otjize
{{Short description|Butterfat-ochre paste worn by Himba}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
File:Namibie Himba 0717a.jpg using otjize]]
Otjize is a mixture of butterfat and ochre pigment used by the Himba people of Namibia to protect themselves from the harsh desert climate. The paste is often perfumed with the aromatic resin of Commiphora multijuga (omuzumba).{{Cite journal |last=Crandall |first=David P. |date=2004 |title=Himba Flora Taxonomy and Herbal Medicines |jstor=40466314 |journal=Anthropos |volume=99 |issue=1 |page=206 |issn=0257-9774}} The Himba apply otjize to their skin and hair, which is long and plaited into intricate designs.{{Cite news |last=Barnett|first=Errol|last2=Hume|first2=Tim|title=The Himba: Namibia's iconic red women|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/world/africa/himba-namibia-inside-africa/index.html |access-date=2021-03-16|work=CNN}}{{Cite journal |last=Wärnlöf |first=Christofer |date=2000 |title=The 'Discovery' of the Himba: The Politics of Ethnographic Film Making |journal=Africa |language=en |volume=70 |issue=2 |page=176 |doi=10.3366/afr.2000.70.2.175 |issn=0001-9720}}{{Cite journal |last=Rifkin |first=Riaan F. |date=2015 |title=Ethnographic and Experimental Perspectives on the Efficacy of Ochre as a Mosquito Repellent |jstor=24643609 |journal=The South African Archaeological Bulletin |volume=70 |issue=201 |page=66 |issn=0038-1969}} Himba women start designing their hair from puberty using the red clay as well as adding on the hair of goats for stylistic purposes. Other documented uses of otjize include initiation ceremonies, the burial of human corpses, and as a mosquito repellent. The use of otjize by both men and women has been documented, with the decline in use by men beginning in the 1960s and attributed to "the presence of the South African Defence Force in the region and the subsequent employment of many men as trackers and soldiers".
Otjize is also used for hygienic purposes due to water scarcity. Over time, otjize flakes off, removing dirt and dead skin. Wood ash is used to wash the hair.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}
In literature
In Nnedi Okorafor's Hugo Award–winning novella Binti (2015), the protagonist's use of otjize represents an "animist spirituality [that] radically decenters human exceptionality while simultaneously imbricating people thoroughly with their material world".{{Cite journal |last=Crowley |first=Dustin |date=2019 |title=Binti
Scientific study
In 2022 a team of South African and French scientists published a study of otjize's physical properties, concluding that "such a red ochre exhibits an exceptional UV filtration and a significant IR reflectivity substantiating its effectiveness as an effective UV-blocking and solar heat IR reflector in support of the low skin cancer rate within the Namibian Himba community".{{Cite journal |last=Havenga |first=D. |last2=Akoba |first2=R. |last3=Menzi |first3=L. |last4=Azizi |first4=S. |last5=Sackey |first5=J. |last6=Swanepoel |first6=N. |last7=Gibaud |first7=A. |last8=Maaza |first8=M. |date=December 2022 |title=From Himba indigenous knowledge to engineered Fe2O3 UV-blocking green nanocosmetics |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=2259 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-04663-0 |doi-access=free |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=8831563 |pmid=35145113}}
See also
- {{Annotated link|Masonjoany}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.uiah.fi/virtu/namibian/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=67 Northern Namibian handmade items – Otjize]