Krotoa

During the Site_Specific International Land Art Biennale I contributed my performance poetry to the Fences  project of artist and cultural activist Erica Lüttich. She discovered the story of Krotoa, also known as Eva, and she and her Boitumelo Sewing Project knitted a beautiful and richly colourful cloak worn by Mokhema Hlaganani, who played the part of Krotoa. 
Interesting to note is that Krotoa worked in the household of Jan van Riebeeck from the age of 11. She served him for about 10 years until he left the Cape in 1662. She was the niece of Autshumao, also known as Harry die Strandloper. Seeing that she could speak several languages she was appointed as interpreter, emmisary and negotiator between the newly arrived Europeans and her own people, the Khoisan. She was related to royal Khoi family and this made her even more desirable as a pawn for Van Riebeeck. She was highly regarded as someone with great diplomatic skill and a knack for intelligence gathering, and this while still only a teenager. (She is also known as being instrumental in the emergence of the Afrikaans language).  Although she was the first Khoi woman to marry a European, Pieter van Meerhoff, and the first Khoi to be baptized as a Christian, she was always more at home with her own people. Another Khoi interpreter, Nommoa, accused her of being a traitor to the Khoi. One can only imagine the conflict of loyalty and identity she was experiencing. Toward the end of Van Riebeeck's stay in the Cape of Good Hope he started to doubt Krotoa's intentions and fidelity to his cause and believed she was passing on strategic information to her own people so as to turn them against the colonists. Because of this struggle with her identity and belonging, and possibly for other reasons she was lead to drink and other behaviours that the biased tellers of history would make us believe. The last 5 years of her young life she spent incarcerated on Robben Island. 
Why her story was not known for all this while: her blood runs through some prominent white Afrikaner families. 
The piece I conceived consisted of five poems  - "Fences" dealing with the Colonialist/Ownership/Safety theme and the other four poems, "Vir Krotoa", "Vir Sara Baartman" (written by Diana Ferrus), "Aan Ingrid" and "Street Woman"  inspired by women who were challenged and/or scarred by man-driven societies. 
By the visionary hands of Erica, she brought Plettenberg Bay's neighbouring communities together to participate in various art projects, including the rigging up of the fences used as part of the performance. Kudos to Erica for the inspiring and heartfelt work she does! 

Two years ago I wrote In die Grond en Blom skyn die hoop - a poem touching on woman's strength, her eccentricity and hopefulness. When I came across Krotoa's story, I thought back on this poem and saw how well the words fitted her. I re-wrote certain phrases and tweaked here and there for the poem to become:

Vir Krotoa

sy het vele warmgebakte kranse ontdek langs die woude
het hul gevul met klippe, voetspore en uitgekapte wense
die dou lek sy vroeg-oggend van die boegoeblare
en vee haar wange met die sagte son wat deur die skeure breek
sing sy alomheen die liedere wat resonant oor die vlaktes aanrol
'n vrou soos hierdie mag nie stilbly

hoor hoe haar stem deur klip en geskiedenis breek
sien hoe sy vrouwees bevry
deur met grond liefde te maak
in haar skyn die hoop
wat nog by ons mense spook

en so bly sy opstaan, 'n ware vrou,
gevul met drome en verwarring
sy doen haar daaglikse pligte
met grond onder haar naels, borduur sy die kontinente aan een
sy is alleen, net sy en haar haar tong
praat sy vir die onthalwe van ander,
maar nooit vir die onthalwe van haarself
prinses die een dag, 'n pion die ander,
haar identiteit verskeur en verkrag
'n vrou soos hierdie word maklik misverstaan

hoor hoe haar stem deur klip en geskiedenis breek
sien hoe sy vrouwees bevry
deur met grond liefde te maak
in haar skyn die hoop
wat nog by ons mense spook

en so het sy oor die berge met haar aardsvlerke gevlieg
nakend soos net die veld en lug daarvan hou
leerken sy die laaste helder paaie van oorlewing
dra vuur en klippe aan om die laaste vestiging te bou
waar lug nog diep ingeasem kan word
en grond diep gegtrap kan word sodat groen lewe
uitrys uit water en klei en 'n nuwe wêreld aanbreek

hoor hoe haar stem deur klip en geskiedenis breek
sien hoe sy vrouwees bevry
deur met grond liefde te maak
in haar skyn die hoop
wat nog by ons mense spook

soms verloor sy haar kop, maar nooit haar hart
sy druk haar lippe en bors ferm teen die aarde
voel die vibrasie van minerale krag
grond is bly om te voel hoe diep hierdie vrou haar spoor trap
'n vrou soos hierdie kan nie stilbly
in haar skyn die hoop
wat nog by ons mense spook

Photos taken by Erica Luttich