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Fastening a Necklace
In a remote corner of Namibia, the Himba people have maintained a pastoral nomadic existence through hundreds of years of war and drought. I visited a small village near the Angolan border. It was a cluster of mud huts standing on the dry slope of a low hill where dust rose in whirlwinds and chickens scurried through the dirt. A group of children ran to greet us and led us through the village. We passed a group of women sitting around a dying fire, their bodies adorned with colorful beads and bracelets. Our guide explained that jewelry was a particularly important part of Himba culture and tradition. When I sat down by one of the huts, a young boy showed me a necklace he recently made, then tied it around his neck. Copyright 200 0 Martin Wierzbicki |