[BA Fashion Essay] Hybridised Cultures: The Hetero Tribe

B-FH231 Cultural & Contextual Studies 2A: Fashioning Identities

Hybridised Cultures: The Herero Tribe

Irissa Nur Khair BAFMIN3A / 20600

Nadya Wang Lecturer AY2019/20 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Fashion Media and Industries

LASALLE College of the Arts Faculty of Design Singapore

Accepted by the Faculty of Design, LASALLE College of the Arts, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Fashion Media and Industries

Nadya Wang Lecturer

I certify that the work being submitted for examination is my own account of my own research, which has been conducted ethically. The data and results presented are the genuine data and results actually obtained by me during the conduct of the research. Where I have drawn on the work, ideas and results of others, this has been appropriately acknowledged in the essay. The greater portion of the work described in the essay has been undertaken subsequent to my registration for the degree for which I am submitting this document. © IRISSA NUR KHAIR In submitting this work to LASALLE College of the Arts, I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations and policies of the college and that the work is also subject to the college policy on intellectual property.

________________________________ Irissa Nur Khair

The beginning of the 20th century showed to be a time of inhumanity. Before both the World Wars, Germany had inflicted a racially motivated war crime of extermination on Namibia, Africa. In the wake of tragedy, new forms of expression and identity flourished within its people, specifically the Ovaherero tribe. In Dick Hebdige’s 1979 Subculture: The Meaning of Style, he deemed subculture to be the culmination of those “who are alternately dismissed, denounced and canonized; treated at different times as threats to public order”.

However, unlike emerging subcultures, traditional subcultures, in this case, the Ovaherero tribe of Namibia, are bounded by geography and ancestry, brought together by blood to sustain their traditions and remember their past. It can be depicted as groups that “physically congregate within a specific place and time, with a political agenda”, with their own “expressive forms and rituals”. (Hebdige 13 1979) In this regard, this essay will explore the Ovaherero tribe of the 20th Century and how they have used dress as a political standpoint in their personal and cultural identity.

Through the study of the Ovaherero tribe and selected distinct personalities, a visual analysis will be made on the evolution of their national dress and its unwavering role in identifying and symbolising and solidifying this subculture.

Figure 1. Herero men and European coloniser. Deutsche Sudewest-Afrika. 1904.

The Ovaherero, more commonly known as Herero, are an ethnic group in Southern Africa, with its majority residing in Namibia. Since their migration in the 17th and 18th centuries, they had established themselves as pastoralists. As the first Europeans began settling on their land in the 19th century, conflicts arose due to land, water, and racial discrimination. As imperialism and colonialism peaked in Africa, so did the tension between both groups which resulted in an annihilation of the Herero people by the German General Lothar von Trotha in 1904. Notwithstanding the grim history, the Herero people, their women particularly, have taken steps to reclaim their power from their colonizers and reinvigorate their identity through dress.

Figure 2. Herero tribe, at the end of the 19th-century. Namibia, Africa.

The history of African dress was deemed to be the practice of “covering the human body with local materials readily at hand, easily constructed, and that allowed the body to keep cool or warm and dry” (Eicher 3 2010) Before the arrival of the German colonists in the early 1900s, most Herero women were bare-breasted and wore front and back leather loincloths, a traditional Omutjira, made from sheep or goat skins. The Omutjira covered the front while the rear is left exposed for the strap dangles to visibly represent a cow tail. Their arms and legs are encumbered with brass, copper and carved-horn cuffs worn at their wrists and ankles. The brass rings work as body supplements that “greatly impede their working and walking” (Durham 1999) for it was regarded as “shameful for a real Herero woman to be seen not walking slowly and with a measured step” (Fourie 182 1966).

This traditional semi-naked dress of the Herero was “unacceptable and offensive to the paragons of European virtues” (Young 2004) and eventually, the Herero women were forced into adopting the Victorian dress. This style of dress was introduced by the German wives of Rhenish missionaries and colonialists who first came to the country in the early 1900s. As expected, the European women had imparted their Western ideals and expectations on the Herero women’s personal grooming and appearance to reflect the “makers and providers of a decent and respectable” (Worth 48 2018) home.

Figure 3. Morning dress. Victoria & Albert Museum, London. 1894.

Figure 4 & 5. Illustrations from a German Fashion magazine, 1903.

The 1890s were a period of transition from the rigid Victorian Age to the new century.

The governing dress of the time featured high necklines and large leg-o-mutton sleeves,

which were tight at the lower arm and puffed out at the upper arm. Skirts were worn in fulllength, gored to fit smoothly over the hips and “nipped at the waist to create an hourglass effect.” (Tortora 397 2010) At the time, it was fashionable to wear crinoline under the skirt.

Layers of crinoline petticoats would be worn to create a wide skirt silhouette and support the large amounts of the fabric of the dress. An outfit consisting of many layers meant that the wearer would have received help getting dressed by a maid, implying that the wearer was wealthy. Such lavish outfits were very important in a class-conscious society to “avoid the appearance of poverty,” ultimately contributing to one’s social status. (Ward 1877) Despite its grandeur, clothing was modest for it was the view that women rightfully belonged in the domestic sphere and must save herself for her husband. It was proclaimed that the ideal Victorian woman was a tirelessly patient, sacrificing wife who “excelled in the difficult arts of family life” and that “her purity was supposed to be her chief beauty” (Woolf 1931) It is an interesting distinction between modesty and morals in the social context of the dress of Native Herero women and European women. It is socially regarded as immodest and immoral to bare the chest in Europe as it goes against the Christian teachings and society’s standards of women in the Victorian Era. As quoted by the Bible, “they should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves…” (1 Timothy 2:9) Whereas in indigenous tribes of Africa, it is the socially accepted norm to bare one’s chest and an important aspect of their culture.

Figure 6 & 7. Herero women in Ohorokova (Patchwork). Jim Naughten, 2017.

As with most subcultures, it emerges from parent cultures and is influenced by sociopolitical factors. Within each subculture, a certain style is derived. This subcultural style follows a "certain homology, or a synergy with a group’s values and behaviour" (Haenfler 9 2013) Through a thorough analysis of the adaptation of the Victorian dress and its African roots, the syncretic phenomenon that is the Ovaherero tribe of Namibia will be elucidated.

At present, the low hemlines, puffy sleeves and enormous crinoline gowns are unmistakably Victorian. This style is still strong among the Herero women as seen in Figures 6 and 7. Now, it is known as the Ohorokova, the traditional dress of Namibia. Dress, so defined, is an “assemblage of modifications of the body and/or supplements to the body.”

(Eicher & Roach-Higgins 7 1992) It is designed to be of an A-line silhouette with fabric sewn over several petticoats for a wide structured, voluminous skirt. The dresses are high-necked and the long sleeves exhibit sculptural volume, with puffed shoulders or frilled wrists. Taking on a similar silhouette to the Victorian gown, the Herero women now make them in vivid colours and African tribal prints. The Victorian dress and African prints, both elements taken

from two vastly different cultures, intertwine through dress, therefore, creating a new form of identity for the Herero women.

It was custom that only married woman could don the Ohorokova for it signifies that she is “willing to take up responsibilities of a Herero home and raise her children to respect their heritage and family” (Wither 2011) This tradition has been relaxed and any Herero woman may wear the dress. Most of the Ohorokova are shaped the same, differing only in colour, fabric pattern and buttons. For everyday wear, dresses are patchworked together from smaller pieces of fabric and three or four petticoats are worn. On special occasions, the best dresses are embellished, and up to eight layers of petticoats are worn to make the dress as voluminous as possible. It is said that “the more voluminous, the more impressive the dress.” (Young 2004)

Figure 8 & 9: Herero women in Ohorokova (Ankara & Shweshwe). Jim Naughten, 2017.

These images depict the Herero women in their traditional dress against the Namibian landscape to create a certain stillness that “allows the past to speak.” (Naughten 2017) The cloth of the Victorian dress has been re-appropriated with African fabrics of bright colours, idiosyncratic designs and hand-made patterns, produced through native methods.

Some fabrics used to create the Ohorokova are the Shweshwe and Ankara. Shweshwe, native to South Africa, is a printed dyed cotton fabric and is characterised by sophisticated geometric patterns whereas the Ankara, native to West Africa, is a wax print that was originally manufactured by the Dutch to produce Indonesian tribal-like textiles. The textile influence from different parts of Africa, coupled with ordinary fabrics have weaved the creation of the modern Ohorokova dress. It is a physical embodiment of a “cultural mosaic” (Jansen 2016) of Africa, attaching more depth to the cultural value of an Ohorokova.

Figure 10. Herero and Himba women. Gerald Brown, 2014.

Another distinctive feature of the Herero women’s dress is their horizontal horned headgear, the Otjikalva. Fabric is wound around the head and formed into long points to represent cow horns, made to match or coordinate with the Ohorokova dresses The addition

of the cow horn elements to their dress as opposed to regular headgear reflects the great pride and respect with which they regard their cattle. Essentially a pastoral society, the Herero people pay tribute to the cows that have historically sustained their tribe through dress. This symbolic headgear worn by Herero women represents their ancestral livelihood and is a visible marker of their unique Herero identity in African society when compared to other pastoral tribes like the Himba.

Figure 11 & 12. Herero women in Ohorokova and matching Ojitkalva. Jim Naughten, 2017

It is traditionally the role of the women to perform labour-intensive work such as carrying water, rearing and milking cows whereas the men handle political and legal tasks in native African tribes. As such, the Herero woman holds the power to declare and embrace their role in society with the supplement of the headgear. The Ojitkalva on its own also holds cultural pride for it is a physical reminder of the code of conduct she is bound to as a Herero woman. These include rules surrounding behaviour and etiquette, how to handle milk in the homestead and rules surrounding which parts of a cow one is allowed to consume.

In conjunction, the merits of wearing the prominent headgear and dress equate to the ideal appearance a Herero woman can aspire to. To quote Dr Lutz Marten, a linguist at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies who specializes in the Herero tribe, he writes: “A correctly worn long dress induces in the wearer, a slow and majestic gait.” The combination of a voluminous, floor-length gown and a cow-horn headgear provides an overall effect on the Herero woman to resemble a “plump, well-fed and slow-moving cow”.

(Marten 2013) To a certain extent, the Herero woman modifies their natural form to bear resemblance to a cow by dressing in flamboyant, voluminous dresses and an equally striking headgear with horns. It is clear that the society’s standards of ideal beauty differ from its European oppressors, who would not equate a cow as its embodiment of beauty.

Nonetheless, the Herero identity is further enforced with the amalgamation of these elements that are unique to their tribe.

The role of dress in this subculture provides a way of handling the experience of ambiguity and contradictions with regards to identity. It provides its participants with an ‘imaginary coherence’ through the style adopted. These include supplements like the Ohorokova dress, Otjikalva headwear and the intangible asset of the brown-hued skin colour of a Namibian individual. Together, these chosen objects form a whole, a “recognisable aesthetic which in turn stands for a whole set of values and attitudes.” (Hebdige 23 1979) With this innate code of conduct embedded into each individual within the Herero tribe, they have designed a fundamental aesthetic for its members to uphold their dignity and honour their past. In the present day, their cultural dress is a continued protest against the Germans who obliterated them, making it a subversion of their former rulers’ fashion.

Through the evolution of a Victorian-styled dress, the Herero women of Namibia have held on to a significant piece of their tribe’s history and reclaimed it as their own. The Ohorokova has become a traditional symbol of the Herero tribe and an object of pride in their identity.

Figure 13. Herero women in Ohorokova on Maharero Day. Charles Freger, 2007.

Figure 14. Herero women marching on Maharero Day. Charles Freger, 2007.

In keeping the memory of the Herero-German 1904 war alive, the people of Herero have dedicated Maharero Day as a means to commemorate their dark past. It is named as a tribute to Samuel Maharero, the Paramount Chief of the Herero tribe during the revolts and events that led up to the Herero genocide. It is key to remember the pivotal event that shaped the modern-day Herero person as the genocide had more than eighty per cent of the

population massacred, nearly wiping out the entire tribe. The women march through the town of Okahandja, clad in full-length, crimson Ohorokova dresses with a black Caraco, intricately decorated with gold braid. The colour red symbolizes the bloodshed of the wargenocide of 1904. The equally important red headgear is worn to complete the entire look of the Herero women. The bold colour palette of the dress on Maharero Day is significantly different from the usual vibrant array of colours of the Ohorokova as seen in the images above.

In the book, Dress and Identity by E. Roach Higgins, it cites that dress allows one to “explain themselves and others and because it allows one to reach beyond ourselves, to grapple with the unknown, the wide range of social facts, and bring order and coherence to it.” (Higgins 485 1995) With that statement in mind, it can be derived that the occurrence of the annual Maharero Day is still vital in reinvigorating Ohorokova’s essence as its symbol of triumph over their dark history. As the dress is deemed as the national dress of Namibia, it is daily donning by most of its women would contribute to the normalization of the esteemed beacon of hope.

In From Excess to Access: Televising the Subculture, Eric Freedman cites that ”insertion of otherwise marginalised (underrepresented) bodies into the flow of mass media is a critical process for their legitimation” (Freedman 165 2017) Photographers like Jim Naughten (@jimnaughten) and Charles Freger (@charlesfreger) have utilized their social platforms, Instagram and their websites, to share visual imagery of the Herero tribe and other hybridised cultures alike. Refinery29 too had attempted to shed light on this matter through their ‘Style Out There’ video series. In an interview with Esther, historian and activist at the Ovaherero Genocide Foundation, she mentions: “The struggle for the recognition of the genocide will continue. Even if it takes us another 100 years, we won’t mind, for we have been waiting for 100 years.

Reparations for the Herero people will mean the achievement of freedom.” (Quoted

from Refinery29 Style Out There - Why You’ll See These Victorian-Style European Dresses In Namibia) United through the power of social media in today’s interconnected world, more people are learning about tribes unheard of and their tribulations. Through the instantaneity of social media, the showcase of the Herero dress is being used to amplify their presence in society and create conversation. Achille Mbembe wrote, “To create this world common to us all, we have to give back to those who in times gone by have experienced a process of abstraction and objectification of that portion of humanity which has been taken from them.”

Clothes have become the locus of the commemoration of the Herero history and these people’s appropriation of it. To be enamoured by their unique choice of dress without acknowledging the tribulations faced would be a taint on an otherwise enlightened history.

In closing, the Herero tribe are living testaments of determination and resilience. The Herero choice of dress is a non-verbal communicator of their unwavering personal, historical and cultural identity. Despite being one out of many tribes in Africa, they are a beacon of hope for other marginalized groups worldwide in their quest for reparations and justice.

Fundamentally, the Ohorokova dress is at the heart of the Herero tribe by a significant degree and will constantly challenge the notion of cultural inferiority.

(Words: 2595) Works Cited Books L. Fourie, C.H. Hahn, V. Vedder. The Native Tribes of South-West Africa. Cass, 1966.

B. B. Kebonang. The Socio-economic and Political History of Herero in Mahalapye Central District. University of Botswana, Gaborone, 1988.

T. Falola Ph. D, D. J. Jacques. Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society [3 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2015.

L. Marten, J. Naughten. Conflict and Costume: The Herero Tribe of Namibia. Merrell, 2013.

J. B Eicher, D. H. Ross. Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion: African. Berg, 2010.

R. Haenfler. Subculture: The Basics. Routledge, 2013.

P. G. Tortora and K. Eubank. Survey of Historic Costume, 5th ed. New York: Fairchild Books, 2010.

V. Woolf. Professions for Women. National Society for Women’s Service, 1931.

R. Samer, W. Whittington, E. Freedman. Spectatorship: Shifting Theories of Gender, Sexuality and Media. University of Texas Press, 2017.

R. Worth. Clothing and Landscape in Victorian England: Working-Class Dress and Rural Life. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018.

Images Charles Freger’s online portfolio. http://www.charlesfreger.com/portfolio/hereros/ Jim Naughten’s online portfolio. http://www.jimnaughten.com/project/hereros/ 1890-1800 Fashion. https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1890-1899/ Videos Why You’ll See These Victorian-Style European Dresses In Namibia https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/herero-dress-namibia-african-women-fashion