!Gori||Ais - Kai !Korana
Since the 1400s · Revived in 2022
A living continuation of the Kai !Korana people of the Southern Cape affirming ancestral inheritance, cultural continuity, and rightful belonging.
A living continuation of the Kai !Korana people of the Southern Cape affirming ancestral inheritance, cultural continuity, and rightful belonging.
Glossary -
In the names !Korana and !Gori||Ais, ! represents a single click sound,
and || represents a double lateral click sound in Khoekhoegowab, the mother language of the Khoe people.
!Koragowab is the official Korana language.
Definitions:
Kai – Great
!Korana – Korana Nation
!Gori – King !Gori of the Korana
||Ais – Werf/Site/Tribe/People of
The !Uris Koeries Family are the descendants of the !Gori from the 1400's and the direct descendants of the Indigenous !Korana People of the Southern Cape Region. The !Uris Koeries Family are also the Descendants of the Inhabitants that the Seafarer Bartolomeus Dias found here in Mossel Bay in 1488. We are a people reclaiming our identity. Rooted in the Southern Cape long before colonial settlement, our lineage endured displacement, renaming, and erasure yet never disappearance.
Ancestral Continuity · Living Memory · Rightful Belonging
To bring about a transformed and united Indigenous KAI !KORANA People in the Eden District, Western Province and in South Africa at large.
To create an environment for the empowerment and sustenance of the Indigenous People, in order that the members themselves can make an effort to a holistic process of individual self-reliance.
“To achieve Economic self-sufficiency through Land rights.”
Brown (Cattle), White (Peace) and Royal Blue (Royalty)
̸ NAM (LOVE), ǂKHÎB (PEACE), !ÂUS (HOPE).
The name of the Tribe shall be !GORI ||AIS (Hereafter the Tribe) revived on the twenty ninth day of the nine month of two thousand and twenty second year (29/09/2022).
The geographical area of the tribe shall be between Swellendam and Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape Province.
The Tribe shall endeavour to:
Long before European contact, the lands of the Southern Cape were the territory of diverse Khoikhoi and San peoples. Among them were the ancestors of the !Gori and the Kai !Korana — pastoralist and nomadic groups who managed cattle herds, traded, and lived according to their own systems of governance, language and law. Archaeological and oral histories place Khoikhoi peoples throughout the Cape region for many centuries.
Early European sailors and explorers encountered Khoikhoi communities along the South African coastline. These first interactions — such as Portuguese expeditions around Table Bay — recorded encounters with indigenous leaders and herders, even before the establishment of permanent colonial settlements.
The arrival of the Dutch East India Company at the Cape in 1652 marked the beginning of profound change. Colonisation brought land seizure, conflict, disease, and pressure on indigenous lifeways. Khoikhoi groups, including Korana clans, migrated, fought, and adapted across the expanding Cape frontier. Many groups fragmented due to pressures such as loss of grazing land and colonial wars. Under later colonial and apartheid systems, indigenous identities were forcibly classified under broad categories like “Coloured,” which obscured traditional kinship, language and legal systems.
Throughout the 20th century, many indigenous Khoikhoi languages and identities — including Korana dialects — neared extinction due to assimilation policies, loss of land, and barriers to cultural transmission. Language documentation became rare, with only fragments preserved in archives.
Driven by community‑led research rooted in oral history, ancestry records, and cultural knowledge, elders and researchers reasserted the identity of the Kai !Korana and !Gori||Ais. This work connected living descendants to lineage, place names, and traditional beliefs that stretch back before colonial disruption.
A significant milestone occurred when the !Uris Kai !Korana (Koeries Royal family) were officially recognised as a royal house during a ceremony at the Dias Museum in Mossel Bay. This recognition symbolised a restorative acknowledgment of historical presence, and affirmed the enduring cultural legacy of the Kai !Korana in the Southern Cape.
Connect with our community and be part of the revival!
Join Our Facebook CommunityThe following independent publications, academic resources and official government documents provide historical and legislative context relating to the Korana people, their linguistic heritage, and the recognition framework established under the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act.
Sources include government publications, academic research and independent media coverage relating to Korana heritage.
Social documentation and public discussion relating to the Kai !Korana – !Gori||Ais heritage and contemporary community activity.
View source →Local news coverage documenting the revival and public presence of the !Gori||Ais - Kai !Korana (Koeries Royal Family).
Read article →Historical and academic documentation relating to the Kora language, one of the most significant linguistic records of the Korana / ǃOra people.
View documentation →Official publication page for the academic work documenting the Korana language and linguistic heritage.
View publication →National legislation providing a legal framework for recognition of Khoi-San communities, leadership and governance structures.
View legislation →Government media statement confirming the signing of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act into law.
Read statement →This is an invitation to listen, learn, and stand with living history.