Did the Khoi Khoi farm?
The first farming communities had a lot in common with the Khoikhoi herders. Both groups ate shellfish when they lived at the coast, both hunted animals and both needed grazing land for their cattle. The Khoi taught the first farmers to make medicine from plants and shared their religious ideas.
What did the Khoi Khoi wear?
Traditional attire: Generally the Khoisan wore a bundle of cloth around the genital area, similar to underwear, and braided necklace for men. The women covered their breasts with a stip of cloth and wore skirts of the same fabric.
Why did the Khoikhoi have to move to a new place every six weeks?
The Khoikhoi moved from place-to-place seasonally and didn’t stay in the same area more than a few weeks on end. The main reason behind this was to ensure that their animals had sufficient grazing.
Did the Khoikhoi build houses?
As the Khoi- Khoi were nomadic, their houses had to be easy to take down and put up, so they used young trees called saplings to build basic dome-like structures and covered them with woven reed mats.
What kind of houses did the Khoikhoi live in?
The Khoikhoi and the San. The village settlement of the Khoikhoi was relatively large, often well over one hundred persons. The basic housing structure was a round hut (matjioeshuis) made of a frame of green branches planted into the ground and bent over and tied together. This was covered with reed mats.
Why was there conflict between the Khoikhoi San and the Dutch?
It was Dutch encroachment and expansion into areas around Table Bay and beyond that resulted in conflicts with the Khoikhoi. The Khoikhoi refused to move declaring that the land was theirs and that they would attack the Dutch if they were not permitted to graze their cattle or build their huts wherever they chose.
Did the Dutch enslave the Khoi?
The Cape was not intended to be a colony, but a halfway house of sorts, and therefore the local inhabitants could not be enslaved. It was necessary that relations with the local population of Khoi and San remain positive as the Dutch had to barter with them for fresh meat.