Herero

Herero, or Ovaherero (“merry people”), a Bantu people of German South-West Africa, living in the region known as Damaraland or Hereroland. They call themselves Ovaherero and their language Otshi-herero. Sometimes they are described as Cattle Damara or “Damara of the Plains” in distinction from the Hill Damara who are of mixed blood and Hottentots in language. The Herero, whose main occupation is that of cattle-rearing, are a warlike race, possessed of considerable military skill, as was shown in their campaigns of 1904-5 against the Germans. (See further German South-West Africa.)