Article ID: CBB730837162

The 'world's greatest mineral locality': Haiǁom, Ndonga, Herero, and the early colonial histories of Tsumeb, Namibia (2021)

unapi

The Tsumeb copper mine in the Otavi Mountains of Namibia is famous both for its spectacular mineral specimens and for its unparalleled diversity of mineral species. The site was mined for nearly 100 years, first by Anglo-German and then by multinational companies; however, prior to that, the site was central to the economies of the Ndonga, Haiǁom, and Herero, who mined, smelted, crafted, and traded the copper. This paper attempts to fill a major gap in the early history of Tsumeb: how did control of Tsumeb’s copper transfer from local communities to Germany? By synthesizing a wide variety of sources, this paper tells pre-colonial and early colonial histories of copper in the Tsumeb area, focusing on the Haiǁom who mined the copper, the Ndonga who smelted and crafted it, and the Herero who had historical relationships with the land. Throughout, the paper attempts to connect Tsumeb’s local history with the larger regional context of South West Africa (now Namibia), and to provide a more in-depth account of the communities whose roles, in previous mineralogic histories of Tsumeb, have been reduced to: "trouble with the natives."

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB730837162/

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Authors & Contributors
Escamilla-González, Francisco Omar
Morelos-Rodríguez, Lucero
Selby Hearth
Dario Zampieri
Mario Coglitore
Thurner, Lance C.
Concepts
Mines and mining
Earth sciences
Colonialism
Copper and copper industry
Mineralogy
Geology
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century, early
20th century
17th century
16th century
Places
United States
Italy
Africa
Europe
Alps (Europe)
Namibia
Institutions
South West Africa Company (SWACO)
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