
Steinmetz shows that colonial policy was heavily influenced by European attitudes towards native populations. In South West Africa several distinct forms of native policy were enacted during various periods of colonial rule and with respect to different native groups. 
	The foundation for European attitudes was laid during the mid-eighteenth century with the arrival of German missionaries in the region that would become German South West Africa. Two African groups dominated the area in this period: the Bantu-speaking Ovaherero, who had migrated from the north during the 17th and 18th centuries; and the Nama, or Namaqua, numerous Khoikhoi tribes from South Africa who moved into the region at the start of the 19th century. Another group, the Berg Damara, previously occupied the area and was thereafter subjugated by the both Ovaherero and Nama. Small bands of Bushmen, possibly the true original residents of South West Africa, live scattered throughout the territory in various marginal areas. Another Bantu tribe, the Ovambo, lived in the tropical area along the border with Portuguese Angola, but did not play a major role in German colonial affairs because they were so separated from the rest of the colony.
Of the tribes, the Nama have the longest history of contact with Europeans due to their presence in the Cape Colony. German perceptions of the Nama derived from this old discourse. Described by some commentators as noble savages, the Nama were also characterized at times as “men of implulse” having “idle and dissolute habits.” Altogether European depictions of the Nama were highly varied and inconsistent.
Sustained contact with the Ovaherero was not made until the nineteenth century. Although missionaries initially viewed this group positively, praising them for their beauty and strength, these flattering descriptions were soon replaced by claims that they were a base and crude people, prone to violence, robbery, and lies. Hugo Hahn, the founder of the first Ovaherero mission, framed his depiction of the Ovaherero in a wider Darwinian context. He characterized them as an innately inferior race that was destined to naturally die out.
	Steinmetz claims that these negative portrayals of Ovaherero were partially a result of the limited progress the missionaries had with the tribe. Missionary education also floundered in early years. Schools were mainly focused on converting natives, but teaching them European customs and modes of living was also seen as an avenue for eventual conversion to Christianity. Though some schools had moderate success, missionaries were also driven out of many communities. In the late 1860s a movement opposed to Christian conversion formed, further hindering missionary efforts. By 1874 less than 1% of the Ovaherero had been baptized, and by 1904 this proportion only grew to 6%. Other Europeans were frustrated by the Ovaherero’s refusal to sell their cattle. This resistance to change and “Europeanization” helped reinforce perceptions which would legitimize a policy of land and cattle appropriation and eventually extermination.
	When Germany formally claimed South West Africa in 1884, colonial authorities looked to missionaries as primary resources on the native populations. 