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8 Interesting Facts About the Herero Tribe

1. The Herero (Ovaherero) ethnic group makes up about 7% of Namibia’s population.

2. The Herero are a cattle breeding nation that migrated from East Africa to Namibia about 350 years ago.

3. The town of Gobabis in Eastern Namibia was initially known as Herero land.

4. In the 1900s large numbers of the Herero people fled from Namibia to Botswana during the genocide (1904-1908) carried out by the then German Colonial troops headed by Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha. The German troops saw this as a punishment for the Hereros’resistance to submit to them.

5. The wealth of the Herero is measured by the number of cows they have. Their pride in being cattle rearers is reflected in the women’s fashion-the Herero hat or headdress uniquely shaped like the horns of a cow.

6. In the mid 1800s the missionaries introduced the Victorian Style dressing, changing  the animal skin skirts the Herero women originally wore.

7. The popular outjina dance (‘dance of the cow head’) is the Herero traditional dance and is usually performed at weddings.

8. The Herero inherit their place of residence, religion, and authority from the father’s line, while wealth is transferred (inherited) through the mother’s line.

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