Meet the Himba people – Tribe that offer free s*x to guest and don’t bath – The Himba are also known as the Ovahimba or Omhimba people who live in the Kunene region of Namibia.

If you are wondering why this tribe appears to be strange, we can tell you one of their cultures. They give sex for free to their guests and also they adorn newborn with bead necklaces and they don’t bath.

Meet the Himba people – Tribe that offer free s*x to guest and don’t bath

The interesting and unique people of the Himba tribe sparked inspiration for the character ‘Binti’ in Nnedi Okorafor’s novella trilogy ‘Binti’.

Right down in the Kunene and Omusati regions of Northern Namibia, are the semi-nomadic people of Ovahimba and Ovazimba tribes.

It is very customary, for them, for the women to engage in daily activities of milking cows and taking care of the children while the able men go for hunting, sometimes leaving for a long periods of time.

With a striking population of over 50,000, the Himba people are a polygamous people where Himba girls are married off to male partners selected by their fathers once they attain age of puberty.

Most of their cultures have been however, upheld despite western influence and agitation.

Among these cultures is the “Man comes first” tradition. The woman has very little or no opinion in the decision making. Submission to her husband’s demands come first and foremost.

According to reports, “When a visitor comes knocking on the door, a man shows his approval and pleasure of seeing his guest by giving him what they call the Okujepisa Omukazendu treatment — the wife is given to his guest to spend the night with while the husband sleeps in another room. In a case where there is no available room, her husband will however, sleep outside.”

This, apparently, reduces the rate of jealousy and fosters relationships.

Another tradition that has however, stood the test of time is the “bathing is forbidden” rule. Instead of taking their baths, the women take a smoke bath and apply aromatic resins on their skin.

They are also guided by the belief that the red colour signifies “Earth and blood”. Their red skin is one of the things that make them extremely unique/different.

The red colour is however, from the otjize paste (a combination of butterfat, omuzumba scrub and ochre) and its main function is to protect their skin from the harsh desert sun and insect bites.

Himba Influence in African Literature

The Himba people haven’t been represented in a lot in Literature. However, in Nnedi Okorafor Binti, the lead character ‘Binti’ is of the Himba poeple.

Okorafor describes the tribe as a “tribe in Namibia who use ‘sweet smelling otjize’, a mixture of ochre and butterfat over their skin, rolling it into their hair as protection against the desert sun”. In the novella, the Himba don’t travel, which directly contrasts the real Himba people who are nomads.

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Meet the Himba people – Tribe that offer free s*x to guest and don’t bath