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In today’s 21st century, the world has progressed a lot in terms of technology, science and comforts. We are thinking of establishing settlements on the moon and stars and our lifestyle has become completely digital. But even today there are some corners on this earth, where it seems as if time had stopped centuries ago. Even today, there are some such tribes and tribes present in the world, whose life, culture and traditions cannot be believed by our eyes and ears. Their way of living and their daily rules are so different that the common urban person may get a big shock for a moment.
The name of one such unique tribe is ‘Himba’ (Himba Tribe). This tribe resides in the Kunene province of the African country Namibia. This area is considered to be one of the driest, inaccessible and completely isolated areas in the world. Let us know about those strange traditions of this tribe which make them a topic of discussion all over the world.
Unique tradition of bathing only once in life
The most surprising thing about this tribe is related to the bathing of the women here. Girls or women of the Himba tribe take bath only once in their entire life, and that special day is their wedding. Apart from marriage, they are not allowed to bathe with water or wash clothes at all.
The main reason behind this is the geographical location of this area. There is a severe water shortage in this part of Namibia, due to which this practice was created centuries ago to save drinking water.
Why doesn’t the smell come even without bathing?
The most surprising thing is that despite never bathing, these women do not have any foul smell from their bodies and their skin remains very healthy. There is a special natural method behind this. These women apply a special type of paste on their body and hair every day, which is called Otjize It is said. This paste is prepared by mixing animal fat (oil), dust of special minerals and red clay. This coating protects them from the scorching heat, humidity and insect bites of the African forests. Due to this coating, the skin color of these women always appears light red or copper.
Women’s life is more difficult than men’s
In the Himba tribe, the life of women is full of struggle and hard work compared to men. In this society, the real work of running the house and managing the clan is done by women only.
Taking the cattle (cows and goats) to graze, milking them, fetching drinking water from miles away, building huts with the help of red soil and cow dung, cooking food and raising children, all the responsibilities rest on the shoulders of women alone. Men usually make clan decisions or do the hunting. Despite all these difficulties and working all day in the scorching heat, the natural beauty and beauty of the women of this tribe are praised all over the world.
Life and Traditions of the Himba Tribe: At a Glance
You can easily understand the society and culture of this clan from the table given below:
| aspect of life | Rule/Tradition of Himba Tribe | the reason behind this |
| bathing rules | Women take bath only once in their life (on their wedding day). | Extreme water shortage in Kunen province. |
| skin protection | Applying paste of red clay and oil (Otjize) on the body. | For protection from sun, tanning and wild insects. |
| hospitality | The custom of sleeping with the wife to please the guest. | The clan’s old social belief and way of respect. |
| marital freedom | Men are allowed to marry multiple times and women are allowed to have other relationships. | The idea of mutual openness and maintaining the population of the tribe. |
| current population | Around 50,000. | There is little to no contact with the outside world. |
Strange practice in the name of hospitality
There is a tradition that has been going on in this clan for centuries which can surprise people of any modern or civilized society. The people of Himba tribe are known for their special and unique hospitality, but its method is very different.
Whenever an honored guest from outside comes to the clan or stays at someone’s house, the head of the house (husband) allows his wife to spend the night with that guest to show his respect for the guest. Under this custom, the husband himself leaves his hut that night and sleeps in another room or outside the house, so that the guest does not face any inconvenience.
The fabric of relationships and social freedom
There is a different openness regarding relationships in Himba society. Here men have complete freedom to have more than one marriage or to have relationships with multiple women. Similarly, women are also not prevented from having relations with other men of the clan apart from their husbands. Due to this openness, often the biological or real father of many children born in this clan is not known exactly, but the entire clan works together to raise the children.
Today the population of this mysterious tribe is approximately 50 thousand is left around. People and tourists from the outside world have slowly started reaching their tribe, but despite all the changes, these people are still living a simple life in the forests with their old rules, laws and traditions.
