Thursday, April 09, 2009

THE BEAUTIFUL HIMBA TRIBE FROM NAMIBIA!


Belle Femme by M.Lammers

Pic courtesy of Riva


Pic courtesy of Hotel Bad Fish

I've seen pictures of Himba women with their long twisted hair and their redish skin color but I've never taken the time to learn more abt them until now.

I'm glad I've taken the time to learn about this nomadic and pastorial tribe descendant of the Herero tribe. They mainly live in Kaokland even tough due to prior conflicts some moved to South Africa and Botswana and Angola.

For the most part they are very conservative people happy within their culture and not looking to change

The society is lead by men who breed cattle and goats and are more on the legal tip of things , the women take care of the cooking, the building of the homes, take care of their children and families.(What would men do without us)

To me Himba women are just gorgeous, their features are harmonious and they are very girly with their feet jewelry , necklaces, their distinctive hair styles..They keep their hair long and down when they are married.. Their parents promised them to their futur husbands as bebes and get married as teenagers...of course with that comes the good the bad and the ugly...

You probably wonder where do they get this red color? They use a paste made of animal fat mixed in with red ochre...this gives them a redish complexion which they find attractive plus it protects them from the sun since they live in a very dry climate and region...
They are said to be very happy people sometimes simplicity is the key to hapiness
I read somewhere that unfort' some tourists who probably meant well introduced these people to alcohol ect and thus some Himba become dependent on it ect..sad...
They worship a tribal God called Mukuru and keep an ancestral fire

They suffered severe drough in the 80s that killed most of their catlle but today things are good and they receive the help of activists ..
One of the great benefits is that they are now open to education, the new generations of Himba are introduced to academics...now the question will they want more?

In this video a young girl is opposing her parents on her wedding day, sad:

We need to learn more about our African tribes:)
Eyeee Wayee:)

2 comments:

Beauty Is Diverse said...

Yes we all need to learn our brothers and sisters around the globe. thanks for the post.

Anya Posh said...

I love that hair!! Wow...it's all caked up but looks so fabulous!