Griqua
489792
189017736
2008-02-04T13:22:11Z
210.49.80.214
{{for|the [[Currie Cup]] [[rugby union]] club|Wildeklawer Griquas}}
{{Infobox Ethnic group
|group = Griqua
|image =
|poptime = Unknown c. 2 to 5 million
|popplace = [[South Africa]]
|rels = [[Protestantism]]
|langs = [[Afrikaans]], [[English language|English]]
|related = [[Coloureds]], [[Khoikhoi]], [[Namaqua]], [[Basters]], [[Afrikaners]]
}}
The '''Griqua''' ([[Afrikaans]] ''Griekwa'', sometimes incorrectly called '''Korana''') are a subgroup of [[South Africa]]'s heterogeneous and [[multiracial]] [[Coloured]] people.
The Griqua are often considered to be a racially and culturally mixed people whose origin goes back to the intermarriages or sexual relations between European colonists in the [[Cape Colony|Cape]] and the [[Khoikhoi]] already living there in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This notion apparently derives from the name given in 1813 by Rev. John Campbell (London Missionary Society) to a mixed group of Grigriqua (a Cape Khoikhoi group), 'bastaards', Koranna, and Tswana living at the site of present day Griekwastad <ref>[http://www.places.co.za/html/griekwastad.html Griekwastad<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> (formerly "Klaarwater"). According to Isaac Tirion<ref>[http://www.tanap.net/content/activities/documents/resolutions_Cape_of_Good_Hope/landkaart.htm Landkaart Kaap de Goede Hoop<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, by 1730 the Grigriquas already lived in this northeastern section of the Cape Colony.
==History==
Genetic evidence indicates that the majority of the present Griqua population is a racial mix of European genes dating back to the times of van Riebeeck mixed with Khoikhoi and, later, African (mainly [[Tswana]]) peoples, with only small contributions of [[Bushmen|Bushman]].<ref name="ref1">Alan G. Morris. 1997. The Griqua and the Khoikhoi: Biology, Ethnicity and the Construction of Identity. / In: Kronos Journal of Cape History, No. 24, page 106 - 118</ref>.
In the nineteenth century, the Griqua controlled several political entities that were governed by ''Kapteins'' (Afrikaans for "Captain", i.e. leader) and their Councils, with their own written constitutions.<ref name="ref2">Jeroen G. Zandberg. 2005. Rehoboth Griqua Atlas. ISBN 90-808768-2-8.</ref> Today, [[Baster]]s are a separate ethnic group of similarly mixed origins living in south-central [[Namibia]]. The Griqua largely adopted the [[Afrikaans language]] before their migrations.
One of several disputed theories as to the origin of [[Bloemfontein]]'s name connects it to the Griqua leader Jan Bloem (1775-1858).
The Griqua have their own church, the Griqua Church, which is [[Protestant]] with a strong focus on maintaining the Griqua identity.
The total Griqua population is unknown. The people were submerged by a number of factors. The most prominent being the Apartheid era during which many of the Griqua people took on the mantle of "Coloured" fearing that their Griqua roots might place them at a lower level with the Africans. What is known is that a substantial proportion of coloured people have "Griqua roots" (ie Hottentot forefathers). This Griqua heritage is all too often looked at with disdain.
The Griqua are primarily found in the [[Northern Cape]] at Campbell and Griquatown; (the historic territory of Griqualand West) the [[Western Cape]] (around the small le Fleur Griqua settlement at Kranshoek) and at Kokstad.
The Griqua people are represented in the National Khoisan Consultative Conference (Nasionale Khoe-San Oorlegplegende Konferensie) established in [[Oudtshoorn]] in 2001 and that represents the [[Capoid]] first nation peoples of South Africa and parttakes in research and development projects in cooperation with the government of the Western Cape Province and with the University of the Free State in [[Bloemfontein]]. Especially prominent are members of the influential le Feur clan.
==Griqualand==
The Griqua give their name to several parts of south Africa as '''Griqualand''' as they migrated away from other areas of population.
*'''[[Griqualand East]]''' is an area around [[Kokstad]] on the frontier between the [[Eastern Cape]] and [[KwaZulu-Natal]]. This area was settled by [[Adam Kok III]] and over 2,000 Griquas who followed him over the [[Drakensberg]] in 1861. The Griqua descendants are now largely centered in Kokstad with their magnificent Griqua Church playing a central for their community today.
*'''[[Griqualand West]]''' is the area around [[Kimberley, South Africa|Kimberley]] and became significant when [[diamond]]s were discovered there; it has also been known for its rugby union and cricket teams.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.tokencoins.com/griqua.html History of the Griquas]
*[http://www.griquas.com "Children of the Mist - the lost tribe of South Africa"]
*[http://www.griquas.com/2006/14.htm Kokstad with historical Griqua images]
*[http://www.griquas.com/2006/16.htm Kranshoek - meeting with Griqua Paramaount Chief le Fleur]
*[http://www.griquas.com/2006/20.htm Griquatown and Campbell with historical Griqua images]
*[http://www.tokencoins.com/2007/23.htm Griquatown - 1812 and today]
<br/>{{Ethnic groups in South Africa}}
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[[Category:Ethnic groups in South Africa]]
[[Category:Multiracial affairs]]
[[Category:Afro-Caucasians]]
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