Ward 2 Development Forum

Samuel Baatjies

Properties3
descriptionEducator at the Genadendal Mission Museum. He helped make The Khoekhoe Saga, a documentary series on the Khoekhoe, and appears in its fourth episode. He pointed the moderators to the digital Genadendal Diaries.
tagstheme/heritage, lang/en
aliases

4 min read

For Samuel Baatjies to review

This page is waiting for Samuel Baatjies to check it. It is published now so that he can see how it fits with the rest of the site. Until he has approved the text, it may change. Questions for him:

  1. Is “Museum educator, Genadendal Mission Museum” the role you would like the wiki to use? If not, what wording do you prefer?
  2. Since when have you worked at the museum, and which programmes or tours do you lead now?
  3. Which archive material did the makers of The Khoekhoe Saga use?
  4. What do you speak about in episode 4? Is it filmed in Genadendal?
  5. May the wiki say that you helped Keith Radmore with Greyton’s history? Which parts?
  6. Have you written or published anything on Genadendal, Greyton, or the Khoekhoe that the wiki could cite?
  7. Should readers reach you through the moderators, or would you like a public contact listed?

Samuel Baatjies is an educator at the Genadendal Mission Museum [TBV]. He has also worked there as a tour guide [TBV]. He helped the makers of The Khoekhoe Saga, a documentary series on the Khoekhoe, throughout its making, and gave them access to the museum’s archives [MS]. He appears in its fourth episode, on faith and the missions [MS]. He also pointed the moderators to the digital transcriptions of The Genadendal Diaries, and has helped Keith Radmore with the history of Greyton [MS].

What the letters in square brackets mean

Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.

  • [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
  • [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from the contributor’s own account, profile, or publications, from the documentary series itself, or from what a named person has told the moderators.
  • [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.

At a glance

FieldMuseum education and heritage [TBV]
Known forHelping make The Khoekhoe Saga, and appearing in its fourth episode [MS]
Link to the valleyWorks at the Genadendal Mission Museum in Genadendal [TBV]

Their work

At the Genadendal Mission Museum

In October 2016 the Heritage Association of South Africa held its symposium in Genadendal. The programme lists Samuel Baatjies as the Genadendal museum tour guide, leading a guided tour of the museum’s highlights on 22 October [TBV].

He now works at the museum as an educator [TBV]. The museum holds one of the main archives of the Moravian Church in South Africa, and runs free school programmes on local history, archaeology, medicinal plants, and San and Khoikhoi history. The museum’s page describes them.

The Khoekhoe Saga

The Khoekhoe Saga is a documentary series written and directed by Johann Abrahams, first shown on SABC2 in January 2023 [IC]. It follows the Khoekhoe from their origins to the revival of Khoi and San identity today, and includes Genadendal among the mission villages it covers [MS].

Johann Abrahams told the moderators that Samuel Baatjies helped with the whole series and gave its makers access to the museum’s archives, and that without this help they could not have made it [MS].

Samuel Baatjies appears in the fourth episode, which looks at Khoekhoe belief and at the mission stations [MS]. Speakers in that episode judge the missions in two ways: some say the missionaries helped destroy Khoekhoe culture, and others say the missions gave people who had lost their land a new way of life and taught them to read and write [MS]. The wiki’s page on The Khoekhoe Saga sets out what the episode covers.

Greyton’s history

Samuel Baatjies has helped Keith Radmore piece together the history of Greyton [MS]. The story of Greyton’s founding is told on History of the Valley.

Work on this wiki

Samuel Baatjies has also answered the moderators’ questions on the valley’s history over several years [MS].

How to reach them

Contact Samuel Baatjies through the moderators via How to Submit.

References

Graph View

Backlinks