Volume 52 Issue 10 - October 2014 : Feature

“Ngwao ya seHerero e senyegile mo segompienong rra. Ngwao ya rona e tsamaile ka go tla ga thuto ya segompieno abo e re bolaela ngwao gotlhelele. Go nyalelwa ke merafe e mengwe le gone go nnile le seabe mo go nyeleleng ga ngwao. Bogologolo go ne go sa letlelelwe gore moherero o ka nyalwa ke ba letso le sele,” bellows the sturdy old woman with the help of an interpreter. Tjituaiza can hardly arrange a comprehensible Setswana sentence but she understands some Setswana words.

She is clad in a traditional Herero outfit or the Ohorokeva, and headdress simply known as the otjikaiva shaped after cattle horns and maybe symbolising the Herero relationship with cattle farming which is central to the Herero economy and lifestyle.

She is flanked by two elderly women who, according to Herero customs, should always accompany her. Quizzed on the significance of the long and somewhat unique dress, Tjituaiza explains how her culture has been regarded as rich due to its strong ties with their identity in dress besides song and dance. 

Tjituaiza grew up under strict customs. “Ngwana wa mosetsana fa a le mo malatsing a sesadi o ne a direlwa modiro. A tloge a apesiwa lemipi la kgomo mme a agelwe ntlo ka fa morago ga ntlo e tona mo lelwapaneng. Ke jaaka re godisitswe. Golo foo go ne go satle motho wa rre. Lemipi le ne le supa gore jaanong ngwana wa mosetsana o mo seemong sa go apara kapari yone e ya seherero ebile go sena ope yo o ka mo e apolang a e apola fela a robala fa a tsoga o mo go yone abo a itse go ya sakeng go ya go gama dikgomo,” she explains. (During menstruation a young girl would be draped in suet to symbolize puberty and that she was now old enough to wear the Herero traditional dress and learn how to milk cows.)  

Olga Katjiova goes down memory lane. She explains the significance the Herero attach to the soul of the departed during mourning period. Baherero mourn the death of a family member confined indoors for about a month or two. “Gompieno go fetogile. Batho bagarona ha ba le mo lesong bana le kapari ya bone. Banna ba nna fa pele ga lesaka hale basadi bone ban ne mo lwapaneng,” she notes.

Due to a dynamic culture Baherero are also of mixed religions but like any other Batswana grouping they have strong ties with the Badimo (gods). They are said to believe in a supreme being called Omukuru, the Great One, or Njambi Karunga. Like the Himba they also have a holy, ritual fire which symbolises life, prosperity and fertility to them. However, a majority has been converted to Christianity, although the Herero church, the Oruuano, combines Christian dogma with ancestoral worship and supernatural practices in some clans.

Katjiova agrees with the common notion that “Baherero ba ja kgomo ba e fetsa”. She is quick to point out that they attach too much importance to cattle. “Baherero ke batho ba ba utlwanang le nama ya kgomo. Re tsaya masi a kgomo abo re dira mahura a a bidiwang ngondivi mme madila o ne a bidiwa omaere,” she explains. (Baherero love meat and also use cow milk to produce some byproducts such as sour milk (omaere) and fat (ngondivi).

Kgosi Simon Kambura buttresses the fact that Baherero people originate from Namibia. He explains that his great grandfather was a fortuneteller and had foreseen the impasse that befell his tribe around the early 1900`s when the Germans attacked the Baherero in the infamous German-Herero war that was fought from 1904 to 1907. They were thus expelled from their native homeland towards the south and some fled as far as Angola, South Africa and Botswana in the Ngamiland region.

“Kgosi Samuel Maherero led the Baherero into Botswana and met Kgosi Kahaka in Ngamiland. The former decided to settle in the Central District ko Mahalapye while some were led to this side. Kgosi Kavengere Kambura was appointed to lead those who had crossed the shores to this side. They moved from Kalkfontein to this place because they had seen a place of abode, hence the name ‘Makunda` which simply means bonno or a place to stay,” says Kgosi Kambura. 

Kgosi Maherero died and was buried in Serowe. His body was exhumed and reburied at a place called Okahandja in Namibia, known as the capital city of all Baherero. Some of the common names in Makunda are amongst others the Katjiova, Kambura, Kuteeue. Mbinda and Kamanaihoha.

Baherero across the country have strong cultural ties even though history has some unpleasant circumstances that drove them apart. Maun, Ghanzi, Rakops and Lentsweletau are some of the villages and towns which are known to have strong Baherero presence. ENDS

 

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