Griqua
From Freepedia
The Griqua are a subgroup of South Africa's heterogeneous and multiracial Coloured people. The Griqua are a racially and culturally mixed people whose origin goes back to the intermarriages or sexual relations between European colonists in the Cape and the Khoikhoi already living there in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Griqua where then called Basters, meaning bastard children. Today, Basters are a separate ethnic group of similarly mixed origins living in south-central Namibia. The Griqua largely adopted the Afrikaans language before their migrations.
Although the Griqua are culturally a mix of European and Khoikhoi influences, genetic evidence indicates that the majority of the present Griqua population are a racial mix of Khoikhoi and African (mainly Tswana) peoples, with only small contributions of Bushman and European genes.[1]
Part of the Baster population adopted the name Griqua (derived from a Cape Khoikhoi tribe called the Grigriqua) in 1813, and renamed their main town from "Klaarwater" to Griquatown. In the 19th century the Griqua controlled several political entities that were governed by Kapteins (Afrikaans for "Captain", i.e. leader) and their Councils, with their own written constitutions.[2]
The Griqua have their own church, the Griqua Church, which is Protestant with a strong focus on maintaining the Griqua identity.
The total population is somewhere between 100.000 and 300.000. The great variance between the two figures is partly due to the definition of Griqua and of political controversy between various political leaders (and academics).
The Griqua are primarily found in the Northern Cape (the historic territory of Griqualand West) and the Western Cape (around the cities of Kranshoek and Plettenberg Bay).
They give their name to several parts of south Africa as Griqualand as they migrated away from other areas of population.
- Griqualand East is an area around Kokstad on the frontier between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. This area was settled by Adam Kok III and 2,000 Griquas who followed him over the Drakensberg in 1861. The Griqua there were largely absorbed into the local Xhosa population of the Transkei — there have been suggestions that Nelson Mandela may have had some Griqua ancestry.
- Griqualand West is the area around Kimberley and became significant when diamonds were discovered there; it has also been known for its rugby and cricket teams.
External links
Notes
- ^ Alan G. Morris. 1997. The Griqua and the Khoikhoi: Biology, Ethnicity and the Construction of Identity. / In: Kronos Journal of Cape History, No. 24, page 106 – 118.
- ^ Jeroen G. Zandberg. 2005. Rehoboth Griqua Atlas. ISBN 90-808768-2-8.
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Ethnic Groups of South Africa | Edit |
| Afrikaner | Anglo-African | Asians | Bushmen | Cape Malay | Coloured | Griqua | Ndebele | Sotho | Tsonga | Swazi | Tswana | Venda | Xhosa | Zulu |
