In today's civilized society, walking shirtless on the street will be regarded as a hooligan, and this behavior will seem very shameful to normal people.
But in a primitive tribe in Africa, both men and women, they were naked, and they were not ashamed of it, but felt beautiful.
Why? Are they perverts? No, it's a way of life for them.
There is also a bizarre situation in this tribe, that is, very few men in the tribe live past the age of 15, why is that? Is it a curse or something else.
The Mysterious "Red Clay Clan"
This tribe is the Himba, and a man here can marry many wives, but when they first get married, they have to climb into their husband's house.
All kinds of strange behaviors and bizarre things have put a veil of mystery on this tribe.
The Himba people, also known as the Red Clay Tribe, are located in Namibia in southwestern Africa, and this is an ancient tribe that has retained the habits of life 500 years ago.
The people of this tribe like to go shirtless because the local area has been isolated from civilized society for a long time, there is little cloth, and the surrounding desert is very inconvenient, and they have no money to go out to buy.
On the other hand, the local climate is tropical, with a large temperature difference between day and night, hot during the day, and it is cooler to be naked, and at night it is wrapped in animal skins for the night, which is also a way of life handed down by the ancestors.
Now this tribe has gradually connected with the outside world and has clothes, but they still don't wear much, one is that they think that the things inherited by their ancestors cannot be lost, and the other is that they think that showing their strong body to others is a kind of self-confidence and pride.
Maybe some people feel that something is wrong at this time, the hot climate means that the sunshine is strong, the ultraviolet rays are stronger, and it is not easier to sunburn without clothes, heat stroke, and even death in severe cases.
This is the origin of the other name of this tribe, the Red Clay Clan.
The people of the Red Clay tribe do not wear clothes on their upper bodies, and they will paint a layer of red mud on their bodies, which is very precious in the tribe.
To make this red mud, the tribe would go to the mountains 10 kilometers away to find the red stone, bring it back, grind it into powder, add water and butter and mix it well.
The climate is arid and water is scarce, especially butter, so this red mud is precious in the tribe.
The red clay produced by this is very firm when applied to the body, and it is difficult to rinse off with water, which can ensure that the color will not fade for a week.
In addition to protecting against ultraviolet rays, these red muds can also resist mosquito bites.
Because of the scarcity of local water resources, many people of the red mud tribe will never take a bath once in their lives, and live under the wrap of red mud all their lives.
If you don't take a bath for the rest of your life, the smell on your body is no different from that of a dead person.
The Red Clay Clan thought of this situation, and every time they smeared red mud on their bodies, they would make the vanilla they found into a spice similar to rosemary, set it on fire, and use the fragrance of the vanilla to remove the odor from their bodies.
It is said that it can get rid of odors, but the effect is definitely not as good as bathing.
Red clay is like makeup for the women of the clan, and they feel that after applying the naked upper body, they will show off their figure and exude their charm more.
The marriage of the Red Clay Clan
Many of the men of the Red Clay tribe do not live to be 15 years old, not because of a curse, but because of their somewhat "abstract" marriages.
In order to ensure the inheritance of the family, the Hongni clan will choose to marry close relatives, because the genes between close relatives are very similar, and the probability of children getting hereditary diseases is greatly increased, and sometimes congenital malformations will be caused.
In addition, men have to go out to work at a very young age, they need to hunt and graze, etc., there are many poisonous snakes and mosquitoes with germs, which will increase the mortality rate of tribal men, so many men do not live to be 15 years old because of these factors.
For a tribe to survive and grow, reproduction is a top priority, and children represent hope.
Most of the men of the Red Clay tribe died prematurely, and the ratio of men to women in the tribe reached a staggering 1:10, and this number is rising.
In order to cope with this situation, the Hongni tribe allowed the men in the tribe to marry many wives, implemented the system of polygamy, and continued the development of the tribe.
Source: Guangming Daily
A woman of the Red Clay tribe can get married at the age of 15, but not a man.
Because a man's first wife must be chosen by his parents, most of them are daughters born to the father's brothers, and when the child is 2 or 3 years old, she is referred to as the man's first wife.
By the time a woman reaches the age of 15 and can marry, a man is already about 30 years old, in order to ensure that his family's bloodline can be passed on.
After a man marries a wife, when his wife is pregnant, the husband must build a new house for his wife to live in, and the man can marry as many wives as he can build, but most of them are less than 5, and the pressure is too great.
A house is a 3 to 5 square meter house made of cow dung.
The first wife is chosen by the parents, and if you want to marry again, you can choose it with the company of your wife.
After falling in love with the woman, the two expressed their hearts to each other, and if it was suitable, they followed the man home, and if it was not suitable, they refused in person.
Marriage requires a dowry, the man needs to give the woman three cows as a dowry, and two cows of a bull, if the woman is not satisfied with the cow, the marriage will not be married.
As for the tradition that wives will climb into their husband's house when they are first married, the tradition of the Hongni tribe has been around for hundreds of years since the tribe officially entered the "patrilineal society".
This is primarily a way for a woman to show respect to her husband.
The development of the Red Clay Clan
The Red Ni were once one of the wealthiest herders in Africa, but in the 19th century, they were invaded by many ethnic groups in the south, who plundered the cattle and sheep of the Red Ni tribe and slaughtered the people.
Some fled to Angola, while others came to Namibia and became the current Red Clay Clan.
Source: World History Network
The daily work of the Hongni tribe is mainly animal husbandry, every family has its own herd of cattle and sheep, they also grow food, that is, they scatter the seeds into the ground, and then leave it to fate, these are the work of men.
As for the women, they would sew some hides in the house and milk the cows.
Because of the arid climate, the tribe had to drive their livestock far away to find pasture.
With the continuous development of society, the government also hopes that they can come out and live, but most of them are unwilling. They attach great importance to the inheritance of their ancestors.
The Hongni tribe attaches great importance to sacrificial divination, and the head of the family has an "ancestral fire" in his home, which they call the holy fire, and they will pray to the holy fire for divination when encountering major events, and every time they make a large sacrifice, they will dedicate the best parts of the livestock to the ancestors.
Even though the Hongni people are not wealthy, they are reluctant to let their children go to school and work because they are afraid that they will never come back.
As the times progressed, some people chose to leave, but those who left still retained the traditions of the Red Clay Tribe, dressed in revealing clothes, painted with red mud, and revered and pious for their ancestors.
Far from modern civilization, the Hongni people live peacefully according to their own way of life, living in their own beliefs, and it is this belief that makes them comfortable and peaceful.
The continuation of this race allows us to feel the way of life of ancient tribes more intuitively, which has great reference value.
Information sources:
Guangming Daily: "Plateau Simba People" December 20, 2015 04:35:08
World History Network: "Exploring the Tribes of the Himba Tribes in Africa and Understanding the Living Patterns of the Ancient People 500 Years Ago" 2022-07-0219:28
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