ABSTRACT
Struggles for political control over portions of, and later the entire extent of the territory that now constitutes the Republic o f Namibia have occurred intermittently for about eight centuries, culminating only in 1990 with the advent o f political independence. As in other parts o f southern Africa, the people with the longest history in this region are the San (Katjavivi, 1988).1 O f the 37,000 who have survived to the present era, the largest groups are the Khung, Heikum and Barakwengo (Serfontein, 1976). The arrival o f other more powerful African groups since the twelfth century gradually drove the San to the remotest areas o f the Kalahari Desert in the northeast, and in Botswana.
