In December 2025, team members Dr. Lee Watkins, Mr. Leonard Boetles Gewers, and Dr. Lyndsey Copeland conducted research in the Karoo region of the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces, followed by the Richtersveld region in the Northern Cape. We travelled first to Vredendal, Vanrhynsdorp, Nieuwoudtville, Loeriesfontein, and Calvinia, and met with and interviewed numerous practitioners of an indigenous Khoe dance style called rieldans. Thereafter, Dr. Watkins and Mr. Gewers travelled northward to Port Nolloth in the Richtersveld to pursue follow-up visits and interviews with Nama musicians there.
View of a quiver tree and abandoned building on the outskirts of Loeriesfontein, Northern Cape, in the Hantam region of the Karoo.Mr. Boetles Gewers with Ms. Hettie Witbooi and Mr. Gert Witbooi in Loeriesfontein, Northern Cape.Mr. Noag Witbooi and Mr. Boetles Gewers accompany an impromptu rieldans in the courtyard of Mr. Witbooi’s home in Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape.Mr. Boetles Gewers performs with Mr. Noag Witbooi during an interview at Mr. Witbooi’s home in Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape.Dr. Lyndsey Copeland, Mr. Noag Witbooi, and Mr. Leonard Gewers at Mr. Witbooi’s home in Nieuwoudtville.Mr. Leonard Boetles Gewers in interview with Ms. Hester Van Wyk and Ms. Anna Assegaai in Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape.Mr. Boetles Gewers and Dr. Ian Copeland en route over the treacherous Vanrhyns Pass in Namaqualand that marks the border of the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces.View of the Calvinia town history museum on the main street of Calvinia, Northern Cape, in the Great Karoo region.Dr. Lee Watkins in interview with Mr. Boeta Gammie in Calvinia, Northern Cape.Dr. Lee Watkins and Mr. Eloff Snyman host a braai after a day of field work in Calvinia, Northern Cape.Team members Dr. Lyndsey Copeland, Mr. Boetles Gewers, and Dr. Lee Watkins in Vredendal, Western Cape.
