Ovambo
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| Total population |
|---|
| 900,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Namibia |
| Languages |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
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Other Bantu peoples |
The Owambo culture consists of nine kindred tribes, which inhabit Ovamboland in northern Namibia. They consist of Ndonga, Kwanyama, Kwambi, Ngandjera, Mbalantu, Mbadja, Kolonkadhi, Eunda, and Kwaluudhi. The tribe stretches all the way to the border of Angola. The Ovambo people make up the greatest population in Namibia. They migrated south from the upper regions of Zambezi. The reason that they settled in the area where they now live was for the rich soil that is scattered around the Owamboland. The Owambos population is roughly 900,000 people.
The Ovambo come from the great Bantu family. They speak Oshiwambo which incorporates Oshikwanyama, oshingandjera, Oshimbaja and Oshindonga.
Flat sandy plains of Northern Namibia and Southern Angola make up the Owamboland, with water courses that bisect the area. These are known as oshanas. In the northern regions of the Owamboland there are thick belts of tropical vegetation. The average rainfall in this area is around 17 inches during the rainy season. The oshanas can become flooded and sometimes submerge three-fifths of the region. This poses a unique problem for the Owambo people. They have had to adapt to the changing weather patterns. In the dry season they are able to use their huge grassy plains for stock to graze upon.
The Owambo people have been able to adapt to their land and their environment. They raise cattle, fish in the oshanas, and farming. The Ovambo people are skilled craftsmen. They make and sell basketry, pottery, jewelry, wooden combs, wood iron spears, arrows, richly decorated daggers, musical instruments, and also ivory buttons.
[edit] Culture and beliefs
These days, most Owambo people consider themselves Lutheran. Finnish missionaries arrived in Owamboland as early as 1870. Most of the traditional beliefs have been replaced with Christian traditions, but a few traditions still carry on. As a result of the missionaries, almost all Owambo people wear Western-style clothes and listen to Western-style music. They still have traditional dancing that involves drumming, but most of the lyrics have been rewritten as political campaign songs for SWAPO. Most weddings are a combination of Christian beliefs and Owambo traditions.
The traditional home is built as a group of huts surrounded by a fence of large vertical poles. Some families also build a Western-style cement block building within the home. Each hut generally has a different purpose, such as a bedroom, storeroom, or kitchen. Most families collect water from a nearby public tap.
Most families have a large plot of land, and their primary crop is millet, which is made into a thick porridge. They also grow beans, watermellons, squash, and sorghum. Most households own a few goats and cattle, and occasionally a few pigs. It is the job of the young men to attend to the goats and cattle, taking them to find grazing areas during the day, and bringing them back to the home in the evening. Most houses have chickens, which roam freely. Like most farms, dogs and cats are common pets. When the rains come, the rivers to the north in Angola overflow and flood the area, bringing fish, birds, and frogs.
Traditionally, the Owambo people lived a life that was highly influenced by their magico-religious influences. They not only believed in good and evil spirits but also they are influenced by great superstitions. Most members of the Owambo tribe believe in a supreme spirit, known as Kalunga. This spirit is known to take the form of a man and move invisibly among the people. This spirit is very important to the tribe. When the tribe is visited with a famine or pestilence it is the responsibility of the Kalunga to help the people along.
Beliefs among the Owambo people centre around their belief in Kalunga. For example, when a tribe member wants to enter the chief's kraal, they must first remove their sandals. It is said that if this person does not remove their sandals it will bring death to one of the royal inmates and throw the kraal into mourning. Another belief deals with burning fire in the chief's kraal. If the fire burns out, the chief and the tribe will disappear. One important ceremony that takes place is when the harvest is done. The whole community has a feast and celebrates its possessions.
Each tribe has a chief that is responsible for the tribe, although many have converted to running tribal affairs with a council of headmen. Members of the royal family of the Owamboland are known as aakwanekamba and only those who belong to this family by birth have a claim to chieftainship. Because descent is matrilineal, these relations must fall on the mother's side. The chief's own sons have no claim in the royal family. They grow up as regular members of the tribe.
[edit] Bibliography
- (German) Karl Angebauer, Ovambo : fünfzehn jahre unter Kaffern, buschleuten und bezirksamtmännern, A. Scherl, Berlin, 1927, 257 p.
- (German) P. H. Brincker, Unsere Ovambo-Mission sowie Land, Leute, Religion, Sitten, Gebräuche, Sprache usw. der Ovakuánjama-Ovámbo, nach Mitteilungen unserer Ovambo-Missionare zusammengestellt, Barmen, 1900, 76 p.
- (German) Wolfgang Liedtke et Heinz Schippling, Bibliographie deutschsprachiger Literatur zur Ethnographie und Geschichte der Ovambo, Nordnamibia, 1840-1915, annotiert, Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden, Dresde, 1986, 261 p.
- Teddy Aarni, The Kalunga concept in Ovambo religion from 1870 onwards, University of Stockholm, Almquist & Wiksell, 1982, 166 p. ISBN 9171463011.
- Leonard N. Auala, The Ovambo : our problems and hopes, Munger Africana Library, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Cal.), 1973, 32 p.
- Allan D. Cooper, Ovambo politics in the twentieth century, University Press of America, Lanham, Md., 2001, 350 p. ISBN 0761821104.
- Gwyneth Davies, The medical culture of the Ovambo of Southern Angola and Northern Namibia, University of Kent at Canterbury, 1993 (thesis)
- Patricia Hayes, A history of the Ovambo of Namibia, c 1880-1935, University of Cambridge, 1992 (thesis)
- Maija Hiltunen, Witchcraft and sorcery in Ovambo, Finnish Anthropological Society, Helsinki, 1986, 178 p. ISBN 951-95434-9-X
- Maija Hiltunen, Good magic in Ovambo, Finnish Anthropological Society, Helsinki, 1993, 234 p. ISBN 9529573022
- Matti Kuusi, Ovambo proverbs with African parallels, Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Helsinki, 1970, 356 p.
- Carl Hugo Linsingen Hahn, The native tribes of South-West Africa : The Ovambo - The Berg Damara - The bushmen of South West Africa - The Nama - The Herero, Cape Times Ltd., Le Cap, 1928, 211 p.
- Seppo Loytty, The Ovambo sermon : a study of the preaching of the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church in South West Africa, Luther-Agricola Society, Tampere (Finland), 1971, 173 p.
- Giorgio Miescher, The Ovambo Reserve Otjeru (1911-1938) : the story of an African community in Central Namibia, Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Bâle, 2006, 22 p.
- (Portuguese) Ramiro Ladeiro Monteiro, Os ambós de Angola antes da independência, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Lisbon, 1994, 311 p. (thesis)
