Kinderlê

A grudge, they say, is a painful thing to nurse. Nama and San people are peaceful folk. Or that’s how white people portray them. They don’t fight. They give when it is needed, and they don’t take. Like Hanna, Maria begged God for a child, and God gave her one. Dawid and Maria were given Dammas. On a Sunday in 1867, their camp, Nona-Ams, was attacked by San people while the adults were attending a church service at Besondermeid. Thirty-two Nama children, their caretakers and dogs were killed. The same God who gave to Dawid and Maria, took back Dammas and 31 other Nama children. Giving and then taking back is worse than stealing. This work portrays a Northern Cape history that is not widely known. It raises questions about motherhood, parenthood, faith, and a tragic history, the scars of which still lie across the back of Namaqualand.