Editing Coloureds (section)

====Griqua====
{{Main|Griqua people}}
[[Image:Adam_kok_III.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Adam Kok III]], leader of the Coloured Griqua People]]

During the 17th and 18th century in the Dutch Cape Colony, interracial unions that were primarily between the [[West European]] (especially the Dutch) and the [[Khoi Khoi]] created a group of mixed-race individuals that became known as the [[Griqua people|Griqua]].<ref name="academia_19907156">{{Cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/19907156 |title=The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigenous Struggles for Land and Autonomy in South Africa |website=academia.edu |date=2015 |access-date=2024-12-15}}</ref> The Griqua people could trace their forefathers to two clans, the Koks and Barendse, the first was made up mainly of Khoikhoi and the second of mixed European descent.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Genetic studies made in the 21st century have revealed that the Griquas also have [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]], [[San people|San]], and [[Tswana people|Tswana]] ancestry.<ref name="The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigen">{{cite book | url=https://www.academia.edu/19907156 | title=The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigenous Struggles for Land and Autonomy in South Africa | date=January 2015 }}</ref> What separates the Griquas from the Cape Coloureds is that the Griquas do not have Asian ancestry within their bloodline and unlike the Cape Coloureds who adopted the Western and Asian lifestyle, the Griquas clung more to the African lifestyle, most particularly that of the Khoi Khoi.<ref name="pletthistory.org">{{cite web | url=https://pletthistory.org/the-story-of-the-griqua-re-visited/ | title=The Story of the Griqua Re-visited {{pipe}} the van Plettenberg Historical Society }}</ref>

The actual name 'Griqua' was derived from the Chariaguriqua people whose princess became the wife of the first Griqua leader, [[Adam Kok]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/griqua | title=Griqua {{pipe}} South African History Online }}</ref> As a result of discrimination and the smallpox disease that occurred in the Cape Colony, Adam Kok (a Griqua leader who was also a liberated slave) led the Griquas in migrating to other regions in South Africa and formed two Griqua states: [[Griqualand West]] and [[Griqualand East]].<ref name="pletthistory.org"/> Griqualand West was located in present-day [[Northern Cape]] while Griqualand East was located between present-day [[KwaZulu-Natal]] and the [[Eastern Cape]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Unfortunately, with the expansion of the Cape Colony, which was under British rule this time, the two Griqua states ceased to exist and were annexed into the Cape colony.<ref name="academia_19907156"/>

During the Apartheid regime (1948-1994), Griquas were classified as Coloureds due to their mixed-race ancestry and they were forced to live in Coloured communities in South Africa under the [[Group Areas Act]].<ref name="The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigen"/> Due to the racial policies and the racial hierarchy of South Africa's demographics during Apartheid, many Griquas accepted the classification of "Coloured" for fear that their Griqua roots might place them at a lower level than other groups.<ref name="The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigen"/> As a result, it is difficult to estimate and determine the actual size of the Griqua population, therefore, it remains unknown.<ref name="The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigen"/>

Although Griquas are scattered across the country (due to historic migrations), the majority of Coloureds that come from the [[Griekwastad]] area in the [[Northern Cape]], the [[Kokstad]] area in [[KwaZulu-Natal]] and the [[Kranshoek]] area in the [[Western Cape]] are either directly Griqua or they are the descendants of Griquas.<ref name="The Making of Griqua, Inc.: Indigen"/>