The gendered historical investigation of migrant labour in Namibia (and southern Africa more broadly) has rightly considered the ways in which women left behind in the sending areas were obliged to take on additional agricultural duties in the absence of men. This has been viewed by some scholars as a form of material exploitation of women and a potential subsidy to white employers in these settler colonial spheres. While there is some validity to these claims, the relationship between the sending areas and the work site was not simply a material one, and contract/migrant labour recruiting systems entered spaces with existing gendered cultural repertoires concerning how to deal with absent men. The significance of these cultural frameworks is worthy of additional empirical, comparative and theoretical investigation. Through the use of oral interviews supplemented by archival materials, this article discusses these issues in the context of Kavango, north-eastern Namibia, which, for much of the 20th century, was a major source of contract labourers to the colonial economy in what was then South West Africa. The article argues that colonialism and labour recruiting schemes built upon and transformed existing pre-colonial cultural frameworks such as ‘the people’s child’, women’s observance of taboos and a local conception of ‘home’. This article further posits that the maintenance of this migrant labour system was dependent upon its integration into local worldviews.

对纳米比亚（和更广泛的南部非洲）的移民劳工进行的性别历史调查正确地考虑了在送达地区留下来的妇女被迫在没有男性的情况下承担其他农业职责的方式。一些学者认为这是对妇女的物质剥削，是对这些定居者殖民地白人雇主的潜在补贴。尽管这些主张有一定的道理，但派遣地区与工作地点之间的关系不只是一种实质性的关系，合同/移民劳工招聘系统进入了有关如何处理缺席男性的现有性别文化资源的空间。这些文化框架的重要性值得进一步的经验，比较和理论研究。通过使用口头访谈和档案材料作为补充，本文在纳米比亚东北部的卡万戈的背景下讨论了这些问题，在整个20世纪的大部分时间里，卡万戈是殖民经济的主要承包劳工来源。然后是西南非洲。文章认为，殖民主义和劳工招募计划建立在并改变了现有的前殖民文化框架，例如“人民的孩子”，妇女遵守禁忌以及当地的“家”概念。本文进一步假设，这种移民劳工制度的维持取决于其融入当地世界观的能力。是当时西南非洲殖民经济的主要合同工来源。文章认为，殖民主义和劳工招募计划建立在并改变了现有的前殖民文化框架，例如“人民的孩子”，妇女遵守禁忌以及当地的“家”概念。本文进一步假设，这种移民劳工制度的维持取决于其融入当地世界观的能力。是当时西南非洲殖民经济的主要合同工来源。文章认为，殖民主义和劳工招募计划建立在并改变了现有的前殖民文化框架，例如“人民的孩子”，妇女遵守禁忌以及当地的“家”概念。本文进一步假设，这种移民劳工制度的维持取决于其融入当地世界观的能力。