Griqua

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Griqua
Total population
Unknown c2 to 5 million
Regions with significant populations
South Africa
Languages
Afrikaans, English
Religions
Protestantism
Related ethnic groups
Coloureds, Khoikhoi, Namaqua, Basters, Afrikaners

The Griqua (Afrikaans Griekwa) are a subgroup of South Africa's heterogeneous and multiracial Coloured people.

The Griqua are often considered to be 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 seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This notion apparently derives from the name given in 1813 by Rev. John Campbell (London Missionary Society) to a mixed group of Grigriqua (a Cape Khoikhoi tribe), 'bastaards', Koranna, and Tswana living at the site of present day Griekwastad (formerly "Klaarwater"). According to a map by Isaac Tirion, by 1730 the Grigriquas already lived in this northeastern section of the Cape Colony.

Genetic evidence indicates that the majority of the present Griqua population is a racial mix of European genes dating back to the times of van Riebeeck mixed with Khoikhoi and, later, African (mainly Tswana) peoples, with only small contributions of Bushman.^[1]. Nelson Mandela, who shows clear genetic Griqua traits in his face, has openly suggested that he has Griqua roots.

In the nineteenth 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] 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.

The Griqua have their own church, the Griqua Church, which is Protestant with a strong focus on maintaining the Griqua identity.

The total Griqua population is unknown. The race was destroyed by a number of factors. The most prominent being the Apartheid era during which many of the Griqua people took on the mantle of "Coloured" fearing that their Griqua roots might place them at a lower level with the African tribes. What we do know is that a substantial proportion of coloured people have "Griqua roots" (ie Hottentot forefathers). Sadly this Griqua heritage is all too often looked at with disdain.

The Griqua are primarily found in the Northern Cape at Campbell and Griquatown; (the historic territory of Griqualand West) the Western Cape (around the small le Fleur Griqua settlement at Kranshoek) and at Kokstad.

[edit] Griqualand

The Griqua 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.

• Griqualand West is the area around Kimberley and became significant when diamonds were discovered there; it has also been known for its rugby union and cricket teams.

[edit] External links

• History of the Griquas
• "Children of the Mist - the lost tribe of South Africa"
• Kokstad with historical Griqua images
• Kranshoek - meeting with Griqua Paramaount Chief le Fleur
• Griquatown and Campbell with historical Griqua images

[edit] Notes

1. ^ 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.
2. ^ Jeroen G. Zandberg. 2005. Rehoboth Griqua Atlas. ISBN 90-808768-2-8.