Ovahimba Research Articles

“There Are No True Himbas Anymore”: Exploring the Dynamics of the Himba Culture and Land Use in the Face of Change in Kunene Region, Namibia

The Himba people have upheld a unique society for many decades, characterized by their distinctive customs and social structures. Though they have demonstrated great resilience and endured various external forces threatening their cultural identity, the survival of the Himba culture is in jeopardy due to the increasing challenges of modernization and environmental degradation. This study aimed to document and understand the Himba traditional culture, examine how external factors have influenced them, and explore how resilient their culture is in the face of outside pressures. The study reveals that the Himba people are facing significant cultural transformations brought about by many outside factors, such as modernization, globalization, education, religion, and environmental pressures. Most participants concurred that the Himba culture has changed. While some respondents expressed a sense of regret for losing their culture, some felt the cultural changes experienced were warranted. By studying how the Himba people respond to environmental and societal changes, this study showcases the resilience of indigenous communities and provides valuable insights into the intricate relationship between Himba culture, land use, and sustainability. As a tribe in transition, adapting to uncertainty and embracing change may be the only option for them to sustain their culture.

Exploring Nnedi Okorafor's decolonial turn in the Binti Trilogy

Nnedi Okorafor is one of the best-known speculative fiction writers who has centred African perspectives and delinked from Western models. In her trilogy, Binti (2015), Binti Home (2017) and Binti the Night Masquerade (2017a), Okorafor disrupts the dominant white-masculine supremacist convention and traditions for a more diverse and inclusive narrative. In this article, I use decolonial thinking and the lens of Sankofa, a decolonial and African knowledge philosophy and worldview, to explore how Okorafor uses settings, characterisation, and ancient African traditional knowledge to achieve a decolonial turn in speculative fiction. By centring Sankofa, Okorafor sets her fantastic stories in Namibia among the indigenous and marginalised Himba people. She creates strong female characters who embody a multiplicity of beings operating intricately in a complex earthly, spatial and spirit world, and she exploits ancient African traditional culture and knowledge systems to create her 'organic fantasy' and a world of speculative fiction that transforms Western understandings of the genre.

Oral-based Bible translation: A contextualised model for the nomadic Himba people of southern Africa

Historically, the work of Bible translation has involved multiple disciplines in a commitment to translate Scripture with integrity and faithfulness to the original Greek and Hebrew texts. Translating Scripture for primary oral societies has added another dimension to the need for accuracy, beauty and clarity in Scripture translation. It has been widely accepted in Western literate society that the Bible is accessed in written print in the form of a book. For oral-preference societies, such as the nomadic Himba and San peoples of southern Africa, a printed Bible has presented a challenge. Few people read or wish to read as their primary means of communication. In the case of the San family of languages, complex phonemic systems of up to 85 contrastive clicks have presented a challenge in developing ‘readable’ orthographies. This article has highlighted the rationale for oral-based Bible translation. The research aimed to address the translation needs of oral societies – some of whom are nomadic or semi-nomadic people groups. The recent missiological positioning of certain Bible translation practitioners has led to an oral-based approach to Bible translation which validates the cultural identity of modern oral communicators. Orally crafted translations of Scripture passages have been recorded and made available to oral societies through a range of media, including MP3 players, SD cards and mobile phone applications. The effectiveness of oral-based Bible translation among the Himba people has been seen in their response. What began as a three-year pilot project to explore the potential impact of oral-based Scripture among oral societies has led to a unanimous demand for a second three-year phase, and an expressed desire for a full oral-based Bible in the Himba language. The oral-based approach as described is currently used in nearly 20 other oral Bible translation, which reflects a felt need for oral-based Scripture among oral societies in southern Africa.Contribution: Insights from the emerging practice of oral-based Bible translation in southern Africa provide valuable data for missiological approaches to communicating the gospel in the context of modern oral societies.

(Reimagining African Identity through Afrofuturism: A reading of Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti (2015

Afrofuturism is a flourishing contemporary movement in African and African American studies. It has attracted black diasporic writers, artists, musicians, and theorists. Afrofuturism has been described by cultural critics as a way of looking, navigating and imagining future conditions of life through a black lens. Afrofuturists illuminate up-to-date issues by placing them in fantastical contexts; more specifically, they address themes and concerns of the black people that have been otherwise neglected in the western futurist canon. One of the most prominent afrofuturist authors, with a close connection to Africa, is Nnedi Okorafor. Her novella Binti (2015), a space travel adventure through an Afrocentric lens, deftly explores questions about the cultural identity in a futuristic world. Accrodingly, the study aims to explore the theme of the African identity in Okorafor’s novella, focusing on selected visionary references rooted in African culture to signify a new image for the African in a new environment, where blackness is technologically managed. In so doing, the paper highlights the mix between the incredible myths of the Himba people and technoculture, which make it possible for Okorafor to challenge the stereotypical view of the African identity, put a black face on the future, and mark the novella as an African-inspired futuristic work.

Tourism and Commoditization of Traditional Cultures among the Himba People of Namibia

The objective of the study was to investigate the Tourism and Commoditization of Traditional Cultures among the Himba People of Namibia. Globalization theory by Greg Richards and the use value theory by Marx was linked with this study. A mixture of methods comprising of descriptive cross-sectional survey, phenomenology and ethnographic research designs was employed to assess the effect of commoditization of traditional cultures among the Himba people through tourism. The study employed two principal data collection techniques: questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Stratified sampling and purposive sampling procedures were used. Purposive sampling was used as a non-probability sampling method in the sampling of key informants such as tour-guide, local leaders and museum employees. The study took place in two sampled villages in the Opuwo rural constituency, namely, Ohunguomure Village and Okatutura ka Vinjange, which form the major cultural tourist destinations. The sample size of this study was 98. Data was analysed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Quantitative analysis was applied to close-ended questions, and the data were analysed in terms of frequencies and percentages using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Qualitative data obtained from open-ended questions and interviews were analysed thematically. The study concludes that commoditization of culture is diluting culture and destroys the originality of the culture. The study recommends the need for this Ministry to have a component or department that specifically works towards the issue of commoditization of the Himba culture in the Kunene Region.

Local perceptions of risks to semi-nomadic livelihoods in Namibia:

This study investigates Himba pastoralists’ perceptions of risks to their livelihoods. Using a semi structured questionnaire, 20 pastoralists from a Himba community were interviewed. The results show that there are multiple perceived risks that are seemingly threatening their livelihoods. Most of the perceived risks are associated with natural resources; primarily the limited sources of water and the lack of adequate pastures. These two are the most important factors to a semi-nomadic 
 lifestyle; hence they pose the greatest threat to their livelihoods. Pressures from both wildlife and the increase in human population have also been recognized as risks to the community. While these perceptions of risks appear to have spurred the community into employing certain management strategies, this has not changed their semi-nomadic way of living as pastoralists. The current management strategies appear to be insufficient in managing the risks. The struggles of farmers in an arid country is expected under the climatic change dynamics, but the provision ofsolutions by the government is limited, especially for human wildlife conflicts. Thus, leaving thesemi-nomadic Himba people to continue being vulnerable to riskswith no feasible solutions at the moment. This begs the question of whether the nomadic way of living has a chance of surviving under the changing climate in dryland countries such as Namibia.

Why is she naked? An Iterative Refinement of the Digitisation of ICH with the OvaHimba Tribe in Namibia

Why is she naked? An Iterative Refinement of the Digitisation of ICH with the OvaHimba Tribe in Namibia

An analysis about knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of HIV and AIDS among the Himba people of the Kunene region, Namibia

Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, practices and risk perceptions with regard to HIV/AIDS among the Himba people from the Kunene region; and to identify its determinant factors.Design: The research study was quantitative. That is, cross sectional, descriptive and analytical. A total of 290 respondents were posed a number of multiple-choice questions about specific areas: HIV modes of transmission, knowledge on prevention measures, wrong conceptions of HIV/AIDS, beliefs, attitudes and practices.Results: In this study, the mean overall score of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its transmission modes was found to be 15.8 out of 30 with a 95% confidence interval of [15.1]; [16.5]. It was found that the Himba people’s knowledge on HIV/AIDS does not differ according to the gender of the respondent. In fact, the mean score of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its modes of transmission among females was 15.9 with a confidence interval of [15.1]; [16.8], whilst the mean score of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and its modes of transmission among males was 15.7 with a confidence interval of [14.5]; [16.8]. Using a bivariate analysis, factors such as condom use as a safer sex practice, level of education, type of marriage, and the gender of the respondents showed a statistically significant association with HIV knowledge at a 0.05 level of significance.Conclusion: There is a need to increase knowledge that can be translated into change in behaviour and practices among the Himba, the efforts of all stakeholders are required. Such efforts include promoting education through mobile schools, intensifying sex education within the community through outreach programmes and putting in place policies integrated with indigenous cultural practices that will lead to positive attitudes and beliefs.

Sex Differences in Mobility and Spatial Cognition: A Test of the Fertility and Parental Care Hypothesis in Northwestern Namibia.

The fertility and parental care hypothesis interprets sex differences in some spatial-cognitive tasks as an adaptive mechanism to suppress women's travel. In particular, the hypothesis argues that estrogens constrain travel during key reproductive periods by depressing women's spatial-cognitive ability. Limiting travel reduces exposure to the dangers and caloric costs of navigating long distances into unfamiliar environments. Our study evaluates a collection of predictions drawn from the fertility and parental care hypothesis among the Twe and Himba people living in a remote region of Namibia. We find that nursing mothers travel more than women at any other stage of their reproductive career. This challenges the assumption that women limit travel during vulnerable and energetically demanding reproductive periods. In addition, we join previous studies in identifying a relationship between spatial ability and traveling among men, but not women. If spatial ability does not influence travel, hormonally induced changes in spatial ability cannot be used as a mechanism to reduce travel. Instead, it appears the fitness consequences of men's travel is a more likely target for adaptive explanations of the sex differences in spatial ability, navigation, and range size.

Are Preferences for Legs Length Universal? Data From a Semi-Nomadic Himba Population From Namibia

ABSTRACT Leg-to-body ratio (LBR) is one of the morphological traits that influences a person's attractiveness. To date, studies confirming that hypothesis have been conducted mainly in Western cultures. They have shown that the average or slightly higher-than-the-average LBR is perceived to be attractive in women. In the case of men, results were more ambiguous; however generally shorter or similar LBRs compared to females were attractive. Here, data on LBR preferences of a traditional, semi-nomad ethnic group (i.e., the Himba of northern Namibia, n = 81) are reported. Also in Himba people LBR influences a person's attractiveness. Similar to Western societies, extremely high and low LBRs were unattractive. However, contrary to previous findings, Himba preferred women of relatively low LBR and men of relatively high LBR.

Reply to Gewald: Isolated Himba settlements still exist in Kaokoland

We agree with Gewald (1) that historical and anthropological accounts are essential tools for understanding the Himba culture, and these accounts are valuable to both us and him. However, we contest his claim that the Himba individuals in our study were not culturally isolated. Gewald (1) claims that it would be “unlikely” that the Himba people with whom we worked had “not been exposed to the affective signals of individuals from cultural groups other than their own” as stated in our paper (2). Gewald (1) seems to argue that, because outside groups have had contact with some Himba, …

On the post-structuralist critique of development: a view from north-west Namibia

The Namibian government's long-standing plan to dam the Kunene River has generated heated discussion on a number of development issues, both within and outside the country. This article examines the discourses of the various groupings in the so-called Epupa debate by paying special attention to the ways they represent ‘development’, the project and the affected community; and it explores aspects of agency by focusing on Himba people's attempts to assert opposition to the project. The Epupa case also affords us the opportunity to evaluate aspects of the post-structuralist critique of development. The article suggests that the currently fashionable critique offers a simplistic interpretation of the development process and reveals the need for a more thorough (and insightful) scholarly engagement with development. 1Assistant Professor of Socio-cultural Anthropology, Department of Social Science, Roosevelt Academy, Utrecht University. Based on research carried out in Windhoek, Namibia, in 1999, this paper is a revised version of a dissertation submitted to the University of Cambridge in partial fulfilment of the MPhil degree in Social Anthropology (Friedman, 1999). The author would like to thank Leo Howe, Keith Hart, Alan Macfarlane, Fatima Müller-Friedman and two anonymous reviewers for their encouragement and/or critical readings of earlier drafts; and the English Speaking Union of San Francisco, Darwin College, Sir Bartle Frere's Memorial Fund, and the Rivers Video Project for generous financial assistance that made the research possible.

The Epupa Valley under siege

The rich succulent flora of the rarely visited Epupa Valley between Namibia and Southern Angola includes one newly described endemic succulent, Euphorbia leistneri, and at least 8 other protected species. The area is scheduled as a reservoir for a hydroelectric power plant. The impact of this on the Himba people who inhabit the valley and on its flora is assessed.