Native Estates - Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi

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Résumé :
In many instances, the colonial state has left a strong imprint on the postcolonial archive. In the National Archives of Namibia (NAN), for instance, it is difficult to locate pre-independence person-related records of the black majority, while the same type of records of their light-skinned compatriots are easily accessible. This lecture discusses a substantial corpus of about 11 000 so-called Native Estates files which previously were not accessible through the existing finding aids. What is the research potential of these formerly neglected and untouched records in particular regarding the social history of contract labour in Namibia and of African migrants on a wider scale? Furthermore, a substantial amount of estate files of migrants from other African countries were discovered - a feature of Namibian history that has rarely been researched. The sometimes very detailed files reveal information on the migrants' origin, their integration in Namibian society and expatriate networks in the country. They also reveal that not only Angolans and West Africans but also a substantial number of migrants from other Southern African colonies found employment opportunities in Namibia during the colonial era. The Native Estate records thus have an important research potential with regard to the entire Southern African region, which was heavily reliant on migrant labour both on the demand and on the supply side.

Biographie:
Ellen Ndeshi Namhila is Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Namibia (UNAM) in Windhoek and a well-known writer, historian and policy maker for research and heritage. She was Director of the Namibia Library and Archives Services from 1998 to 2007 and subsequently the University Librarian of UNAM until 2015. Ellen Namhila acted as Vice-President of UNESCO's International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World and served on the Governing Board of the Inter- national Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. In her Mbapira Award-winning book, The Price of Freedom (1997), she chronicles her life and upbringing during the Namibian liberation struggle and in exile. Her subsequent books Kahumba kaNdola: The Biography of a Barefoot Soldier (2005), Tears of Courage (2009) and Mukwahepo: Woman, Soldier, Mother (2013) portray 'forgotten' or side-lined personalities of Namibia's recent history and reflect the gendered politics of memory and historiography.