Neither Shore

Soon after the Dutch arrived, Krotoa entered Jan van Riebeeck’s household. The records do not tell us whether she went willingly, was sent by her family or was taken. They tell us only that she became a servant in the commander’s home and learned the language of the people claiming the land around her. Krotoa learned quickly. She mastered Dutch, understood Portuguese and became one of the few people able to move between the two worlds. When Company officials wanted cattle, information or access to Khoikhoi leaders, they called for her. She carried their questions beyond the fort and brought answers back, interpreting not only words, but intentions. But a bridge belongs fully to neither shore. At the fort, she wore Dutch clothing and answered to Eva. Among her own people, she returned to Khoikhoi dress and customs. The Dutch questioned her loyalty. Some Khoikhoi saw her as too close to the settlers. Both sides needed her. Neither side entirely trusted her.

In 1662, Krotoa was baptised into the Christian faith. Two years later, she married Pieter van Meerhof, a Danish surgeon in VOC service. The Company treated the marriage as proof that a Khoikhoi woman could be absorbed into Dutch society. She had learned their language, accepted their religion and married according to their customs. For a time, it seemed to offer protection. Krotoa and Pieter moved with their children to Robben Island, where he became superintendent. Then, in 1668, he was killed during an expedition to Madagascar. The protection disappeared with him. Krotoa returned to the mainland as a widow. By then, the colony was stronger and less dependent on her. The Company records changed their language. The skilled interpreter became disorderly. The Christian wife became immoral. The woman who had negotiated between communities became an embarrassment. Her children were removed from her care. She was imprisoned and repeatedly banished to Robben Island. The bridge had served its purpose. Now it was being dismantled. Krotoa died on Robben Island in July 1674, barely into her thirties. The society that had praised her as evidence of its power to “civilise” discarded her when she could no longer serve it. Her burial was recorded, but no marked grave remains.

Krotoa spent her life carrying meaning between two worlds. In the end, both survived in the record. She almost disappeared between them.