Centring Simon Kooper: Frontier Politics, Desert Environments and African Resistance

Abstract

This article centres on |Gomxab Simon Kooper’s resistance to German colonialism in Southwest Africa (1884–1915, modern-day Namibia). First, it underscores the agency of Kooper and the Fransman Nama within southern African history. Kooper’s actions and motives fuelled widespread anxieties, shaped international correspondences and incurred mounting costs for the mainly German administration. Secondly, this analysis sheds further light on a complex international frontier space; Kooper found himself on the edges of three distinct political entities – German Southwest Africa, the Cape Colony and the British Bechuanaland Protectorate. Finally, the article argues that taking the environment of this borderland into account is essential for an understanding of these conflicts. Within the Kalahari Desert, access to water was critical not only to Kooper’s livelihood, but also to the success of German expeditions, and those of the Cape Colony and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Their reliance on a melon-like fruit growing in parts of this arid landscape, as well as the animals adapted to desert spaces, highlights the importance of natural factors for discussions of historical events. African resistance ultimately emerged within a specific political and environmental context, shaping colonial dynamics beyond current historiographical understandings.

Keywords:

• German Southwest Africa
• Namibia
• resistance
• Kalahari Desert
• environmental history

Acknowledgements

Bridgewater College and the National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for this article. Thank you to archivists, librarians, individual researchers, and reviewers and editors for their help. I am also grateful to Tilman Dedering (Pretoria), Nichodimas Cooper (Lokgwabe), Rob Gordon (Vermont), Dag Henrichsen (Basel), Koos Marais (Cape Town), Carsten Möhle of Bwana Tucke-Tucke (Windhoek) and Brigitte Weidlich (Windhoek).

Notes

1 ‘Letzte Nachrichten. Unterwerfung der Franzmann-Hottentotten’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 23 March 1907. See also ‘Wochenübersicht’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 6 April 1907; ‘Rundschau. Aus unseren Kolonien. Südwestafrika’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 6 April 1907. Translations are my own.

2 This article uses the spelling Kooper (widespread in the historiography), aware that his native name |Gomxab would be most appropriate.

3 Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde (BArch-B), R 1001/2140, ‘Aufstand im Namaland (Namaqualand) und seine Bekämpfung (Febr. 1907–Febr. 1909)’, Band [volume] 8, telegram, Deimling to Generalstab [general staff], 19 March 1907.

4 Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung I des großen Generalstab (ed.), Die Kämpfe der deutschen Truppen in Südwestafrika. Der Hottentottenkrieg, II, 6 (Berlin, Mittler, 1907), pp. 215–16. See also W.D. Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition, March 1908: The Forgotten Story of the Final Battle of the Nama War’, Botswana Notes and Records, 24 (1992), pp. 1–18, 3; A.H. Bühler, Der Namaaufstand gegen die deutsche Kolonialherrschaft in Namibia von 1904–1913 (Frankfurt am Main, IKO-Verlag, 2003), p. 320.

5 Nichodimas Cooper (Kooper’s great-great-grandson) kindly shared some oral histories in emails, July–September 2022. See also M. Biwa, ‘Toa Tama !Khams Ge: Remembering the War in Namakhoeland, 1903–1908’ (MA thesis, University of Cape Town, 2006); C.W. Erichsen, ‘What the Elders Used to Say’: Namibian Perspectives on the Last Decade of German Colonial Rule (Windhoek, Namibian Institute of Democracy, 2008), p. 29.

6 For a useful definition of resistance see K. van Walraven and J. Abbink, ‘Rethinking Resistance in African History: An Introduction’, pp. 1–40, 8, in G.J. Abbink, M.E. de Bruijn and K. van Walraven (eds), Rethinking Resistance: Revolt and Violence in African History (Leiden, Brill, 2003).

7 An exception is Memory Biwa’s MA thesis, ‘Toa Tama !Khams Ge’. See also M. Biwa, ‘“Weaving the Past with Thread of Memory”: Narratives and Commemorations of the Colonial War in Southern Namibia’ (PhD thesis, University of Western Cape, 2012).

8 P. Prein, ‘Guns and Top Hats: African Resistance in German South West Africa, 1907–1915’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 20, 1 (1994), p. 121. On resistance see P.H. Katjavivi, A History of Resistance in Namibia (London, J. Currey, 1988); N.E. Alexander, ‘Jakob Marengo and Namibian History’, Social Dynamics 7, 1 (1981), pp. 1–7; J.R. Masson, ‘A Fragment of Colonial History: The Killing of Jakob Marengo’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 21, 2 (1995), pp. 247–56; W. Hillebrecht, ‘Hendrik Witbooi and Samuel Maharero: The Ambiguity of Heroes’, pp. 38–54, in J. Silvester (ed.), Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History (Windhoek, Unam Press, 2015); A.A. Blackler, ‘From Boondoggle to Settlement Colony: Hendrik Witbooi and the Evolution of Germany’s Imperial Project in Southwest Africa, 1884–1894’, Central European History, 50, 4 (2017), pp. 449–70; M. Bomholt Nielsen, ‘Colonial Resistance and Anglo-German Diplomacy: The Case of Jakob Marengo’, pp. 273–94, in N. Domingos, M.B. Jerónimo and R. Roque (eds), Resistance and Colonialism: Insurgent Peoples in World History (New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

9 B. Lau, Namibia in Jonker Afrikaner’s Time (Windhoek, National Archives, 1987); T. Dedering, Hate the Old and Follow the New: Khoekhoe and Missionaries in Early Nineteenth Century Namibia (Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1997).

10 T. Dedering, ‘The Ferreira Raid of 1906: Boers, Britons and Germans in Southern Africa in the Aftermath of the South African War’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 26, 1 (2000), pp. 43–59; T. Dedering, ‘War and Mobility in the Borderlands of South Western Africa in the Early Twentieth Century’, The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 39, 2 (2006), pp. 275–94; P. Curson, Border Conflicts in a German African Colony: Jakob Morengo and the Untold Tragedy of Edward Presgrave (Bury St. Edmonds, Arena Books, 2012); M. Legassick, Hidden Histories of Gordonia: Land Dispossession and Resistance in the Northern Cape, 1800–1900 (Johannesburg, Wits University Press, 2016).

11 U. Lindner, Koloniale Begegnungen: Deutschland und Großbritannien als Imperialmächte in Afrika 1880–1914 (Frankfurt am Main, Campus, 2011); C.H. Beckvold, ‘The Namibian War: Challenges to the Anglo-German Relationship in Southern Africa’, Southern Journal for Contemporary History, 46, 1 (2021), pp. 159–82. M. Bomholt Nielsen, Britain, Germany and Colonial Violence in South-West Africa 1884–1919: The Herero and Nama Genocide (Cham, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), pp.77–9.

12 W. Nuhn, Feind überall: der große Nama-Aufstand (Hottentottenaufstand) 1904–1908 in Deutsch-Südwestafrika (Namibia): der erste Partisanenkrieg in der Geschichte der deutschen Armee (Bonn, Bernard & Graefe, 2000); Bühler, Der Namaaufstand; M. Wallace, A History of Namibia (New York, Oxford University Press, 2013), pp. 165–72; R. Kößler, ‘Der Nama-Deutsche Krieg – integraler Teil eines komplexen Gewaltgeschehens’, Zeitschrift für Genozidforschung, 20, 2 (2022), pp. 221–37.

13 Lindner, Koloniale Begegnungen, p. 274.

14 D.S.G. Thomas and P. Shaw, The Kalahari Environment (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 2.

15 Ibid., pp. 1, 90. See also N. Grünert, Namibia. Fascination of Geology: A Travel Handbook, 8th edition (Windhoek, Klaus Hess, 2017), p. 207.

16 D. Hilton-Barber, Kalahari Dreaming: The Romance of the Desert (Pinetown, Southbound, 2015), p. 7.

17 Thomas and Shaw, The Kalahari Environment, p. 68.

18 Hilton-Barber, Kalahari Dreaming, pp. 7–8.

19 S. Sullivan, ‘Towards a Non-Equilibrium Ecology: Perspectives from an Arid Land’, Journal of Biogeography, 23, 1 (1996), pp. 1–5.

20 M.H. Knight, ‘Tsama Melons, Citrullus Lanatus, a Supplementary Water Supply for Wildlife in the Southern Kalahari’, African Journal of Ecology, 33, 1 (1995), pp. 71–80. See also William MacDonald, The Conquest of the Desert (London, T.W. Laurie, 1913), pp. 34, 35, 66.

21 Hilton-Barber, Kalahari Dreaming, pp. 121–2.

22 Knight, ‘Tsama Melons, Citrullus Lanatus’, pp. 71, 74.

23 J.J. Grotpeter, ‘Tsammas’, p. 519, in J.J. Grotpeter (ed.), Historical Dictionary of Namibia (Metuchen, Scarecrow Press, 1994). See also Knight, ‘Tsama Melons, Citrullus Lanatus’, pp. 71–80.

24 Hilton-Barber, Kalahari Dreaming, pp. 121–2.

25 J.K. Marshall (dir.), Bitter Melons (Watertown, Documentary Educational Resources, 1971).

26 The Language Archive, TWa060427-02’, ‘!Xoon - Tsamma Melons’, descriptive text and conversation, available at https://hdl.handle.net/1839/00-0000-0000-0005-68E4-3, retrieved 28 February 2022.

27 H. von François, Nama und Damara: Deutsch-Süd-West-Afrika (Magdeburg, Baensch, 1895), p. 235. See also K. Dove, Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika (Berlin, Süsserott, 1903), p. 116; S. Passarge, Die Buschmänner der Kalahari (Berlin, Reimer, 1907), p. 68–9.

28 H.A. Bryden, Gun and Camera in Southern Africa; A Year of Wanderings in Bechuanaland, the Kalahari Desert, and the Lake River Country, Ngamiland, with Notes on Colonisation, Natives, Natural History and Sport (London, E. Stanford, 1893), p. 93. See also H. Schinz, Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika: Forschungsreisen durch die deutschen Schutzgebiete Gross-Nama- und Hereroland, nach dem Kunene, dem Ngami-See und der Kalahari, 1884–1887 (Oldenburg, Schulzesche Hof-Buchhandlung und Hof-Buchdruckerei, 1891), pp. 21–2.

29 The National Archives London (TNA) 879/97/8, enclosure, Captain C. W. Gordon, ‘Note of an Interview with Mr. Thomas Lanham, of Mount Temple, Bechuanaland’. See also ibid., no. 114, enclosure, ‘Diary of a Reconnaisance of Part of the Kalahari Desert Lying Between Oup and Nosop Rivers’ (Appendix A. Tsama).

30 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 2.

31 Dedering, Hate the Old and Follow the New, p. 41.

32 Ibid., pp. 60, 77, 80, 147. See also Wallace, A History of Namibia, p. 54.

33 Lau, Namibia in Jonker Afrikaner’s Time, map 2.

34 ‘Kooper’s Grave Site Restored’, The Namibian, Windhoek, 14 September 2011, available at https://allafrica.com/stories/201109190249.html, retrieved on 25 April 2023. See also Thomas and Shaw, The Kalahari Environment, pp. 12–13.

35 G. Boden (ed.), !Qamtee|aa#Xanya ‘The Book of Traditions’. Histories, Texts and Illustrations from the !Xoon and ‘N|ohan People of Namibia (Basel, Afrikabibliographien, 2008), p. 48. Vedder placed the Fransman at the Auob. H. Vedder, Das alte Südwestafrika. Südwestafrikas Geschichte bis zum Tode Mahareros 1890 (Windhoek, S.W.A. Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft, 1973), pp. 400–01.

36 W.C. Palgrave, The Commissions of W.C. Palgrave. Special Emissary to South West Africa, 1876–1885, E.L.P. Stals (ed.) (Cape Town, Van Riebeek Society, 1991), p. 97, 102. Initially, Palgrave wrongfully identified Simon Kooper as his father and predecessor. See also Grotpeter, ‘Koper, Simon’, in Historical Dictionary, p. 257.

37 BArch-B, R 1001/2166, ‘Franzmannhottentotten Juni 1894–Juli 1895’, copy, ‘Zug gegen Franzmannhottentotten unter Simon Kooper in Gokhas’, 21 June 1894; T. von Leutwein, Elf Jahre Gouverneur in Deutsch-Südwestafrika (Berlin, Mittler, 1906), pp. 28–9; J. Silvester and J.-B. Gewald (eds), Words Cannot Be Found: German Colonial Rule in Namibia. An Annotated Reprint of the 1918 Blue Book (Leiden, Brill, 2003), p. 147.

38 Legassick described the 20th parallel as ‘one of the most artificial borders in an artificially bordered continent’. Legassick, Hidden Histories of Gordonia, p. 252.

39 J.-B. Gewald, Herero Heroes: A Socio-Political History of the Herero in Namibia 1890–1923 (Oxford, James Currey, 1999), p. 142. See also J. Zimmerer and J. Zeller (eds), Genocide in German South-West Africa: The Colonial War of 1904–1908 and its Aftermath (Monmouth, Merlin, 2010); M. Häussler, Der Genozid an den Herero: Krieg, Emotion und extrem Gewalt in Deutsch-Südwestafrika (Weilerswist, Velbrück, 2018).

40 Wallace, A History of Namibia, p. 167; Biwa, ‘Toa Tama !Khams Ge’, pp. 90, 127. Groups crossed and recrossed the border several times; he also apologised to the British for being on their territory. Ibid., pp. 116–17, 129.

41 Wallace, A History of Namibia, pp. 167–8; Lindner, Koloniale Begegnungen, p. 274.

42 Wallace, A History of Namibia, p. 169.

43 Western Cape Archives and Records Service (CA), Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) 214, 64/06, report, Neylan, 25 July 1905.

44 Ibid., CA, PMO 214, 64/06, Eason to Resident Commissioner (Mafeking), 14 May 1906. British Bechuanaland also offered Kooper asylum. See also National Archives Namibia (NAN), Zentralbureau des Kaiserlichen Gouvernements (ZBU), 2370, copy, ‘Geheimakte Cooper’, Bd. 2 [volume 2], Eason to Resident Commissioner (Mafeking), 15 May 1906, as referenced in Koloniale Begenungen, p. 275.

45 Kriegsgeschichtliche Abt. (ed.), Die Kämpfe der deutschen, p. 211. See also Bühler, Der Namaaufstand, p. 318; Nuhn, Feind überall, p. 182.

46 Wallace, A History of Namibia, p. 170.

47 Kriegsgeschichtliche Abt. (ed.), Die Kämpfe der deutschen, pp. 211–12; see also Pütz, Deutsch Südwestafrika, 12 December 1905, quoted in Der Namaaufstand, p. 319.

48 Deutsch-Südwestafrikanische Zeitung, 12 December 1905, as referenced in Der Namaaufstand, p. 319; see also ‘Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Der Herero-und Hottentotten-Aufstand’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 January 1906.

49 Zimmerer, ‘War, Concentration Camps and Genocide in South-West Africa’, p. 48, in Genocide in German South-West Africa; Häussler, Der Genozid an den Herero, pp. 195–7. Kriegsgeschichtliche Abt. (ed.), Die Kämpfe der deutschen, p. 213. See also Bühler, Der Namaaufstand, p. 319; Wallace, A History of Namibia, p. 170. Manasse Norseb died in battle.

50 CA, PMO 214, 64/06, copy, ‘Eason to the Resident Commissioner (Mafeking)’, 30 August 1906. Kooper seemed to return to German territory at best briefly. See Kriegsgeschichtliche Abt. (ed.), Die Kämpfe der deutschen, pp. 214–15; Bühler, Der Namaaufstand, pp. 319–20.

51 A. Hoffmann, Listening to Colonial History: Echoes of Coercive Knowledge Production in Historical Sound Recordings from Southern Africa (Basel, Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2023), p. 77. On the term ‘bushman’ see ibid., pp. 58–64.

52 BArch-B, R 151/2370, ‘Simon Kooper’, Dt. Konsulat Kapstadt [German Consulate Cape Town] (Humboldt) to Gouverneur [Governor] Lindequist, 3 Mar. 1906. See also ibid., High Commissioner (Johannesburg) to Governor Lindequist, 9 June 1906. The German consul in Cape Town feared a ‘Ferreira-style’ raid. Ibid., Humboldt to Bülow, 2 Apr. 1907; CA, PMO 214, 64/06, copy, Attwood to Office of Sub-Inspector (Rietfontein), 17 September 1906. See also ibid., Office of the Inspector (Upington) to Commanding Commissioner (Cape Town), 31 August 1906, confidential; ibid., copy, Kooper to Cape Governor, 12 May 1907; Biwa, ‘Toa Tama !Khams Ge’, pp. 133–4; S. Landes, ‘Auswirkungen der deutschen Kolonialherrschaft (1884–1915) in Deutsch Südwestafrika auf die autochthone Bevölkerung am Beispiel der !Khara GeiKhoin’ (Freiburg, MA thesis, unpublished, 1993), p. 77. British authorities saw no more danger. Lindner, Koloniale Begegnungen, p. 275.

53 CA, PMO 214, 64/06, Neylan, 25 July 1905.

54 BArch-B, R 151/2370, ‘Simon Kooper’, copy, Eason to Mafeking, 14 May 1906. Witbooi had died – Kooper seemed unaware of this.

55 . TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 114, secret, ‘Diary of Reconnaissance of Part of the Kalahari Desert Lying Between Oup and Nosop Rivers’, 1906 (Appendix ‘B’, Simon Kooper).

56 Ibid., no. 4, enclosure 1, Report by Commissioner Commanding Cape Mounted Police, Cape Town, 30 October 1907. See also CA, PMO 214, 64/06, Coulter, Cape Mounted Police, ‘Visit of C.M.P. patrol to Simon Kooper’, 1 October 1907, copy; Dedering, ‘War and Mobility’, pp. 288–9.

57 TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 4, enclosure 1, Commissioner Commanding Cape Mounted Police, Cape Town, 30 October 1907.

58 ‘Ouma Anna sterf na 126 jaar’, Republiklein, 12 January 2004, as referenced in Toa Tama !Khams Ge’, p. 154.

59 H. Bley, South-West Africa under German Rule 1894–1914 (Evanston, Northwestern University Press, 1971); J. Zimmerer, Deutsche Herrschaft über Afrikaner: staatlicher Machtanspruch und Wirklichkeit im kolonialen Namibia (Münster, Lit, 2001).

60 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 11. See also TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 11, enclosure 5, telegram, Governor of German South-West Africa to High Commissioner (Cape Colony), 29 December 1907; ‘Aus dem Süden’, Windhuker Nachrichten, 13 June 1907; ‘Rundschau. Unsere Kolonien. Südwestafrika’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 22 June 1907; ‘Der britische Nachbar’, Windhuker Nachrichten, 25 July 1907.

61 Bühler, Der Namaaufstand, p. 321. On rumors see Landes, ‘Auswirkungen der deutschen Kolonialherrschaft (1884–1915)’, p. 79.

62 ‘Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Das Ende des Feldzuges’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 August 1907.

63 Kriegsgeschichtliche Abt. (ed.), Die Kämpfe der deutschen, p. 215. See also Bühler, Der Namaaufstand, p. 321.

64 CA, PMO 227 8/07, telegram 301, Elliot to Cape Commissioner, 14 September 1907 and ibid., 12 September 1907, as referenced in Legassick, Hidden Histories of Gordonia, p. 250.

65 ‘Rennen des Sportvereins Südwestafrika’, Windhuker Nachrichten, 7 November 1907.

66 BArch-B, R 1001/2147, ‘Einfälle von Hottentotten in Deutsch-Südwestafrika’, Bd. 1, Governeur an Reichskolonialamt [Governor to Colonial Office], 2 February 1909. See also ‘Erklärungen der Budget-Kommission’, in Verhandlungen des Reichstages, Bd. 226, 1905/06, Berlin, 1906, p. 5831; BArch-B, R 1001/2140, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 8; ‘Denkschrift über den Verlauf des Aufstandes in Südwestafrika (Fortsetzung)’, 1907; Lindner, Koloniale Begegnungen, p. 276. See also BArch-B, R 1001/2147, ‘Einfälle von Hottentotten in Deutsch-Südwestafrika’, Bd. 1, copy, ‘Ueber den Wiederausbruch des Aufstandes’, 22 December 1908.

67 BArch-B, 1001/2147, ‘Einfälle von Hottentotten in Deutsch-Südwestafrika, Dez. 1908–Okt. 1912’, Band 1, Auswärtiges Amt an Reichskolonialamt [Foreign Office to Colonial Office], 9 November 1908.

68 Ibid., Reichskolonialamt an Auswärtiges Amt [Colonial Office to Foreign Office], 31 December 1908.

69 Kriegsgeschichtliche Abt. (ed.), Die Kämpfe der deutschen, p. 361; see also Nielsen, ‘Colonial Resistance and Anglo-German Diplomacy’, p. 286; M. Fröhlich, Von Konfrontation zur Koexistenz: Die Deutsch-Englischen Kolonial Beziehungen in Afrika zwischen 1884 und 1914 (Bochum, Brockmeyer, 1990), pp. 262–3.

70 TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 10, enclosure 1, Resident Commissioner (Mafeking) to High Commissioner, 14 December 1907. See also CA, PMO 214, 64/06, Selborne to Lindequist, 4 December 1907, confidential.

71 CA, PMO 214, 64/06, no. 122, enclosure 4, Resident Commissioner to High Commissioner, 20 July 1908, confidential.

72 E. Anders, Hauptmann Friedrich v. Erckert. Ein Lebensbild (Berlin, Mittler, 1910), p. 236.

73 Bwana (digital archive via Carsten Möhle), ‘Briefe von F. von Erckert’, 27 January 1905.

74 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 3. For von Erckert’s operational map (1907) see NAN, A.0812, Kalahari-Expedition 1908.

75 J. Menges, ‘Die Einführung des Dromedars in Südafrika’, Deutsch Kolonialzeitung, 21 (1885).

76 BArch-F, MSG 2–2576, ‘Die Lebenswanderung des Julius Ohlemann (1877–1954)’, II (Afrika), p. 304.

77 Von Erckert logged a stunning 3,400 kilometers. Bwana, von Erckert and Notizbuch 1906–1908. See also F. von Erckert, ‘In der Kalahari’, Der Deutsche, 6, 11 (15 June 1907), pp. 341–4; F. von Erckert, ‘In der Kalahari’, Windhuker Nachrichten, 25 April 1908; F. von Erckert, ‘In der Kalahari’, newspaper clipping, BArch-B, N 2225/100; Bwana, von Erckert, ‘Denkschrift über eine Unternehmung gegen Simon Copper in die Kalahari’, 1 July 1907.

78 BArch-F, MSG 2-2576, ‘Die Lebenswanderung’, p. 304. See also J. Ohlemann, ‘Mit dem Kamelreiterkorps des Hauptmanns v. Erckert in die Kalahari und das Gefecht bei Seatsub am 16. März 1908’, Afrikanischer Heimatkalender (Windhoek, German Evangelical Lutheran Church (DELK), 1972), pp. 39–54.

79 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 8.

80 Ibid., p. 3.

81 Ibid., pp. 3–4.

82 Ibid. Haacke claims they knew but he does not provide any evidence.

83 BArch-B, R 1001/2140, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 8, copy, British Foreign Office, 14 November 1907.

84 Ibid., copy, Auswärtiges Amt [Foreign Office], 25 January 1908. See also TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 1, enclosure 3, confidential, Resident Commissioner (Mafeking) to High Commissioner, 10 December 1907.

85 TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 1, enclosure 3.

86 Ibid., no. 14, enclosure 2, Resident Commissioner (Mafeking) to High Commissioner, 15 January 1908, confidential.

87 Ibid., no. 38, enclosure 1, Cape Governor to High Commissioner, 12 March 1908, confidential.

88 Ibid., no. 94, enclosure, ‘Note of an Interview with Mr. Thomas Lanham, of Mount Temple, Bechuanaland’.

89 Ibid., no. 47, enclosure 1, High Commissioner (Cape Colony) to Cape Governor, 17 March 1908.

90 Ibid.

91 Ibid., no. 38, enclosure 1, Governor (Cape Colony) to High Commissioner, 12 March 1908, confidential.

92 Ibid., no. 47, enclosure 1, High Commissioner (Cape Colony) to Cape Governor, 17 March 1908.

93 Ibid.

94 Ibid.

95 Ibid., no. 49, enclosure, copy, ‘Affidavit by Hendrik Witbooi, son of late Hottentot Captain’, 17 March 1908.

96 CA, PMO 214, 64/06, minutes, 30 April 1908, confidential.

97 BArch-F, MSG 2-2576, ‘Die Lebenswanderung’, p. 304. See also J. Ohlemann, ‘Der Sanitätsdienst bei der Expedition gegen die Kopper Hottentotten im März 1908’, Deutsche Militärärztliche Zeitschrift, 39, 13 (5 July 1910), pp. 489–510.

98 BArch-F, MSG 2-2576, ‘Die Lebenswanderung’, p. 304.

99 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 8.

100 BArch-F, MSG 2-2576, ‘Die Lebenswanderung’, p. 304. See also Ohlemann, ‘Mit dem Kamelreiterkorps des Hauptmanns v. Erckert in die Kalahari’, p. 47.

101 Von Erckert told Lance Corporal Coulter in February that the Germans were allowed to pursue Kooper across the border. TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 36, enclosure 1, 21 February 1908. In reality, they had no such permission. Ibid., no. 18, Colonial Office to Foreign Office, 26 February 1908. In late February, the British unmistakably declined co-ordination. Ibid., Cape Governor to Governor of Southwest Africa, telegram, 22 February 1908.

102 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 9. Although aware, deputy governor Hintrager kept insisting the raid took place in German territory. H. Drechsler, ‘Let Us Die Fighting!’ The Struggle of the Herero and Nama against German Imperialism 1884–1915 (London, Zed Press, 1980), pp. 203–4.

103 BArch-F, MSG 2-2576, ‘Die Lebenswanderung’.

104 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 9.

105 Ibid., p. 10; Biwa, ‘Toa Tama !Khams Ge’, p. 135.

106 Ibid.; Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 9. A subsequent report by the Cape Mounted Police claimed that most horses, cattle and small stock had been killed – and ‘not even one pot or one blanket was left unbroken or unburnt in the village’, CA, PMO 214, 64/06, copy, Eason to Resident Commissioner (Mafeking), 29 March 1908.

107 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 10.

108 See, for instance, CA, PMO, G. Kern, Im Kampf mit Simon Kopper (Berlin, Verlagshaus für Volksliteratur, 1913), pp. 30–1.

109 Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 11.

110 Bwana, Der Adjutant Leutnant W. v. Tschirnhaus an seinen Vater, Arahoab [Aranos], 24.3.1908; H. Kirchheim, ‘Die Expedition des Hauptmann von Erckert in die Kalahari im März 1908’, unpublished manuscript, as referenced in ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 14.

111 BArch-F, MSG 2-2576, ‘Die Lebenswanderung’.

112 ‘Eine Anerkennung’, Deutsch-Südwestafrikanische Zeitung, 25 March 1908; ‘Deutsch-Südwestafrika: Der Vorstoß gegen Simon Copper’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 April 1908.

113 von Treuenfels, ‘126. Sitzung, Donnerstag den 19. März 1908’, session of parliament, in Verhandlungen des Reichstages, Bd. 231, 1907/08, Berlin, 1908, p. 4112.

114 Dernburg, ‘126. Sitzung, Donnerstag den 19. März 1908’, session of parliament, in Verhandlungen des Reichstages, Bd. 231, 1907/08, Berlin, 1908, p. 4113.

115 W. Külz, Deutsch-Südafrika im 25. Jahr Deutscher Schutzherrschaft (Berlin, Süsserott, 1909), p. 167.

116 G. Ledebour, ‘5. Sitzung. Sonnabend den 2. Dezember 1905’, session of parliament, in Verhandlungen des Reichstages, Bd. 214, 1905/06, Berlin 1906, p. 91.

117 G. Ledebour, ;127. Sitzung, Freitag den 20. März 1908’, in Verhandlungen des Reichstages, Bd. 231, 1907/08, Berlin, 1908, p. 4159.

118 ‘Nachruf!’, Windhuker Nachrichten, 21 March 1908; ‘Nachruf’, Deutsch-Südwestafrikanische Zeitung, 25 March 1908; ‘Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Der Vorstoß gegen Simon Copper’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 April 1908; ‘Nachrufe’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 May 1908; ‘Der Kampf gegen Simon Copper’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 15 May 1908; ‘Hauptmann v. Erckert †’, Deutsch-Südwestafrikanische Zeitung, 25 March 1908.

119 ‘Ein großer, aber teuer erkaufter Sieg’, Windhuker Nachrichten, 21 March 1908; ‘Der Zug gehen Simon Cooper’, Windhuker Nachrichten, 3 June 1908; ‘Ein schwerer Schlag aber ein Erfolg in Südwestafrika’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 28 March 1908.

120 Kreuz-Zeitung and Berliner Neuste Nachrichten blamed the British directly. TNA, CO 879/79/8, no. 40, enclosure, Colonial Office to Sir Grey, 31 March 1908. See also Windhuker Nachrichten, ‘Die Kap-Polizei und Simon Cooper’, 13 May 1908.

121 TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 37, enclosure 3, German Consul-General to Cape Governor, 9 March 1908.

122 Ibid., no. 28, Cape Governor to Secretary of State, 4 March 1908, confidential. See also ibid., no. 28, enclosure 2, Sub-Inspector Selby to Office Commanding, 11 February 1908.

123 BArch-B, R 1001/2140, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 8, copy, Auswärtiges Amt an Lascelles [Foreign Office to Lascelles], 15 May 1908; TNA 879/97/8, no. 61, enclosure, Lascelles to Grey, 15 May 1908. See also L. von Estorff, Wanderungen und Kämpfe in Südwestafrika, Ostafrika und Südafrika 1894–1910, 2nd edition (Windhoek, Meinert, 1979), p. 139; Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 15; Lindner, Koloniale Begegungen, p. 276.

124 TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 60, enclosure 18, Resident Commissioner Bechuanaland to High Commissioner, 14 April 1908, 29 March 1908. See also ibid., no. 73, enclosure 2, High Commissioner to Cape Governor, 14 May 1908, confidential; ibid., no. 87, enclosure 1, Cape Governor to High Commissioner, 1 June 1908, confidential.

125 Lindner, Koloniale Begegungen, p. 278.

126 See, for instance, CA, PMO 214, 64/06, copy, Max Muller, 2 June 1908. This document seems to be a court proceeding, signed by Max Muller.

127 NAN, A.0529, Otto Busch, von Humboldt to Schuckmann, 10 March 1908.

128 BArch-B, R 1001/2140, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 8, copy, Auswärtiges Amt an Lascelles [Foreign Office to Lascelles], 15 May 1908.

129 Ibid., Lindequist an Auswärtiges Amt [Lindequist to Foreign Office], 9 June 1908.

130 Ibid., copy, Foreign Office, 7 August 1908.

131 Bodleian Library, Selected Papers, notes on a conversation with Dernburg, 19 June 1908, as referenced in Koloniale Begegungen, pp. 277–8.

132 BArch-B, R 1001/2140, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 8, copy, ‘Besprechung mit Lord Selborne in Pietermaritzburg am 19. Juni 1908, Gemeinsamer Spaziergang’. See also TNA, CO 879/97/8, no. 99, enclosure, High Commissioner to Cape Governor, 20 June 1908, confidential; Drechsler, ‘Let Us Die Fighting!’, pp. 204–5.

133 BArch-B, R 1001/2140, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 8, Auswärtiges Amt an Reichskolonialamt [Foreign Office to Colonial Office], 2 November 1908.

134 Ibid., Dernburg an den Reichskanzler, 8 February 1909. See also ‘Südwestafrikanische Eindrücke. Vortrag Sr. Exzellenz des Herrn Staatssekretärs Dernburg’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 February 1909.

135 CA, KAB, GH 23/122, 33, Herbst, ‘Report to Prime Minister’ (Cape Colony), 16 February 1909.

136 Ibid.; CA, KAB, GH 23/122, 33, ‘Summary of Proceedings’, 17 February 1909.

137 BArch-B, R 1001/2141, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 9, copy, Articles of Agreement; CA, KAB, GH 23/122, 33, Articles of Agreement.

138 Ibid., copy, Foreign Office, 10 February 1909.

139 CA, KAB, GH 23/122, 33, ‘Summary of Proceedings’, 17 February 1909. The summary mentions ‘disunion in the tribe’ during discussions.

140 CA, KAB, GH 23/122, 33, Herbst, ‘Report to Prime Minister’ (Cape Colony), 16 February 1909.

141 Kooper had called for a quick initial payment given the desperate situation of his people. See ibid. See also Lindner, Koloniale Begegungen, p. 279.

142 CA, PMO 214, 64/06, telegram, Resident Commissioner (Mafeking) to High Commissioner (Johannesburg), 16 November [1908]. See also CA, PMO 214, 64/06, H.W. Seaward, 6 December 1908.

143 BArch-B, R 1001/2141, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 9, telegram, Governeur an Kolonialamt [Governor to Colonial Office], 3 March 1909.

144 ‘Deutsch-englische Interessengemeinschaft in den Kolonien’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 December 1909.

145 ‘Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Die Eingeborenen in der deutschen Kalahari’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 September 1909; ‘Kolonialwirtschaftliche Mitteilungen’, Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1 March 1909.

146 BArch-B, R 1001/2141, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 9, copy, High Commissioner’s Office, 23 January 1910.

147 Ibid., copy, High Commissioner’s Office, 15 February 1910.

148 CA, PMO 214, 64/06, trooper Sinton, 15 May 1909. See also CA, PMO 214, 64/06, Surmon to Government Secretary (Mafeking), 13 June 1909. Their movements were tied to his search for water.

149 BArch-B, R 1001/2141, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 9, copy, ‘Bericht über die Expedition in die Kalahari vom 8. bis zum 17.1.1910’.

150 Dedering, ‘War and Mobility’, p. 288.

151 ‘Bilder von der südwestafrikanischen Grenze’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 16 January 1909.

152 ‘Südwestafrikanische Stimmungsbilder beim Jahreswechsel’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 13 February 1909.

153 ‘Die Eingeborenen in der deutschen Kalahari’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 4 September 1909.

154 BArch-B, R 1001/2147, ‘Einfälle von Hottentotten in Deutsch-Südwestafrika’, Bd. 1, telegram, Governeur an Reichskolonialamt [Governor to Colonial Office], 11 February 1911.

155 Ibid.

156 Ibid., copy, Foreign Office, 25 February 1911. A report from Klipdam claimed (without evidence) that a German patrol had caught two of Kooper’s men conspiring to steal horses. Ibid., copy, telegram, 1 October 1909.

157 Ibid., copy, Generalkonsulat Kapstadt an Auswärtiges Amt [General Consulate Cape Town to Foreign Office], 20 February 1911.

158 Ibid., copy, Foreign Office, 7 March 1911.

159 Ibid., telegram, Governeur an Reichskolonialamt [Governor to Colonial Office], 29 March 1911.

160 BArch-B, R 1001/2141, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 9, copy, High Commissioner’s Office, 30 December 1911. See also Lindner, Koloniale Begegungen, pp. 279–80.

161 BArch-B, R 1001/2141, ‘Aufstand im Namaland’, Bd. 9, copy, High Commissioner’s Office, 30 December 1911.

162 Ibid.

163 BArch-B, R 1001/2148, ‘Einfälle von Hottentotten in Deutsch-Südwestafrika’, Okt. 1912–Mai 1914, Band 2, copy, Bericht Nr. 2153, Gouverneur von Deutsch-Südwestafrika [Governor of German Southwest Africa], 12 October 1912. See also BArch-B, R 1001/2148, Governeur an Reichskolonialamt [Governor to Colonial Office], 17 October 1912; NAN, ZBU, 2370, Geheimakte Cooper, Bd. 2, ‘Notiz über das Urteil des Eingeborenengerichts Gibeon vom’, 28 September 1912, as referenced in Koloniale Begegnungen, p. 280.

164 BArch-B, R 1001/2148, copy, Generalkonsulat Kapstadt an Reichskanzler, 12 October 1911. A British report noted ‘that Kooper did not know that they had proceeded beyond the boundaries of his reserve’, ibid., copy, High Commissioner’s Office Pretoria, 18 November 1912. For other examples see BArch-B, R 1001/2147, ‘Einfälle von Hottentotten in Deutsch-Südwestafrika’, Bd. 1, Telegram, 17 September 1912; BArch-B, R 1001/2148, ‘Einfälle von Hottentotten in Deutsch-Südwestafrika’, Bd. 2, copy, Kommando der Schutztruppe, 6 September 1912.

165 ‘Verminderung der südwestafrikanischen Schutztruppe?’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 26 October 1912. See also ‘Simon Copper in Südwest’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 21 September 1912.

166 ‘Rundschau. Simon Kopper tot’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 12 April 1913. Actions against (mainly San) encampments continued, with devastating results. ‘Rundschau. Vorgehen gegen eine Kopperwerft’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 3 May 1913; ‘Die Buschmannsgefahr in Deutsch-Südwestafrika’, Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 11 October 1913.

167 Kern, Im Kampf mit Simon Kopper; H. Schnee (ed.), Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon (Leipzig, Quelle & Meyer, 1920); H. Grimm, Der Zug des Hauptmanns von Erckert (Munich, Müller, 1932); A. Fischer, Südwester Offiziere (Berlin, Safari-Verlag, 1935); [n], ‘Vor fünfzig Jahren fiel Hauptmann Friedrich von Erckert’, Der Kreis, 1, 4 (Mar., 1958), 125–6; W. Grunow, ‘Entstehung und Einsatz des Kamelreiterkorps der Kaiserl. Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika’, Mitteilungsblatt des Traditionsverbandes Ehemaliger Schutz- und Überseetruppen, 61 (1961), 44–9; W. Wülfing, B. Kroemer (ed.), Im Morgengrauen gegen Kopper (Windhoek, Glanz & Gloria, 2010). See also Haacke, ‘The Kalahari Expedition’, p. 1.

168 Nichodimas Cooper, email, 11 September 2022.

169 Ibid. See also B. Weidlich, ‘Botswana Descendants of Nama Hero Simon Kooper revive their culture’, available at https://namibian.org/news/culture-and-lifestyle/nama-festival, retrieved 18 January 2022; ‘Kooper’s Grave Site Restored’, The Namibian, 14 September 2011; ‘NAMAs Urged to Protect Heritage’, The Namibian, 25 October 2010, available at https://allafrica.com/stories/201010290129.html, retrieved 25 April 2023; ‘Forgotten Clans Find Their Voices’, Namibian Sun, 18 June 2018, available at https://www.namibiansun.com/news/forgotten-clans-find-their-voices2018-06-17, retrieved 25 April 2023; NAN, A.0980, Simon Kooper; NAN, AACRLS.169, National Archives of Botswana (BNARS).

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Martin Kalb

Martin Kalb Associate Professor of History, Department of History and Political Science, Bridgewater College, 402 E. College Street, Mailbox 116 Bridgewater, VA 22801, USA. Email: [email protected]