nomadic people, who inhabited the greater part of what is now the Cape region of South Africa, when this area was colonized by European settlers in the 17th century. The Khoikhoi people have also been called Hottentots, a name given them by whites in South Africa. The majority of the remaining Khoikhoi now live in the southern part of Namibia, and the term has been extended to include the culturally mixed descendants of the original Khoikhoi, who are now scattered throughout the southwestern part of South Africa.

Physical Appearance.

The Khoikhoi are related to two neighboring peoples, the SAN, (Bushmen) and the BANTU, (qq.v.), and may have originated in southern Africa from a cross between these two peoples. True Khoikhoi, who closely resemble San, exhibit a consistent set of physical characteristics, being predominantly narrow-headed, with broad prominent cheekbones, very tightly curled hair, and yellowish-brown skin. Khoikhoi average about 1.5 m (about 5 ft) in height; the women are characterized by greatly developed buttocks, a condition known as steatopygia.

Culture.

Modern Khoikhoi culture has been affected by contact with Europeans and by incursions and conquest by neighboring peoples, particularly the Bantu. Most of the Khoikhoi have been absorbed into the large detribalized and mixed-blood population of South Africa. A few groups, however, were driven north and west into less productive areas of the land, where the majority are settled on reserves or in rural European communities. Many of these people work as laborers, and their social system has been adapted to a settled existence. The former tribal chief now acts as the head of a village group.

A small number of Khoikhoi still lead a nomadic life, in which pastoralism has taken precedence over hunting. They are divided into tribes under separate chiefs, each tribe occupying its own territory. Trade is carried on by barter in cattle, which are raised mainly for milk, the chief food of the Khoikhoi. Most of the meat they eat is still procured by hunting, and a variety of wild roots and fruits are gathered. The possession of cattle has given rise to status distinctions of wealth and prestige.

Within a tribe the Khoikhoi are organized in clan groups and practice cross-cousin marriage. Lines of descent are reckoned through the father. Their religion is a combination of animism and the personification of the natural forces that produce rain. The Khoikhoi believe in the existence of the soul after death and in a ruler of all things who came out of the east. Their graves, therefore, are oriented toward the east. During every visit to a cemetery the Khoikhoi add to a pile of memorial stones, a practice that has enabled anthropologists to trace with some accuracy the course of their nomadic wanderings and large-scale migrations. Although the Khoikhoi have no priestly class and no temples or places of united worship, they have medicine men, witch doctors, and sorcerers who are called on to heal the sick by magic. An extensive folklore exists that resembles that of the neighboring Bantu.

Both the Khoikhoi and the San languages belong to the Khoisan group, of which Nama is the principal language (see AFRICAN LANGUAGES,).