Page 18 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 3

ISSUE THREE | NOV/DEC Market day at a Himba village. A typical Himba skirt

numbers of necklaces, arm bracelets,
sometimes almost like sleeves, made
from ostrich eggshell beads, grass,
ancestral fire every seven to eight indicate that the girl is not ready
days in order to communicate for marriage. cloth and copper and weighing as
much as 40 kg, as well as bracelets
with Mukuru and the ancestors on When the girls have completed
around the legs. Iron oxide powder
behalf of the family. Himba houses their puberty ceremony, the so-
with its shiny effect is worn as a
are usually cone-shaped and called ekori festival takes place and
made from palm leaves, mud and she receives the ekori headdress cosmetic, much like western glitter.
cow dung, with families moving made from tanned sheep’s or The Himba people are one of the
warmest tribes in Afrika and are
from one dwelling to another goatskin with three leaf-shaped
courteous to strangers and visitors
throughout the year in search of points, often decorated with iron
alike. They however frown at anything
good grazing pastures for their beads. The hair is now away from
animals. the face, indicating preparedness that will threaten their cultural values
Villages are designed as a circular for marriage. and traditions.
cluster of huts that are set around When she has been married for
NOTE: How beautiful is the mind of
the okuruwo, which is believed about a year or has had a child,
God to have made various tribes and
to represent the protection of the ekori head-dress is replaced
their ancestors. This fire is kept by the erembe headdress made tongues for one eternal purpose, that
continuously lit to bridge the divide from the skin of a goat’s head is, for all to worship Him. The story
of redemption is tied to this eternal
between the living and the dead, and fastened under the hair at the
worship. Rev 5: 9-10 “And they sang a
with all doorways (except for that back of the head by two thongs.
new song, saying: “You are worthy to
of the chief’s) facing away from its From then on the ekori is worn
glow. A livestock kraal is located only during ceremonial occasions. take the scroll and to open its seals,
adjacent to the huts and holds Himba culture does not consider because you were slain, and with
your blood you purchased for
cattle that are considered sacred one to be a woman until she has
God persons from every tribe and
to the Himba, representing the had a baby.
language and people and nation. You
tribe’s ancestors and playing an Himba males also wear different
important role in traditional rituals. hairstyles, such as the single plait, have made them to be a kingdom and
the ondato, worn by young boys priests to serve our God, and they will
reign on the earth.”
Hairstyles of the Himba down the back of the head, two
Himba hairstyles are intricate and plaits, ozondato, worn by Himba
ornate and used to indicate age men of marriageable age and the
and social status. ombwiya headdress, a scarf made A cute Himba baby
A young girl typically has two plaits from fabric covering the hair and
(ozondato) of braided hair, the form decorated with an ornamental
being determined by the oruzo band.
membership (patrilineal descent Once the married Himba males
group). Twin girls, however, just don their headdress, they do
wear one plait each. not take it off again. Having to
Just before puberty, the girls wear depend on a special device to
long plaitlets worn loosely around scratch their scalp, beneath the
the face as a kind of a veil – it headdress when need arises. A
can take on various forms and widowed Himba male will remove
sometimes wigs are worn over his headdress.
it. They ‘veiled’ style is meant to Both men and women wear large
18 HEALING - RESTORING - REBIRTHING - AFRICA