Talk:Damara people

Damara is also the name of a medicine / baby pill with Desogestrel - coincidence?

 * The African community of Damara people use Hyraceum from Procavia capensis as medicine for women, especially for women with period pains, according to my mother who visited the Damara people in Namibia.
 * A medicine (baby pill) from medapharma that contains Desogestrel as active agent is also called Damara: http://www.medapharma.de/fileadmin/user_upload/DE/Gebrauchsinformationen/Damara_GI_07_2017.pdf ; https://www.fernarzt.com/produkt/damara/

This coincidence makes me wonder: Could it be that Hyraceum contains Desogestrel? I would be happy about an answer! Thank you in advance. C-Kobold (talk) 13:16, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

[Untitled]
Hi, a few comments from myself who is also a Damara and I did Khoekhoegowab at University so I had a little exposure to the issues (even if it was a long time back).

The definition or the explanation given is not correct. I have copied the piece in Wiki to highlight factual errors made in the article. I am a Damara. For example

The Damara are a people who live in Namibia, a country in south-western Africa. They speak the Damara dialect of Nama.we don't speak the damara dialect of Nama, we speak Damara (‡Nū-khoë Gowab) which is similar to Nama, but of our own in most cases different meanings and pronunciations in words and also according to different Damara dialects. '''I agree with you to a extend, Damara is definitely not a dialect of Nama. However, it is also not a language on its own. Linguistically speaking Damara and Nama are the same language which is why the learned ones prefer to call it khoekhoegowab. In fact Khoekhoegowab is the only language (at least in Namibia) which is spoken by by three distinct people which are Khoeid (Nama), Saaid(some San people spoke Damara) and Negroid (the Damara with the distinct negroid features). Here I must just stop and pad myself on the back for remembering that. My lecturer would be proud. To wind down, it really is impossible for the two to be different languages because a Damara can understand 100% of what a Nama speaks. The only noticably difference will be in the use of specific words such as the name of a tree or a animal. Now, someone who speaks English here in Namibia may find it difficult to get by when they visit Ireland but that does not mean that they dont speak English in Ireland. But again, there is not phonetic, syntactic or any big difference to require the two to be classified as two languages.'''

In the 19th century they were known as Berg Damara or Bergdama, and the name Damara was used for Herero people who lived in Damaraland. That is very incorrect Damara (‡Nū-khoë) are very different from the Herero people in language, culture and traditions.Damara was or is not used for the Ovaherero people as the Damara are unique and distinged from them. '''To support the original text, I have also heard that Ovaherero people were at times called Damara. But either way, I am undecided.'''

The Damara consisted of two tribes the Ovaherero and the Ovampantera..again totaly untrue, purely wrong information...Damara consist of almost 23 subtribes/clans no link to Ovaherero which are a different ethnic group alltogether. ''This whole section seems to apply to an entry from the Ovaherero section and not the Damara section. There is no way the name of a Damara will start with the prefix 'Ova'. '''There are also the Hill Damaras. In 1854 they were more than 40,000 in number. They were historically nomadic but very rich in cattle and sheep. Some chiefs possessing up to 8000 head of horned cattle.'

The Damara were divided into tribes each governed by a chief who would rule over villages containing up to 400 people. The names of the richest/most powerful chiefs were Katjokura, Omungunda,Katjimaha and Kahitzene..AGAIN this were Chiefs of the Ovaherero people not the Damara (‡Nū-khoë)....Our Chief's had names Like the Great Prince /Hai-hab, Gaob Xamseb, Gaob Goreseb, etc. They had no central god and only suggest 'Omukura' as the highest being they know of, who resides to the north.....‡Nū-khoë (Damara) were not worshipping other gods....no Omakura for the ‡Nū-khoë, again it is an Ovaherero word. They practiced sorcery/magic and other pagan practices and also circumcision. '''Yes, I agree that there was no way the Damara could have been worshipping these Herero Dieties unless they were captured in battle and forcibly converted. However, the 'pagan practices' is too harsh! They had their religious beliefs which were linked to the earth and different elements and some animals were prominent religious figure(for example the praying mantis). Anyway, we should not look back on our ancestors and call them pagans while we accept other world religions. At least they had their own way and they never thought of themselves as pagans.I am not practicing what they practiced but I am defending their right to do so (since they are not here to defend themselves).'''

Damara women share the same Victorian style of dress as the Herero and Nama women..don't share the Victorian style dress at all, only the Damara (‡Nū-khoë) women and the OvaHerero women.'''Now, it is not widely known that the Herero got some of their style from the Damara. For example, the horn hats were first worn by Damara women and then the Herero adopted it. I believe its the same with the dress (without the Victorian influence) but I cant say for certian.'''

Thank you for fixing this I have some damara ancestry and only wrote what I had briefly read in an attempt to remove the highly derogatory entry that was there prior which listed that damaras were only murderers and thiefs.'''Both you guys are on point and I am happy that you have started the process. Congratulations on putting the information out there. I hope more people will follow in your footsteps. Since its in the discussion space I accept that I may have made a mistake. '''(58.178.73.118 (talk) 10:46, 25 August 2009 (UTC)).

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Damara people. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20120126111442/http://www.rogerblench.info/Anthropology%20data/Text/Pygmies%20an%20ethnographic%20fiction.pdf to http://www.rogerblench.info/Anthropology%20data/Text/Pygmies%20an%20ethnographic%20fiction.pdf

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 12:48, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

Genetics
Soooo... genetically Damara are Bantu with a little Khoe admixture - paternally, maternally, and autosomally. Closest to Himba and Herrero maternally, albeit with some minor distinguishing features. Which is not to say that they didn't occupy Damaraland before the Nama or the other Bantu arrived, to be sure. Should there be a genetics section? Megalophias (talk) 20:51, 2 November 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 1 one external link on Damara people. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141026105612/http://www.stevenson.info:80/exhibitions/ractliffe/index_borderlands.html to http://www.stevenson.info/exhibitions/ractliffe/index_borderlands.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 12:54, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Damara people. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140223113310/http://www.namibiatourism.com.na/people_damara.php to http://www.namibiatourism.com.na/people_damara.php

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 17:57, 26 December 2017 (UTC)