Going Native

The Himba are a nomadic, pastoral tribe that live in northern Namibia and southern Angola. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 Himba people remain and continue to live according to the tribe’s traditions.

The Himba breed cattle and goats (and supplement this with hunting and gathering. They live in semi-permanent villages which relocate based on the seasons and availability of grasses for the livestock.

The homes and work shelters are primarily built of sticks surrounded by mud and clay. They have no running water or electricity and food is cooked over an open fire inside the hut.

The buildings in the villages surround a central livestock enclosure which is used for the animals at night to protect them from predators.

Traditionally, the Himba wear little clothing and what they wear is made by hand. Both sexes remained topless and loincloths made of animal skins were worn around the waist. Jewelry is made from grasses, shells, copper, and iron.

Nowadays western clothes are worn by many of the men while women and children continue to dress traditionally with the addition of cloth sarongs and glass beads (for jewelry).

Each morning Himba women undergo an elaborate ritual of cleansing and beautification. Once a girl passes into womanhood, she will never again bathe using water. However, each morning, the women burn herbs and incense which creates a fire and smoke that is used for a “steam bath.” The heat opens the pores and the fragrant smoke acts as a perfume. After the cleansing, the women cover their skin, from head to toe, in otjize. Otjize is a mixture of hand-churned butter fat and ochre (pigmented clay). This gives them an even, dark red skin-tone which symbolizes the dark red color of the earth and blood which is the source of all life. This skin color is not only considered beautiful in Himba society but also serves to protect them from the sun and insects.

Churning butter by hand to make otjize.

Woman applying otjize to her daughter.

In addition to applying the otjize to their entire bodies, every six weeks or so they need to style their hair in the traditional Himba fashion. First they braid their hair, then coat the braids in ash. After the ash, each braid is covered in the otjize mixture and animal hairs (usually from cow or goat tails) are tied to the end of each braid creating pompoms at the bottom of the hair. Finally, an elaborate leather headpiece is tied on top of the head.

Due to the harsh climate in which the Himba live, they have remained largely secluded from western influences and have managed to maintain much of their traditional lifestyle. However, in the mid-80’s after a drought that decimated their cattle population, the Himba way of life was in danger. Since that time, the Himba have experienced a resurgence. The new Namibian government (created in 1990) has prioritized the traditional people of Namibia and many Himba now live on nature conservancies that give them control of the wildlife on their lands. In addition, the Himba leaders realized that tourism can be a source of income for their people and can help as a way to finance the maintenance of their traditional way of life.

Of course the people in the village we visited have met westerners before. With the aid of a translator, they asked us many questions about where we were from, where we were traveling, and what we think of their culture.

Everyone loves to see their picture!

In this village, the head woman created an orphanage to care for orphaned Himba children from other villages. Accordingly, they open their village to tourists as a way to raise funds to help pay for the orphaned children.

I really enjoyed meeting these women and learning a bit about their culture.

The Himba taught me a lesson about happiness. We certainly don't need our modern "conveniences" to find it. And maybe all of our fancy toys make it just a bit tougher to achieve?

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