During the 18th and 19th centuries, Dutch-speaking pastoralists who infiltrated the Cape interior dispossessed its aboriginal inhabitants (the Bushmen, or San) and damaged the environment with their destructive farming and hunting practises. In response to indigenous resistance, the colonists formed armed, mounted militia units known as commandos with the express purpose of destroying San bands. This ensured the virtual extinction of the Cape San peoples. The author argues that their fate amounted to genocide because there ...
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During the 18th and 19th centuries, Dutch-speaking pastoralists who infiltrated the Cape interior dispossessed its aboriginal inhabitants (the Bushmen, or San) and damaged the environment with their destructive farming and hunting practises. In response to indigenous resistance, the colonists formed armed, mounted militia units known as commandos with the express purpose of destroying San bands. This ensured the virtual extinction of the Cape San peoples. The author argues that their fate amounted to genocide because there was clear intent to eradicate San society which, as a result of settler violence, was no longer able to reproduce itself biologically or culturally. This book explores the history of the genocide and its modern outcome.
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