Shots fired!

[**The following takes place in German colonial South West Africa during the late 19th century.**] >At the centre of the Herero [**a prominent South West African tribe of the region**] sense of self-worth, in fact at the heart of their society, were their herds of cattle. A key myth in the tribe’s story of its own origins proclaimed that the first Herero had been given a bull and a cow by the Creator, while other peoples had to be content with inferior endowments. It was a legend that revealed the core of the Herero *Weltanschauung* [**world view**]. When this was challenged once by a German settler, one proud herdsman is reputed to have answered: ‘Everyone is greedy. The European is devoted to dead metals. We are more intelligent, we get our joy out of living creatures.’ ____________________________ **Source:** Cocker, Mark. “A Darkness That May Be Felt.” *Rivers of Blood, Rivers of Gold: Europe's Conquest of Indigenous Peoples*. Grove Press, 2001. 277. Print. **Original Source Listed:** Bridgman, *The Revolt of the Herero*, p. 17. ___________________________ **Further Reading:** [Herero People](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_people)