Oorlam people

The Oorlam or Orlam people (also known as Orlaam, Oorlammers, Oerlams, or Orlamse Hottentots) are a subtribe of the Nama people, largely assimilated after their migration from the Cape Colony (today, part of South Africa) to Namaqualand and Damaraland (now in Namibia).

Oorlam clans were originally formed from mixed-race descendants of indigenous Khoikhoi, Europeans and slaves from Madagascar, India, and Indonesia. Similar to the other Afrikaans-speaking group at the time, the Trekboers, Oorlam originally populated the frontiers of the infant Cape Colony, later living as semi-nomadic commandos of mounted gunmen. Also like the Boers, they migrated inland from the Cape, and established several states in what are now South Africa and Namibia. The Oorlam migration in South Africa also produced the related Griqua people.

Name

The origin of the name is disputed; at least a half-dozen versions can be found in the literature. It is said to be from the Malay expression orang lama (lit., "a man of long time"), meaning an old, experienced servant; from the Dutch word overlands or o'erlands, referring to those coming overland; from a disparaging Nama epithet meaning 'barren ewe'; from an Afrikaans word oorlam of unknown origin meaning 'sly' or 'cunning'; from a type of liquor sold in Cape Town; or from gorang, a Malay word for 'slave.' Finally, it has been suggested that the Orlams were named after one of the first European colonists who settled among them in their old homeland in the Cape Colony.