Khoikhoi, << `koy` KOY, >> are a people of southern Africa. In the past, they were often called Hottentots, but this name has become an insulting term meaning savage or barbarian. Anthropologists prefer to use the word Khoikhoi because it is the people’s own name for themselves. The word means men of men.
The Khoikhoi have lived mainly in South Africa. Today, the only remaining group, the Nama, also live in Botswana and Namibia. Their way of life differs greatly from the way of life of their ancestors. Some of the Nama live in rural reserves. The rest work on farms or in towns.
Anthropologists believe there were once at least 18 Khoikhoi groups. The Khoikhoi were nomads who lived by herding sheep and cattle. The women milked the herds. The men tended the herds and also hunted. The Khoikhoi speak a Khoisan language, one of the world’s most ancient languages, which is characterized by clicking sounds. The Khoikhoi in South Africa gradually declined as a separate people through warfare and intermarriage with other African groups and with the settlers called Boers, most of whom were of Dutch descent.
See also Africa (Peoples of Africa) .
