Back to the Future

The Himba see time as a river flowing by. The future lies behind them, as yet unseen, while the past lies ahead, in full view. The experience gained as the river flows by becomes part of the present, retaining traditional values and ethics, cautioning against repetition of the mistakes of the past.

The popular perception that the Himba are the most "traditional" of Namibia's people relates to their adherence to a socio-economy that predates the cash economy. Not as widely acknowledged is that economically the Himba are the most self-sufficient and independent of all Namibia's indigenous rural people. Throughout their history they have shown an extraordinary ability to adapt to change, responding with creativity and resourcefulness to adversity as well as new opportunities, including the incursion of Western technology and materialism.

The Himba are a tall, slender people with smooth and finely chiselled features, possessed of a proud bearing and an innate dignity. The women are noted for their unusual beauty, intricate hairstyles and intriguing array of body adornments. To protect their skin against the harsh desert climate, they anoint themselves with a mixture of red ochre, butterfat and aromatic herbs and barks. Older Himba males wear calfskin aprons and head coverings and a variety of body ornaments made from leather, metal buttons and beaten wire beads. They are rarely seen without their staffs. Their torsos also gleam ochre red, a symbolic simulation of sleek and beautiful cattle.

A Himba homestead, onganda, is a simple cone-shaped structure of saplings, bound together with palm leaves and plastered with mud and dung. A family may move from one onganda to another several times a year in search of grazing.

At the heart of a Himba family's existence is the sacred fire, okuruwo, at which the lineage head officiates, and which is moved between camps by herders. Another pillar of Himba religious beliefs, sacred cattle, plays a lesser role today than in earlier times.

The saying "omuHimba omuHerero" meaning "A Himba is a Herero" illustrates the way most Himba see their relationship with the Herero, from whom they are descended. According to oral tradition the Herero migrated from the great lakes of East Africa into present-day Zambia and southern Angola, arriving at the Kunene River in approximately 1550. From here they crossed into Kaokoland, a starkly beautiful, austere and arid region in the remote north-western corner of Namibia.

For centuries these "ochre people of the dry riverbeds" have lived a semi-nomadic pastoral existence in Kaokoland. Separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the northern Namib Desert, an inhospitable region referred to as the Skeleton Coast, the Kaokoland interior was inaccessible to early mariners. It was only in 1850 that the first Europeans, travelling overland, made their appearance in this remote and rugged wilderness.

Until the 1980's only a minute percentage of Himba children went to school. With their cattle and small livestock providing milk and meat, the Himba remained isolated from the rest of Namibia and impervious to Western influences. A survey done in1972 by the Department of Agriculture estimated that there were at least 160,000 head of cattle in Kaokoland. This amounted to an average of 12 head per person, in addition to small livestock, ranking the Himba amongst the richest Bantu-speaking pastoralists in Africa.

Their fortunes changed drastically in the 1980's when they fell prey to the worst drought in living memory. Eighty to ninety per cent of their cattle succumbed, forcing thousands of Himba to take refuge in emergency camps set up by the government, Red Cross, army and local service organisations. Several hundred fled to the outskirts of Opuwo, the main army base and administrative capital of Kaokoland.

When the drought broke in 1982, the majority of the refugees returned with what was left of their livestock to their semi-nomadic lifestyle. Resourcefully they built up their herds, often travelling hundreds of kilometres on foot to buy breeding stock. Many, however, remained behind in Opuwo. While some found employment and live relatively well today, others have sunk into alcoholism and despair.

In the 1980's tourism started gaining momentum in Kaokoland. Because of the scant infrastructure and roads that are often little more than tracks, the region is still regarded as one of the last outposts for an authentic four-wheel-drive adventure. Small groups are flown or driven in, often with Epupa Falls as the ultimate destination, and a visit to a Himba settlement as part of the package.

A strong attraction to Kaokoland is the possibility of seeing the much-publicised desert-adapted elephant and black rhino in their natural habitat. Heavy poaching, especially of rhino, in the 1960's and '70's had led to the establishment of a community game guard system in the early 1980's. This resulted in a gradual but steady increase of game populations in the region.

In 1987 a pilot project was set up at Purros, a Himba settlement centred around a permanent spring in the Hoarusib river course. Tourists were required to pay a fee to the local community, as caretakers of their land and wildlife resources. The project included the revival of the Himba skills of basket-making and woodcarving and the development of a craft market in which Himba and Herero goods are manufactured and sold to tourists.

In the sense that a culture changes as people's needs change, Himba men appear to be embracing change. Many incorporate some Western garments in their apparel, most often a shirt. Conversely, Himba women have generally remained "traditional", and Herero women still wear the copious full-length dresses copied from the wives of missionaries at the turn of the century.

In her book Himba - Nomads of Namibia, published in 1990, anthropologist and journalist, Margaret Jacobsohn, wrote:

"But there is a feeling, among many Himba themselves, that the weight of the past decade's events is too heavy to shrug off. A Himba patriarch says, 'Cattle are no longer in my grandson's heart. He dreams of owning a radio and a wristwatch now. He puts his hands in his pockets and turns away when his father tells him to tend the sheep.' All within earshot chuckle at his joke. A correctly attired Himba boy wears a leather apron called an oruhira, not pants. So he should not have pockets for his idle hands in the first place..."

Amy Schoeman is a regular contributor to Travel Africa. She is a well-known Namibian photographer, writer and author whose work has been published and exhibited around the world.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Three: Spring 1998. Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)