The Ovambo culture is a unique and interesting society. They collectively make up eight kindred tribes, which inhabit Ovamboland in northern Namibia in Africa. They consist of Ondonga, Ukuanyama, Ukuambi, Ongaqndjera, Ukualuthi, Ombalantu, Onkolonkathi and Eunda. The tribe stretches all the way to the border of Angola. The Ovambo people make up the greatest population in Namibia. They migrated south from the upper regions of Zambezi. The reason that they settled in the area where they now live was for the rich soil that is scattered around the Ovomboland. The Ovambos population is roughly 150,000 people. Ovamboland Flag Ovamboland was a bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. ... Length 2,574 km Elevation of the source 1,500 m Average discharge 7,000 m³/s Area watershed 1,570,000 km² Origin  Near Mwinilunga, Zambia Mouth  Indian Ocean Basin countries Zambia, Congo, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique The Zambezi (also spelled Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in...

The Ovambo come from the great Bantu family. They speak Oshivambo which incorporates Kuanyama and Ndonga. The culture is also often referred to as Owambo, and the language as Oshiwambo. Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu (dull yellow) vs. ...

Flat sandy plains make up the Ovamboland, with water courses that bisect the area. These are known as oshanas. In the northern regions of the Ovamboland there are thick belts of sub-tropical vegetation. The average rainfall in this area is around 17 inches during the rainy season. The oshanas can become flooded and sometimes submerge three-fifths of the region. This poses a unique problem for the Ovambo people. They have had to adapt to the changing weather patterns. In the dry season they are able to use their huge grassy plains for stock to graze.

The Ovambo people have been able to adapt to their land and their environment. They raise cattle, fish in the oshanas, and farming. The Ovambo people are skilled craftsmen. They make and sell basketry, pottery, jewelry, wooden combs, wood iron spears, arrows, richly decorated daggers, musical instruments, and also ivory buttons. Unfired green ware pottery on a traditional drying rack at Conner Prairie living history museum. ...

Culture and beliefs

These days, most Ovambo people consider themselves Lutheran. Finnish missionaries arrived in Ovamboland as early as 1870. Most of the traditional beliefs have been replaced with Christian traditions, but a few traditions still carry on. As a result of the missionaries, most Ovambo people wear Western-style clothes and listen to Western-style music. They still have traditional dancing that involves drumming, but most of the lyrics have been rewritten as political champaign songs for SWAPO. Most weddings are a combination of Christian beliefs and Ovambo traditions.

The traditional home is built as a group of huts surrounded by a fence of large vertical poles. Some families also build a Western-style cement block building within the home. Each hut generally has a different purpose, such as a bedroom, store room, or kitchen. Most families collect water from a nearby public tap.

Most families have a large plot of land, and their primary crop is millet, which is made into a thick porriage. They also grow beans, watermellons, squash, and sorghum. Most households own a few goats and cattle, and occasionally a few pigs. It is the job of the young men to attend to the goats and cattle, taking them to find grazing areas during the day, and bringing them back to the home in the evening. Most houses have chickens, which roam freely. Like most farms, dogs and cats are common pets. When the rains come, the rivers to the north in Angola overflow and flood the area, bringing fish, birds, and frogs.

Traditionally, the Ovambo people lived a life that was highly influenced by their magico-religious influences. They not only believed in good and evil spirits but also they are influenced by great superstitions. Most members of the Ovambo tribe believe in a supreme spirit, known as Kalunga. This spirit is known to take the form of a man and move invisibly among the people. This spirit is very important to the tribe. When the tribe is visited with a famine or pestilence it is the responsibility of the Kalunga to help the people along. Superstition is a set of behaviors that may be faith based, or related to magical thinking, whereby the practitioner believes that the future, or the outcome of certain events, can be influenced by certain of his or her behaviors. ...

Beliefs among the Ovambo people deal center around their belief in Kalunga. For example, when a tribe member wants to enter the Chiefs kraal, they must first remove their sandals. It is said that if this person does not remove their sandals it will bring death to one of the royal inmates and throw the kraal into mourning. Another belief deals with burning fire in the chiefs kraal. If the fire burns out, the chief and the tribe will disappear. One important ceremony that takes place is when the harvest is done. The whole community has a feast and celebrates their possessions. Kraal (also spelt craal or kraul) is an Afrikaans word for either an enclosure for horses, cattle and the like, or a native village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form. ...

Each tribe has a chief that is responsible for the tribe, although many have converted to running tribal affairs with a council of headmen. Members of the royal family of the Ovamboland are known as akwanekamba and only those who belong to this family by birth have a claim to chieftainship. Because descent is matrilineal, these relations must fall on the mothers side. The Chiefs own sons have no claim in the royal family. They grow up as regular members of the tribe.

• Language Map of Namibia]