🦁 Hai//om

Who Are the Hai//om?

The Hai//om are a San (Bushmen) people of north-central Namibia, traditionally inhabiting the area now occupied by Etosha National Park and surrounding regions. Numbering approximately 10,000-15,000, they speak Hai//om, a Khoisan language with click consonants. The Hai//om name means "tree sleepers," possibly referring to traditional sleeping platforms. Unlike some San groups who received land through conservancy programs, the Hai//om were largely excluded from their ancestral territory when Etosha became a protected area. Their story exemplifies how conservation can dispossess indigenous peoples, creating "conservation refugees" who lose both land and livelihood.

Etosha Evictions

Etosha Pan and its surroundings—rich in wildlife and seasonal water—were central to Hai//om life for thousands of years. German colonial authorities established a game reserve in 1907, later expanded into Etosha National Park. The Hai//om were progressively excluded from their homeland. By 1954, all Hai//om had been removed from the park. Some were employed as trackers and laborers; others dispersed to farms and settlements. The dispossession was complete: the Hai//om lost not just hunting grounds but sacred sites, water sources, and the landscape that defined their identity. Today, Etosha is one of Africa's premier tourist destinations, generating substantial revenue—none of which reaches the Hai//om who once called it home.

Land Claims

After Namibian independence (1990), the Hai//om pursued land claims seeking recognition of their ancestral rights. They demanded either return of land within Etosha or adequate compensation and alternative land. Their claims have been largely unsuccessful. The government has resisted reopening conservation areas; alternative land allocations have been minimal. Some Hai//om have been resettled on farms, though these are often inadequate and lack the resources of their original territory. The Hai//om case highlights tensions between conservation priorities, tourism revenue, and indigenous rights. International advocacy organizations have supported Hai//om claims, but the government remains resistant. The contrast between Etosha's wealthy tourists and the impoverished Hai//om on its margins is stark.

Contemporary Hai//om

Modern Hai//om live scattered across farms, settlements, and towns in north-central Namibia. Poverty is widespread; many work as farm laborers, often in poor conditions. Some traditional knowledge survives; elders remember the landscape they lost. The Hai//om language is endangered; younger people increasingly speak Afrikaans or Oshiwambo. Cultural practices have diminished without access to traditional lands. Some Hai//om work in tourism, demonstrating tracking skills or cultural practices for visitors—an ironic situation given their exclusion from the lands tourists come to see. Advocacy organizations continue to press land claims. The Hai//om story illustrates how conservation and tourism can create indigenous dispossession while those who benefit rarely acknowledge their presence.

References

• Dieckmann, U. (2007). Hai//om in the Etosha Region: A History of Colonial Settlement, Ethnicity and Nature Conservation
• Suzman, J. (2017). Affluence Without Abundance: The Disappearing World of the Bushmen
• Hitchcock, R. K. (2012). Refugees, Resettlement, and Land and Resource Conflicts