The Nama people of Botswana are a small Indigenous community belonging to the wider Khoekhoe cultural and linguistic group of southern Africa. They live mainly in the southwestern parts of the country, especially around the Kgalagadi region, where their history is closely tied to pastoralism, herding livestock in arid environments. The Nama language, Khoekhoegowab, is known for its distinctive click sounds, though today many Nama also speak Setswana or Afrikaans. Despite their relatively small numbers in Botswana, the Nama have worked to preserve their cultural traditions, oral history, and identity in the face of migration, colonial borders, and modernization.
To preserve the Nama language in Botswana, and to communicate in the language of the Nama people, a new online Nama language radio station has been launched in 2026
Nichodimas Cooper tells us more.
Produced by Shaldon Ferris (Khoi/San)
Interviewee: Nicodemus Cooper (Nama)
Music: "Burn your village to the ground", by The Haluci Nation, used with permission.
"Anania2" by The Baba Project, used with permission.
Country
Botswana