About
I have conducted ethnographic research with San communities in Namibia and Botswana since 2008. My main fieldsite is the Omaheke region in east central Namibia, where I have worked with the Ju|’hoansi and published on topics related to formal and traditional education, state development, animism and relational ontology, and ethics.
I am a co-founding member of the Research and Advocacy Group for Hunter Gatherer Education (HG-Edu), established under the International Society for Hunter Gatherer Research (ISHGR). HG-Edu focuses on identifying scientifically informed approaches to issues relating to education and communicating these findings to relevant institutions.
I am currently leading a project for the documentation of the material culture of the Omaheke Ju|’hoansi, funded by the Endangered Material Knowledge Project, hosted by the British Museum.
Field of study
Ethnography Indigenous peoples International, comparative education Indigenous rights Ontology Indigenous peoples' research Ontologies Indigenous languages Critical Multicultural Education Indigenous issues Teaching about Indigenous Indigenous Studies Hunter-gatherers San
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Viestad, Vibeke Maria;
Ninkova, Velina
(2025).
!’Hurasi – Ju|’hoansi tortoise shell containers from the past and present in Omaheke, Namibia.
Journal of material culture.
https://doi.org/10.1177/13591835251340927
Ninkova, Velina
; Hays, Jennifer Lynn; Lavi, Noa; Ali, Aishah; Macedo, Silvia Lopes da Silva; Davis, Helen Elizabeth; Lew-Levy, Sheina
(2024).
Hunter-Gatherer Children at School: A View From the Global South.
Review of Educational Research.
https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543241255614
Hays, Jennifer Lynn;
Ninkova, Velina
; Lavi, Noa; Lew-Levy, Sheina; Macedo, Silvia Lopes da Silva; Davis, Helen; Ali, Aishah
(2024).
Autonomous hunter-gatherer children in hierarchical schools: a review of the literature from the global South.
Hunter-Gatherer Research.
Vol. 10.
https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2024.10
Ninkova, Velina
; Abels, Monika; Kilale, Andrew Martin
(2023).
Playing, Working, and Learning in Flux: Perspectives from African Post-forager Childhoods.
Utsa, Mukherjee (Ed.).
Childhoods & Leisure. Cross-Cultural and Inter-Disciplinary Dialogues. p. 235-253.
Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33789-5_10
Abels, Monika;
Ninkova, Velina
(2023).
Conducting Fieldwork with San and Hadza (Post-)Hunter-Gatherer Communities in Africa: Regulatory and Ethical Issues.
Trends in Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s43076-023-00271-1
Ninkova, Velina
(2022).
Mother-tongue education for the Omaheke Ju|'hoansi in Namibia: Between policy and practice.
Olsen, Torjer Andreas; Sollid, Hilde (Ed.).
Indigenising Education and Citizenship: Perspectives on Policies
and Practices from Sápmi and beyond. p. 237-254.
Universitetsforlaget.
https://doi.org/10.18261/9788215053417-2022-13
Ninkova, Velina
; Paksi, Attila
(2022).
Learning to aspire, aspiring to subvert: Namibian San youths' narratives about the future as mimetic work of resistance.
Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2022.2045581
Ninkova, Velina
(2022).
The state as a whiteman, the whiteman as a /’hun: personhood, recognition, and the politics of knowability in the Kalahari.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.
Vol. 28.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.13703
Ninkova, Velina
(2020).
Perpetuating the myth of the "wild Bushman": Inclusive multicultural education for the Omaheke Ju|'hoansi in Namibia.
Comparative Education Review.
Vol. 64.
https://doi.org/10.1086/708177
Hays, Jennifer;
Ninkova, Velina
; Dounias, Edmond
(2019).
Hunter-gatherers and education: Towards a recognition of extreme local diversity and common global challenges.
Hunter-Gatherer Research.
Vol. 5.
https://doi.org/10.3828/hgr.2019.2
