Contested Places
43
Anthropos 92.1997
Fig. 6: Gravestone at Opuwo (Photo M. Bollig)
an inverted position, horns pointing towards the
earth - another means of expressing wealth. Other
assets of the grave did not change: oxen skulls
still decorate the grave and the number of skulls
tells something about the herds of the deceased. A
fence is still erected around the grave of rich old
men and a broken trumpet decorates the grave of
the wealthy.
A similar pattern of change can be seen today.
The graves of rich men are fitted with huge grave
stones which have to be bought in Opuwo. They
are produced there by an Angolan. The stone itself
and the transport of the stone to the graveyard by
car costs three oxen - more than the obligatory
bridewealth which the Himba pay to their in-laws,
making a gravestone one of the most expensive
commodities known to the Himba. But it is rare
to hear anybody complaining about the high price
and some families make considerable efforts to get
a stone to their relative’s grave. Recently a stone
was bought by a family from Ongokwa, about
60 kilometres away from the Kunene in Angola.
The people did not shy away from transporting
Fig. 7 : Grave near Namibe (Photo M. Bollig)
the heavy stone on donkeys over this distance and
were prepared to pay three oxen for the stone and
its transportation to the Kunene.
The more simple stones merely record the name
of the deceased person and his dates of birth and
death according to the Western calendar. More
sophisticated stones, and these are most popular
at the moment, display an array of painted or
engraved symbols. These are taken from the dif
ferent spheres of experience of the sculptor (Fig.
6). Many stones have small drawings. The images
of cattle, which are sometimes painted in full and
sometimes only their head, feature prominently
next to “powerful” undomesticated animals, such
as elephants and lions. Cattle, lions, and elephants
are prominent topics in the praise songs of the
Himba. Rich and wealthy people may be equated
to an elephant or a lion in these songs. Next to
these representations, which bear a direct relation
to Himba traditions, are found other images such
as a dove, presumably representing the Holy Spirit,
a symbol that relates much more to the world
of the sculptor than to the world of his Himba