Who Are the Himba?
The Himba are a semi-nomadic pastoral people inhabiting the Kunene region of northwestern Namibia and southwestern Angola. Numbering approximately 50,000, they are famous for their striking appearance—women cover their skin and hair with otjize, a mixture of butterfat and red ochre that gives them a distinctive reddish glow. Despite increasing contact with the modern world, the Himba have maintained their traditional lifestyle more completely than most African pastoralist groups.
Otjize: The Red Beauty
Himba women apply otjize paste daily to their skin and hair, creating the signature red appearance. Made from butterfat mixed with ochre pigment, otjize serves multiple purposes: it protects skin from the harsh desert sun and insect bites, cleanses the skin (Himba women do not wash with water), and is considered deeply beautiful. The practice connects to Himba cosmology associating red with earth and life-giving blood. Different hairstyles coated in otjize indicate age, marital status, and social position.
Hairstyles as Social Language
Himba hairstyles communicate detailed social information. Young girls wear two plaits hanging forward. At puberty, hair is styled into many small braids hanging over the face. Marriage brings the erembe—a headdress of animal skin attached to the hair. Married women add extensions and style hair elaborately, always coated in otjize. Widows shave their heads. These visible markers enable instant recognition of a persons life stage and social role.
Cattle and Holy Fire
Like related Herero people, the Himba center life around cattle, measuring wealth and social status in herd size. The sacred fire burns perpetually at the homestead center, linking living Himba to ancestors and cattle simultaneously. Fire tenders communicate with ancestors through the flames, seeking guidance and protection. When moving homesteads, embers travel to rekindle the fire at the new location.
Challenges and Resilience
The proposed Epupa Dam on the Kunene River threatens to flood ancestral Himba lands and graves. Climate change intensifies droughts affecting cattle survival. Tourism brings income but raises concerns about cultural commodification. Yet the Himba have resisted pressures to abandon traditions, viewing their culture not as primitive but as a chosen way of life connecting them to ancestors and the land.
References
- Crandall, D. P. (2000). The Place of Stunted Ironwood Trees: A Year in the Lives of the Cattle-Herding Himba of Namibia
- Bollig, M. (2006). Risk Management in a Hazardous Environment
- Jacobsohn, M. (1990). Himba: Nomads of Namibia