Baster
Sign in to saveThe Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers, or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from Cape Coloureds and Nama of Khoisan origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has been concentrated in central Namibia, in and around the town of Rehoboth. Basters are closely related to Afrikaners, Cape Coloureds, and Griquas of South Africa and Namibia, with whom they share a largely Afrikaner-influenced culture and Afrikaans language. Other groups of similar mixed ethnic origin, living chiefly in the Northern Cape, also refer to them
Key facts
- Ethnic group.group
- Basters
- Ethnic group.image
- 300px
- Ethnic group.image_caption
- Flag of the Rehoboth Basters
- Ethnic group.pop
- 45,629 (2023 Census)
- Ethnic group.popplace
- Namibia
- Ethnic group.rels
- Protestantism
- Ethnic group.langs
- Afrikaans
- Ethnic group.related
- Afrikaners, Coloureds, Nama (Oorlam), Griqua
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- ethnic group
- Image
- Nama und Damara pg278 Bastards von Rehoboth.jpg
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~26 min read
Encyclopedic overview
14 sectionsContents
- History
- Origins
- Move to central Namibia
- German South West Africa
- South African mandate rule (1915–1966)
- Independence
- Culture
- Paternal Laws
- Religion and genetics
- Traditional leadership
- Other Baster communities
- See also
- References
- External links
The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers, or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from Cape Coloureds and Nama of Khoisan origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has been concentrated in central Namibia, in and around the town of Rehoboth. Basters are closely related to Afrikaners, Cape Coloureds, and Griquas of South Africa and Namibia, with whom they share a largely Afrikaner-influenced culture and Afrikaans language. Other groups of similar mixed ethnic origin, living chiefly in the Northern Cape, also refer to themselves as Basters.
The name Baster is derived from "bastaard", the Dutch word for "bastard" or "mongrel". While some people consider this term demeaning, the Basters reappropriated it as an ethnonym, in spite of the negative connotation. Their 7th Kaptein is Jacky Britz, elected in 2021; he has no official status under the Namibian constitution. The Chief's Council of Rehoboth was replaced with a local town council under the new government.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Baster” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.