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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Culture and classification: A History of the Mozbieker Community at the Cape
Author:Harries, PatrickISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:Social Dynamics
Volume:26
Issue:2
Period:Summer
Pages:29-54
Language:English
Geographic terms:South Africa
The Cape
Subjects:Coloureds
immigrants
Mozambicans
colonialism
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Ethnic and Race Relations
Labor and Employment
Urbanization and Migration
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02533950008458694
Abstract:In the period from roughly 1780 to 1880, about 25,000 Mozambicans were brought to the Western Cape, firstly as slaves, then as prize Negroes or liberated slaves, and finally as contracted and free workers. These immigrants from the East African coast came to form a distinct community, roughly named 'Mosambieker', 'Mozbieker' or 'Masbieker' after their area of origin. Cut off from their homes and women, many Mozbieker men showed a quick readiness to adopt many of the cultural practices of the British and Dutch colonists at the Cape and they became cultural brokers in the service of settlers looking for new land, or Europeans exploring the interior. Over time Mozbiekers came to occupy a distinct space in colonial society. However, once they were reclassified as rightless 'natives' by the new Union of South Africa government they abandoned their separate identity and melted into the wider 'Coloured' or 'mixed race' community. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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