Selma Gumbo
OTJOMURU - Deputy Minister of Marginalised People Royal J. K. /Ui/o/ oo has urged the Ministry of
Education, Arts and Culture to incorporate San languages into government’s education curriculum, as it faces a threat of extinction.
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1994, was recently celebrated at Otjomuru in Epupa Constituency of Kunene Region.
/Ui/o/oo, in a speech read on his behalf by Kunene advisor to the governor Katuutire Kaura in an International Day of the World’s Indigenous event held in Kunene Region, encouraged people around the world to spread the UN’s message on the protection and promotion of indigenous languages. The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is celebrated on August 9 annually.
It is celebrated around the world and marks the date of the inaugural session of the working group on indigenous populations at the United Nations in 1982. The day was celebrated at Otjomuru, located 78km from the nearest settlement of Okuaguati in Epupa Constituency. Otjomuru is home to the Ovatue, Ovahimba and Ovatjimba indigenous communities.
The aim of the celebration is to highlight the critical need to revitalise, preserve and promote
indigenous languages and share good practice through expert and interactive actions of innovative
initiatives of indigenous languages.
“I am pleading to the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture to [pool] resources for the development of San languages. The San languages are facing a serious threat of extinction due to their non-existence in our education curriculum,” /Ui/o/oo said.
Indigenous languages are not only methods of communication but extensive and complex systems
of knowledge that indigenous people have developed over millennia, the deputy minister said.
A community without a language is a community without identity, said /Ui/o/oo. “You must not be ashamed of your language, your culture and tradition, and it’s through language that we communicate,” he added.
*Selma Gumbo is an information officer in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in
Kunene Region.