fritz Lazarus ǁOaseb), and attacked Hoachanas several times. Manasse and his clan, although since 1885 under a protection treaty with the German Empire which had in 1884 established the colony of German South-West Africa, fled their home settlement in 1889 and moved to Seeis, which was situated in an area under the control of Maharero. After Witbooi's troops were defeated by the Germans in 1894, Manasse returned to Hoachanas. In 1902 Imperial Germany confirmed Hoachanas as the home area of the Red Nation and created a reserve of . When the Herero and Nama War broke out in which the Germans attacked the indigenous Herero and Nama in their colonial territory, Manasse ǃNoreseb and Hendrik Witbooi ceased their hostilities and fought together against the Schutztruppe ("protection force", the unit deployed to the German colony). Manasse, with only 100 armed men, took over the defense of the central eastern area of Aranos, Leonardville, Aminuis, and Hoachanas. The ethnical structures of the Nama people were destroyed, and Hoachanas lost its importance as community centre. All land and livestock were confiscated by the Germans, and the Red Nation only got a new chief in 1922. The rest of the Nama resisted eviction throughout the apartheid era, and Kooper also was brought back by the community. In 1996, Government of Namibia bought the farms Blankenese and Gomchanas…

Geography

Hoachanas is situated on Namibia's Central Plateau in an Acacia tree and shrub savanna typical for the Kalahari. The area has an elevation of , the average annual rainfall is . The settlement is cut by the !Guwisib River, a tributary to the ephemeral Auob River. The majority of the houses at the settlement are shacks made from iron sheets. Almost half of the villagers are unemployed, literacy levels are low. The main economic activity is small livestock farming with goats and sheep.

Most-observed species

• White-browed Sparrow-Weaver

  Plocepasser mahali A.Smith, 1836 · Aves
  73
• Ring-necked Dove

  Streptopelia capicola (Sundevall, 1857) · Aves
  69
• Social Weaver

  Philetairus socius (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  57
• Southern Gray-headed Sparrow

  Passer diffusus (A.Smith, 1836) · Aves
  56
• White-backed Vulture

  Gyps africanus Salvadori, 1865 · Aves
  56
• Rosy-faced Lovebird

  Agapornis roseicollis (Vieillot, 1818) · Aves
  54
• Cape Starling

  Lamprotornis nitens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  52
• Fork-tailed Drongo

  Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794) · Aves
  52