Himba Village Ancient Living
written by disdis
on September 12th, 2009
, 12 comments
(14 votes)
One of my favorites visits in Namibia was to meet Himba are an ethnic group of about 20,000 to 50,000 people living in northern Namibiain the Kunene region (formerly Kaokoland). They are a nomadic, pastoral people. The Himba breed cattle and goats. The responsibility of milking the cows lies with the women. Women take care of the children, and one woman will take care of another woman’s children. Women tend to perform more labor-intensive work than men do, such as carrying water to the village and building homes. Men handle the political tasks and legal trials.
The women are famous for covering themselves with a mixture of butter fat, ochre, and herbs to protect themselves from the sun. The mixture gives their skins a reddish tinge. The mixture symbolizes earth’s rich red color and the blood that symbolizes life, and is consistent with the Himba ideal of beauty.
Just after Eupa falls, we went south towards the coast and we stopped in a Village. We carried some food with us. They live too far from a city or a supermarket so, in order to help them you carry gifts with you. Then they show you how they live and let you take pictures of them. As many people go, shoot and go I decided to be different. Normally, lots of photographers go there take pictures of them, show them the pictures and then… ahhh… you cannot keep it. It’s mine and I will publish it in a lot of magazines. I just wanted to give them the opportunity of not only seeing themselves but keeping the pictures with tem. I took 3 packs of instant film with me and my Diana instant back. Shoot and shoot and people wanted more. It was funny to see them play with the photographs. Himba kids are awesome.
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