HIDDEN HISTORIES OF GORDONIA
HIDDEN HISTORIES OF GORDONIA
Land Dispossession and Resistance in the Northern Cape, 1800-1990
Martin Legassick
Published in South Africa by:
Wits University Press
1 Jan Smuts Avenue
Johannesburg, 2001
Copyright © Martin Legassick 2016
Published edition © Wits University Press 2016
Illustrations © Individual copyright holders 2016
Cover image © Anthony van Tonder/Africa Media Online
First published 2016
978-1-86814-954-4 (print)
978-1-86814-955-1 (EPUB (North & South America and China)
978-1-86814-956-8 EPUB (Rest of the World)
978-1-86814-957-5 (PDF)
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Project managed by Karen Press
Edited by Karen Press
Proofread by Inga Norenius
Index by Clifford Perusset
Cover design by Hybrid Creative, South Africa
Book design and layout by Hybrid Creative, South Africa
Printed and bound by Creda Communications
Dedicated to the memory of the late Aubrey Beukes, who gave invaluable assistance at the start of this work, to Alfred Gubula, for his encouragement, and to my partner Margie Struthers for consistent support and assistance.
CONTENTS
The Baster settlement of Gordonia and its decline
The will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: a struggle forland in Gordonia, 1898–2014
From prisoners to exhibits: representations of Bushmen of the northern Cape, 1880–1900
The early history of the brown Afrikaners in Riemvasmaak
The Marengo rebellion and Riemvasmaak, 1903–1907
The racial division of Gordonia, 1921–1930
Keidebees and Blikkies locations, Upington, 1894–1974
‘All my powers have been swallowed by Upington’: the life andtimes of Alfred Gubula
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Parts of chapter 2 were first published in M. Legassick, ‘The will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: the struggle for land in Gordonia, 1898–1995’, Journal of African History, 37, 3, 1996, pp. 371–418.
An earlier version of chapter 3 was published as M. Legassick, ‘The will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: the struggle for land in Gordonia, 1898–1995’, Journal of African History, 37, 3, 1996, pp. 371–418.
Chapter 4 was first published in A. Coombes (ed.), Rethinking settler colonialism: history and memory in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and South Africa (Manchester University Press, 2006).
Chapter 5 is a revised and updated version of M. Legassick and C. Rassool, ‘South African human remains, Viennese museums, and the politics of repatriation: reconsidering the legacy of Rudolf Pöch’, published in German as M. Legassick and C. Rassool, ‘Gestörte Totenruhe: Dr. Pöchs Umtriebe in Südafrika und Österreichs moralische