Upon visiting a Himba village not far from the Etosha lodge and speaking with Himba women in the Purros area, where the women performed a traditional dance for the research team to observe. They each took a turn to perform for us and show how proud they are of their culture. In Anthropology and other sub-disciplines, we learn that culture is not static but an evolving phenomenon. The Himba women and Himba people balance these dichotomous views of what is an aesthetic original culture and what impacts modernity have on culture in an even balance (Dieckmann, 2007: 339). One of the young people we engaged at the village told us that he went to school in an outside town, he spoke perfect English but preferred to come back to his village and work with his people promoting the Himba cultural values albeit performed it keeps them grounded in a believe system that gives them a sense of belonging to a unique cultural grouping in the geographical landscape of Namibia.
The Himba women adorn they bodies with jewellery made from seashells “they have reminisces of the sea in their shell necklaces, anklets and bracelets” while being “guided by the sacred fire” as stated by (Boswell et al, 2024: 38). The women are creative artisans in the community, creating beautiful jewelry and other body adornments using iron, copper and shell as noted above. The jewelry they wear are symbolic of their status in their society. For example, a large white ohumba from Angola is a shell given to a woman after the birth of her first child and it symbolises fertility which is hung between her breasts. The hairstyles of the Himba women that looks so flamboyantly aesthetically pleasing, it too has a cultural significance. For example, “when a woman is married she wears a sort of diadem made from antelope hide, called omarember or erembe, widows wear a this singular hat in reverse” (ibid).
References
Boswell, R., Thornton, J.L., Hayter, R. 2024. Ocean Beings. Langaa Research & Publishing CIG Mankon. Bamenda.
Dieckmann, U., 2007. Hai||om in the Etosha Region. A history of Colonial Settlement, Ethnicity and Nature Conservation. Basler Afrika Bibliographien. Namibia.
Loots, C., 2021. Portals between worlds: a place of accustomisation celebrating the Himba cultural identity through a critical regional dialogue between modernity and tradition in the Kunene region.
The Fascinating Life of the Himba Tribe. Accessed from https://www.fortsesfontein.com/life-of-the-himba-tribe/ Viewed 18 May 2024.
Fihlani, P. 2017. Namibia's Himba people caught between traditions and modernity. Accessed from
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40247310 Viewed 18 May 2024.