Namibia is in Southern Africa, along the southwestern coast of Africa. It is bordered on the southeast by South Africa, on the north by Angola and Zambia, and on the east by Botswana.
More than 10 ethnic tribes call present-day Namibia home. The two most influential and dominant ethnic groups are the Ovambohimba and Kavango.
Other smaller groups include the Herero, Damara, Nama, Caprivian, San, Basrer and Tswana. Every ethnic group has their own unique stories of their ancestors and origin.
Himba People
Source: Steven Ndukwu
The Himba people are an ethnic group native to northwestern Namibia and some parts of southwestern Angola. The Himba people settled in Kaokoland (now called the Kunene region) in the 16th century.
The official language in Namibia is English; however, the Himba people speak ‘otjihimba’, a dialect of Herero (Bantu language).
Himba women are famous for their beauty; they spend hours caring for their glowing red skin. They use red ochre cream ‘otjize’ for their skin and hair. They wear dreadlocks and braided hairstyles made with red ochres and animal leathers.
The women do not use water for bathing instead, they take a smoke bath daily. The women put some charcoal into a bowl of herbs and wait for the smoke to rise; after that, they will cover themselves with a blanket so that the smoke gets into their skin.
Then they will apply red ochre cream to moisturise their skins; the cream also protects them from mosquito bites and sunlight.
Source: BockoPix
The red ochre cream is made by pounding ochre stones into powder mixed with herbs, fragrance, and butterfat.
Their clothing consists of leathers and beads; the women and men wear leathers made from goatskin. Himba women adorn themselves with handmade jewellery; they wear jewellery on their hair and metal rings around their ankles.
The Himba people have maintained their traditional ways of life for centuries. They are semi-nomadic people, herding cattle and goats across different regions.
The women of the Himba tribe are into handicrafts, clothes and jewellery making. They do most domestic work, including fetching water, firewood, milking the cows, cooking, serving meals, and plastering their homes with red clay.
In contrast, the men’s primary work is livestock farming. The social status of Himba men depends on the number of cows they own. The men are also involved in the village politics (council meetings and chieftaincies titles).
The key traditional foods for the Himba people are maize, millet, vegetables, milk, caterpillar and meat. They mostly eat ‘oruhere’, ‘ruomaere’ and ‘potjiekos’; these meals are made locally. On special occasions like weddings, they eat meat because families cannot afford to eat meat daily.
The institution of marriage is also a big deal for the Himba people; it is considered a union between two families. When a young woman attains puberty, she will be betrothed to a man selected by her father.
The families will come together to approve their union. After the approval, certain items will be provided to the bride’s family to pay off the dowry, but nowadays ladies can select their partners before marriage.
Their hairstyles, accessories, and clothes distinguish women’s marital status; married women wear a small headpiece, ‘erembe crown’ made from cow or goat soft and placed on a woman’s head after marriage for a year.
A young girl will have two plaits of braided hair ‘ozondato’ to show that she has not reached puberty. When she is ready for marriage, her hair will be braided backwards to reveal her face so that potential suitors can see her face.
The married men cover their hair with turbans while the single men wear a simple plait ‘ondatu’ on their heads.
The Himba are polygamous; the men can marry more than one wife at a time. The more cattle a man has, the more wives he will marry. The locals believe that this practice stops jealousy among the womenfolk and brings them together to build their families.
In their custom when a male guest, mostly relatives, visit the couple, the man must give his wife to the guests.
It is called ‘Okujepisa Omukazendu’ this practice means that his wife is given to the guest to spend the night while the husband sleeps in another room or outside. The locals believe that this practice stops jealousy among the men and fosters relationships.
The people of Himba worship a god called Mukuru; they also believe Mukuru is a representative of their ancestors, so they pay respect to their ancestors through Mukuru. An ancestral fire (Okuruwo) is usually built around their huts to seek protection from Mukuru and their ancestors.
Kavango People
Following the Ovambo people is the Kavango which makes up 9% of the total population. This ethnic group is also a Bantu group, and they live along the northeastern region of Namibia. They practice fishing, livestock raising, and agricultural harvesting for subsistence.
The Kavango people reside on the Angolan border and Northern Namibia beside the Kavango River, which the natives are named after. The local language spoken by this tribe is called Rushambyu, a dialect of the Bantu language.
They are more friendly than other ethnic groups in Namibia, they love to entertain tourists with their local dance and music.
They show respect to the elders and value their gods’ Nyaambi’. The women that belong to this tribe weave baskets, make clay pots, cook and fetch water while the men make musical instruments graze cattle and fish on the river.
The Namibian constitution protects their right to practice their traditional government, each tribal group is headed by a king.
The five tribal groups (Kwangali, Mbunza, Shambyu, Gciriku and Mbukushu) belong to different clans. Inheritance is passed to male and female members, but the matrilineal system (female lineage) is recognised politically.
The Kavango tribe uses animal skin to make their clothes. Women wear necklaces made of beads around their necks and waist and use ornaments to cover themselves.
The women wear long braids made of plant fibres while the men shave off their hair. In the past, women’s and men’s genitals were only covered with plant fibres or animal skins.
The women apply ‘Rukura’ to their skin to beautify and protect them from heavy sunlight. ‘Rukura’ is made from ‘Usivi’ wood that has been pounded into powder and mixed with milk fat.
The Kavango can be identified with a tribal mark called ‘Nonsato’ and teeth shaping, they believe it beautifies and protects them from evil eyes. Locals eat fruits, maise, millets, sorghum, vegetables and seafood.
