• OvaHerero and OvaMbanderu in Damara-/Hereroland •
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From about 1500 onwards, Bantu-speaking groups from a region north of present-day Zambia migrated southwest. In southern Angola, they split. One group, known today as the Aawambo, settled in the Cuvelai Basin north of the Etosha pan and practiced cattle herding and agriculture.
Other groups continued their migration, likely reaching northwestern Namibia in the 17th century. They lived as semi-nomadic pastoralists and subsisted on dairy products, meat, and veld fruits.
They then split again. One group remained in the northwest and is known today as the OvaHimba. A second group moved further south and spread across north-central Namibia – the OvaHerero. A third group advanced even further east, forming the OvaMbanderu.
To open up further grazing areas, the OvaHerero and OvaMbanderu also dug water holes. This occurred primarily along dry riverbeds and in elongated depressions (Omiramba; singular: Omuramba) and pans that are periodically filled with water.
In European accounts, the OvaHerero were also referred to as Damara (correct name – plural: Daman; singular: Dama; dual: Damara), who also lived in these areas. Later, a distinction was made between ‘cattle’ and ‘mountain’ Dama(ra). Maps from that time alternately used the names Hereroland and Damaraland, often both.
In the 1820s, the OvaHerero and OvaMbanderu encountered groups of the Naman in central Namibia. This led to conflicts over water sources, grazing areas and livestock, which continued for decades. In the process it also happened that groups from different peoples formed alliances with each other.
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