Namibia’s Various Tribes and Their Traditional Wedding Rites

Namibia is a  beautiful and young independent country, made up of 13 regions or states, 13 major tribes and many other smaller tribes. Living in the town is more advantageous as you get to learn more about every tribe unlike the rural areas.

Let us now take a look at how different weddings are held in Namibia and discuss the different wedding approaches in 4 of the 13 tribes.

The Otjiherero culture-

Once a date is set for a wedding, the bride is not allowed to hang around with her friends.Her aunt is required to keep a tight-knit guard over her niece.The women should come completely hands-on with household tasks.

“The bride is expected to know how to milk a cow as well as do the household chores with the help from her mother, aunts and cousins,” says a qualified historian, anthropologist and the manager of the national service, Otjiherero Radio Station, Alex Jarimbovandu.

As the wedding nears, the bride-to-be is kept indoors where she is smeared with ocher (Otjize); a powder mixed with fat and rubbed all over her body to give her a flawless radiance.

Love-making is another important ritual of the Otjiherero people whereby the female cousins are tasked to rope her in on how she should handle a man, behave and teach her how to respect her husband.

“Preparing a bride starts when she is still young and not when she is actually ready to be one,” Jarimbovandu added.

The Oshiwambo culture- 

The woman goes to the village to stay there for two to three weeks prior to the wedding day. She is not allowed to leave the house without the parents’ permission. The bride-to-be’s duty while she is there, is to personally invite the elderly to her wedding.

Once the date is set for the wedding, the bride goes to her mother’s house the next morning who accompanies her to an area opposite the mother’s hut called “oshotoshondjugo”. A fire is set in the center (between the kraal and the mother’s house) and she has to inhale the smoke from the fire as a sign of blessing.

She is then given a gift by a parental relative (Hegona) and this signifies that she can now receive gifts from anyone. Accompanied by her cousins, she has to collect gifts from friends and relatives at their homes but sometimes, the gifts are brought to her. The hegona’s responsibility is also to ensure that the bride is taken care of when she goes to the bridegroom’s house.

The Damara Culture-

The people believe that the bride has to go to the family house three to four weeks prior to the wedding day. During this time, the bride-to-be is helped by her family to make jewellery called “!Goro-!khoes” for her ankles and wrists.

Rosa Namises, a cultural activist said the reason the woman has to go to the mother is because the mother is responsible of teaching her own daughter how to be a wife. This entails house chores, minding children and general duties of a married woman.

The bride is given traditional products that she has to use every time even after the wedding. These are “!au” (the ocher) that is placed in a “//Nab” (the horn) and “Sâ” (the powder), placed in a “!ŭros” (a turtle shell).

The powder with the “komasam” (cow fat) is mixed to apply on the body.

The Caprivian Culture-

This however, is the most interesting preparation of a wife for marriage. The Caprivians actually teach a bride how to keep her man happy in bed. They literally teach women how to make love, as not being able to do so is considered an embarrassment to the family. The woman goes away from the man to her elders who are required to teach her all there is to learn about marriage and how to take care of her new family. She has to have the qualities of a ‘good wife’.

The process entails how to maintain your affairs at home. During that time, she is taken to the bedroom and taught how to perform in bed with her husband-to-be.