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33-520: The most prominent structure at Namutoni is Fort Namutoni , built in 1896. It was originally a German Police post and, as part of the Red Line , a veterinary control point. The Red Line at that time extended to Okaukuejo in the west and Otjituuo in the east. Later Namutoni was used to hold English prisoners in World War I and later served as a police post and then a south african army base. The original fort

66-543: A Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily modern Namibia . They are the single largest ethnic group in Namibia , accounting for about half of the population. Despite concerted efforts from Christian missionaries to wipe out what were believed to be 'pagan practices', they have retained many aspects of their cultural practices. They are also found in the southern Angolan province of Cunene , where they are more commonly referred to as "Ambo". The Ovambo consist of

99-459: A number of kindred Bantu ethnic tribes who inhabit what was formerly called Ovamboland . In Angola, they are a minority, accounting for about two percent of the total Angolan population. There are about 2 million people of the Ovambo ethnic group, and they are predominantly Lutheran (97%) and traditional faith (3%). The Ovambo people reside in the flat sandy grassy plains of north Namibia and

132-501: Is also brewed and consumed in urban areas. This liquor is then called omangelengele ; it is more potent and sometimes poisonous. New Era , a Namibian English-language daily newspaper, reported that clothes, shoes, and tyres have been found to have been brewed as ingredients of omangelengele . The following table contains the names, areas, dialect names and the locations of the Ovambo according to T. E. Tirronen's Ndonga-English Dictionary. The table also contains information concerning

165-405: Is not for meat ( ombelela ), but primarily as a source of milk ( omashini ). Their food is supplemented by hunting, fishing, and gathering. During the colonial era, the Ovambo were active in elephant ( eenjaba ) hunting for their tusks to supply the ivory demand, and they nearly hunted the elephants in their region to extinction. Each Ovambo tribe had a hereditary chief who is responsible for

198-419: Is the daughter's lineage that created Ovambo people, according to the traditional beliefs of the matrilineal Ovambo people. The rituals involve elaborate fire making and keeping ceremonies, rain making dance, and rites have involved throwing herbs in the fire and inhaling the rising smoke. The head priest traditionally was the king of a tribe, and his role was in part to attend to the supernatural spirits and be

231-495: The Cunene Province in south Angola , sometimes referred to as Ovamboland. These plains are generally flat, stoneless and at high altitude. Water courses, known as oshanas , irrigate the area. In the northern regions of Ovamboland is tropical vegetation sustained by abundant but seasonal rainfall that floods the region into temporary lakes and islands. In dry season, these pools of water empty out. The Ovambo have adapted to

264-463: The veterinary cordon fence , is a pest-exclusion fence separating northern Namibia from the central and southern regions. It encases several northern regions: Oshana Region , Kavango East Region , Omusati Region , Zambezi Region , Omaheke Region , Kunene Region , and parts of the Khomas and Oshikoto Regions . Most of these farms are fenced in and are accessible by constructed farm roads. South of

297-785: The 14th century from the Zambia region to the northeast. They settled near the Angola-Namibia border then expanded further south in Namibia in the 17th century. They have a close cultural, linguistic and historical relationship to the Herero people found in more southern parts of Namibia, and Kavango people to their east settled around the Okavango River . In contrast to most ethnic groups in Africa, their isolated, low-density pastoral nomadic lifestyle left

330-598: The European Union. The demarcation was created in 1896 in the hope of containing a rinderpest outbreak in the Imperial German colony of South West Africa . Its name stems from the depiction in red ink on a 1911 map created by the German colonial administration. Fort Namutoni was built as a police station to control north–south travel of the indigenous population and their livestock. The line continued to Okaukuejo in

363-471: The Ovamba have preferred a syncretic form of Christianity. Most weddings feature a combination of Christian beliefs and Ovambo traditions. Their traditional dancing is done to drumming (Oshiwambo folk music). The traditional home is a complex of huts surrounded by a fence of large vertical poles linked by two horizontal poles on each side. The complex is a maze with two gates but it is easy to get lost within

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396-478: The Ovambo people is the primary faith of less than 3%, as most state Christianity to be their primary faith. The Ovambo's traditional religion envisions a supreme being named Kalunga , with their rites and rituals centered around sacred fire like many ethnic groups in southwestern Africa. The Kalunga cosmology states that the Supreme Being created the first man and first woman, who had a daughter and two sons. It

429-657: The Ovambo people largely unaffected by Swahili-Arab and European traders before the 19th century. When Germany established a colony in Namibia in 1884, they left the Ovambo people undisturbed. The Germans focused on the southern and coastal regions. After World War I, Namibia was annexed by the South African government into the Union of South Africa as the Territory of South West Africa . This brought major changes, with South African plantation, cattle breeding and mining operations entering

462-606: The Ovamboland. The Portuguese colonial administration in Angola, who had previously focused on their coastal, northern and eastern operations, entered southern Angola to form a border with the expanding South African presence. The Ovambo people launched several armed rebellions against South African rule in the 1920s and 1930s, which were all suppressed by the Union Defence Force . The South African administration in Namibia continued

495-512: The building of farms on virgin lands. Since this line has been deeply embedded in political and historical issues, the government has proposed uprooting it to the Angolan border. This has caused some concern that the disease will spread to uninfected areas, although areas like Kunene have not had outbreaks in over 30 years and are advocating for this line movement. There were three outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in Namibia in 2020, all north of

528-463: The chief representative of the Ovambo tribe to the deities. Christianity arrived among the Ovambo people in the late 19th century. The first Finnish missionaries arrived in Ovamboland in the 1870s, and Ovambo predominantly converted and thereof have identified themselves as Lutheran Christians. The influence of the Finnish missions not only related to the religion, but cultural practices. For example,

561-547: The cost of their marketing. Subsequently, animals are usually slaughtered and sold without crossing the veterinary cordon fence. The issues of the red line restrictions have become controversial amidst a 2008 meat market boom. Since the Independence of Namibia in the 1990s, the government has been fighting to remove the Red Line and allow prosperity in these regions. The aim is to build infrastructure, deconcentrate farms and promote

594-509: The daughter's children, not the son's. Polygyny is accepted, with the first wife recognized as the senior. Ovambo brew a traditional liquor called ombike . It is distilled from fermented fruit mash and particularly popular in rural areas. The fruit to produce ombike are collected from makalani palms ( Hyphaene petersiana ), jackal berries ( Diospyros mespiliformis ), buffalo thorns ( Ziziphus mucronata ), bird plumes and cluster figs ( Ficus racemosa ). Ombike , with additives like sugar,

627-441: The fence today are commercial farms where the farmers, many of whom are white , own the land. North of the line, on the other hand, all farm land is communal and operated mostly by black farmers. Livestock is not constrained by fences and often ventures onto roads. The red line is a highly guarded line which has roadblocks to check every vehicle which passes. The red line is the reason for Namibia's unique status to export meat across

660-508: The fort. The restcamp also features the King Nehale waterhole. The Namutoni Airport , is close by and provides a dirt landing strip mainly used by wildlife and emergency services. 18°48′S 16°59′E  /  18.800°S 16.983°E  / -18.800; 16.983 This Namibia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Red Line (Namibia) The Red Line , also referred to as

693-554: The homestead. Each hut generally has a different purpose, such as a Ondjugo (the woman of the homestead's hut) or Epata (kitchen area). The Ovambo people lead a settled life, relying mostly on a combination of agriculture and animal husbandry. The staple crops have been millet and sorghum ( iilyavala ), and beans ( omakunde ) are another popular crop. In drier regions or seasons, pastoral activity with herds of cattle ( eengobe / eenghwandabi ), goats ( iikombo / onakamela ) and sheep ( eedi ) becomes more important. The animal husbandry

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726-642: The line, the first on 8 August and the second on 13 August in the Caprivi. The third occurred in the Oshikoto Region on 28 December. Miescher, Giorgio (2012). Namibia's Red Line . New York: Palgrave Macmillan US. doi : 10.1057/9781137118318 . ISBN   978-1-349-34098-9 . Ovambo people The Ovambo people ( pronounced [ovambo] ), also called Aawambo , Ambo , Aawambo (Ndonga, Nghandjera, Kwambi, Kwaluudhi, Kolonghadhi, Mbalantu, mbadja), or Ovawambo (Kwanyama), are

759-581: The north. However, because of labor shortage in the Police Zone and South Africa, in part because of massacre of native Africans such as through the Herero and Namaqua genocide , the South African government allowed migrant wage labor. Numerous Ovambo people became migrant laborers in South African towns such as Cape Town and in the Police Zone, where they experienced segregation and lived under highly restrained human rights. The South African Apartheid rule

792-454: The so-called "Police Zone" in south, a region created by the Germans with a veterinary Red Line covering about two-thirds of the province later to become Namibia. Ovambo people were not allowed to move into the Police Zone, neither other tribes nor Europeans could move north without permits. This isolated the Ovambo people, preserving traditional authorities and reducing numbers of White farmers in

825-650: The southern border of the Etosha Pan , through Tsintsabis and eastwards to Otjituuo (east of Grootfontein). North of the line lies about a third of Namibia's land surface. Livestock north of the Red Lines may not be sold overseas, while farmers in the South can sell their meat anywhere. Furthermore, even to access markets in South Africa and the rest of Namibia, animals from north of the fence must be quarantined for 21 days, raising

858-514: The tribe. Many tribes adapted representation by having a council of headmen who run tribal affairs. Members of the royal family of the Owamboland are known as aakwanekamba , ovakwaluvala , ovakwamalanga , ovakwaanime , aakwanyoka and many more; only those who belong to this family by birth, through the maternal line, have a claim to chieftainship. The tribes figure their descent by a matrilineal kinship system, with hereditary chiefs arising from

891-425: The typical dress style of the contemporary Ovambo women that includes a head scarf and loose full length maxi, is derived from those of the 19th-century Finnish missionaries. The Ovambo now predominantly follow Christian theology, prayer rituals and festivities, but some of the traditional religious practices have continued, such as the use of ritual sacred fire. They also invoke their supreme creator Kalunga . Thus,

924-810: The west and Otjituuo in the east. Nevertheless, the epidemic reached Windhoek in 1897, wiping out half of the cattle population of the OvaHerero people . The demarcation became a political boundary in 1907, after the Reichstag in Berlin passed a resolution in 1905 during the Herero Wars stating that police protection in German South West Africa "should be restricted to the smallest possible area focusing on those regions where our economic interests tend to coalesce". The border reflected areas of colonial control, and

957-567: The widely varying seasonal weather patterns with their housing, agriculture, and livestock practices. The Ovambo people are a Bantu-speaking group. In Namibia, these are the AaNdonga, Ovakwanyama, Aakwambi, Aangandjera, Aambalantu, Ovaunda, Aakolonkadhi, Aakwaluudhi and Aambandja. In Angola, they are the Ovakwanyama, Aakafima, Evale and Aandonga. The Ovakwanyama are the largest sub-tribe. The Ovambo started migrating to their current location around

990-437: Was already monitored for animal health purposes. The excluded northern areas were largely left to indirect colonial rule through traditional authorities. Passage between the two zones was then restricted for individuals as well as for animals. This led to different political and economic outcomes for the northern Ovambo people and the more centrally located Herero people . The Red Line was moved several times. A physical fence

1023-480: Was brought into the Ovamboland in 1948. The South African government declared the Ovamboland an independent province in 1973, and appointed chiefs aligned with the South African government's policies. The Ovambo people rejected these developments, and in 1975 the appointed chief minister of Ovamboland was assassinated. In conjunction with the armed SWAPO movement, Namibia and its Ovambo people gained independence from South Africa in 1990. The traditional religion of

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1056-585: Was destroyed in 1904 following the Battle of Namutoni and rebuilt a year or two later. Fort Namutoni was declared a National Monument in 1947 by the South West Africa Monuments Council. The current fort was restored to its present state in 1957 and served as a lodge, stopover, and view point for visitors to Etosha National Park for several decades. However, the fort is currently unused as bigger and more comfortable restcamp facilities were built near

1089-491: Was only built in the early 1960s, and from then on used to isolate foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in the North from the farms in the South. As during German colonialisation, it also served to facilitate the apartheid movement's restrictions and influence on people. The fence stretches across the north of the country and has often been slightly modified over the years. Currently it runs north of Palmwag , past Okaukuejo , along

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