12. Cultural heritage and histories of the Northern Namib / Skeleton Coast National Park

Abstract

We outline Indigenous cultural heritage and histories associated with the Northern Namib desert, designated since 1971 as the Skeleton Coast National Park. We draw on two main sources of information: 1) historical documents stretching back to the late 1800s; and 2) oral history research with now elderly people who have direct and familial memories of using and living in areas now within the Park boundary. This material affirms that localities and resources now included within the Park were used by local people in historical times, their access linked with the availability of valued foods, especially !nara melons (Acanthosicyos horridus) and marine foods such as mussels. Memories about these localities, resources and heritage concerns, including graves of family members, remain lively for some individuals and their families today. We argue for the importance of understanding of the Northern Namib as a remembered cultural landscape, as well as an area of high conservation value. In doing so, protecting and perhaps restoring access to sites with significant contemporary cultural heritage value would be appropriate. Such sites include locations of culturally important foods such as !nara, graves of known ancestors, and named and remembered former dwelling places. We hope that the material shared here will contribute to a diversified recognition of values for the Skeleton Coast National Park, and shape ecological and heritage conservation practice and visitor experiences into the future.