Oorlam People - Clans

Clans

The Orlam people comprise various subtribes, clans, and families. In South Africa the Griqua are an influential Oorlam group.

The clans that migrated across the Oranje into South-West Africa are, in order of their time of arrival:

• The ǀAixaǀaen (Orlam Afrikaners), the first group to enter and permanently settle in Namibia. Their leader Klaas Afrikaner left the Cape Colony around 1770. The clan first built the fortress of ǁKhauxaǃnas, then moved to Blydeverwacht, and finally settled at Windhoek.
• The ǃAman (Bethanie Orlam) subtribe settled at Bethanie at the turn of the eighteenth century.
• The Kaiǀkhauan (Khauas Nama) subtribe formed in the 1830s, when the Vlermuis clan merged with the Amraal family. Their home settlement became Naosanabis (now Leonardville), which they occupied from 1840 onward. This clan ceased to exist after military defeat by Imperial German Schutztruppe in 1894 and 1896.
• The ǀHaiǀkhauan (Berseba Orlam) subtribe formed in 1850, when the Tibot and Goliath families split from the ǃAman to found Berseba.
• The ǀKhowesin (Witbooi Orlam) subtribe was the last to take up settlement in Namibia. They originated at Pella, south of the Orange River. Their home town became Gibeon.