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Introduction
[edit]The Ovambo (Ambo or Aawambo) are a Bantu ethnic group in Namibia and Angola. The Ovambo people are approximately one million people, including 713 000 in Namibia.
The Ovambo alone constitute half the population of Namibia[1]. Most live in the north, near the border with Angola (Ovamboland), living on both Across the Cunene River which forms the border between the two countries and up To Okavango, where they practice the agriculture and cattle ranching. They are also very active in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.
They consist of 7 distinct tribes. The most numerous are the Kwanyama, the Ndongo, and the KwambiKafima.
History
[edit]Originate Central Africa, they would have settled the area along with the Herero who were often in conflict. Like other people, they traded to buy guns and push the Europeans trying to enter the time Inside. Opposed to the Portuguese in Angola, also Germans in Namibia, where their territory, Ovamboland, has preserved its independence until In 1914[2]. Fell under the domination of South Africa, they rebelled in 1932 against land confiscation by the whites. The revolt Generalized when Ovamboland was erected in Homeland (Bantustan) in 1968 under the policy of separate development, leading to Namibian independence in 1990.
Lifestyle
[edit]Taking advantage of the flood, these people practicing Irrigation along rivers and enhance their rate fields with grazing their herds. The Ovambo practice as much as livestock farming. They also engage in basketry, pottery and ironwork[3].
The descent is matrilineal and is practiced polygyny. The first wife takes precedence over all others. The latter, however, have their own special box. The habitat here has a circular structure made of wattle and daub, the box has a conical thatched roof. The islands of family houses, which shelter within their walls a single nuclear family (parents and young children), surround the main courtyard where each other are found.
As a result of short rainy seasons, the crop production is mostly limited to millet (Omahangu) and sorghum (iilyavala). In addition beans and pumpkins are grown. Most fruits such as eembe (wild berries), eenyandi and eendunga are collected from nature. Freshwater fishing is still practiced, especially in years of good rains.
Culture
[edit]The language of the Ovambo is Oshivambo incorporating dialects Kwanyama and Ndonga. Nowadays, the Ovambo are the vast majority of Christian religion. This is mainly Lutheran, converted by missionaries from Germany and Finland in the 1870s. The bulk of the Ovambo kept their ancestral superstitions and believe in such a superior spirit called Kalunga, which takes the form of an invisible man kind. This belief in a unique spirit explains how Ovambos became easily one of the most Christianized tribes of Africa. Kalunga The reference to God is always present in Bibles Ovambos dialects.
The economic system of the ovambo culture is based on agriculture and cattle rising. Due to short rainy seasons, the crop production is mostly limited to millet (Omahangu) and sorghum (iilyavala)[4]. In addition beans and pumpkins are grown. Most fruits such as eembe (wild berries), eenyandi and eendunga are collected from nature.