The Structure of an African Pastoralist Community Demography, History, and Ecology of the Ngamiland Herero

This important monograph details the ecology and population dynamics of the Herero, a group of cattle and goat herders in the northern Kalahari Desert of the Ngamiland district of Botswana. Although the Herero arrived in the region less than a century ago as destitute refugees, these staunchly traditional Bantu speakers have established themselves as a prominent and prosperous tribe in a pocket of the Kalahari previously occupied almost exclusively by !Kung-speaking foragers. This book traces their rise to economic prominence in Botswana and the accompanying decreases in mortality, increases in fertility, and resurgences of tribal ethnicity. Demographic data were collected through intense ethnographic interviews of over 700 Herero. This book will interest researchers and students in anthropology, sociology, and ecology.