Hottentot (racial term)

For other uses, see Hottentot (disambiguation).
"Korah Hottentots preparing to remove" (Samuel Daniell, 1805)
Early 19th-century caricature by George Cruikshank showing settlers being attacked by cannibal "Hottentots"[1]

Hottentot (British and South African English /ˈhɒtənˌtɒt/ HOT-ən-TOT) is a term that was historically used by Europeans to refer to the Khoekhoe, the indigenous nomadic pastoralists in South Africa.

Use of the term Hottentot is now considered offensive, the preferred name for the non Bantu speaking indigenous people of the Western Cape area being Khoekhoe (formerly Khoikhoi).[2]

  1. ^ "All among the Hottentots Capering ashore, a satirical view of the 1820 settlers, to remind emigrants of the dangers awaiting them", caption: "All among the Hottentots Capring ashore"!! or the Blessings of Emigration to the Cape of Forlorn[Good] Hope, source unknown, identified only as "Cruikshank, presumably George Cruikshank (1792–1878)", reproduction from Anthony Preston, Suid-Afrikaanse Geskiedenis in Beeld (1989)
  2. ^ "Khoisan" is an artificial compound term that was introduced into 20th-century ethnology, but since the late 1990s it has been adopted as a self designation (since 2017 its use has been official due to the passage of a "Traditional & Khoisan Leadership Bill" by the South African National Assembly. Khoisan march to Parliament to demand land rights Archived 2019-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, ENCA , 3 December 2015. Pelane Phakgadi, Ramaphosa meets aggrieved Khoisan activists at Union Buildings, Eyewitness News, 24 December 2017. Illegitimate Khoisan leaders are trying to exploit new bill, IOL, 17 April 2018.