24 hours with the Mbanderus at their yearly procession in Okahandja

During our last visits to Namibia, we always appreciated to see Herero women wearing these big colourful costumes. Indeed, this traditional dress that most of them are wearing also with 50°C outside temperature, is made of seven layers one on the other and of a hat with two pointers on the sides. This traditional dress came from the clothes the german women wore in the colonialism time at he beginning of the twentieth century. Some guide-books mentioned the traditional procession of the Herero tribes in the city of Okahandja in the north of Windhoek. The most famous one happens each year in August (25.08.2002). We discover that another smaller procession takes place this year on the 15th and 16th of June. We don't want to miss this event!
Saturday, June the 15th: It is noon when we reach Okahandja. We cross the town in every direction but cannot see a sign of the procession. We don't know exactly when and where it takes place and search more information asking at the police station. A policeman know about the procession and tell us to drive a little bit outside the town and to stop at a waste ground where some people already plant their tents.
WE are curious and drive to this waste ground. We found it quickly. Middle of nowhere, some tents are planted, men are discussing, women in traditional dress are cooking on the fire.
We search somebody who could help us. Forest comes to us and will be our guide for the next hours. He accepts that we stay here and proposes us to introduce us to the Mbanderu culture. The procession aimed to honour the Mbanderu and Herero ancestors, fallen while the war against the german colonialists at the end of the nineteenth century. The first step for everyone in order participate to the procession is to be accepted by the ancestors.
For this we are called to go to the sacred fire. There five men welcome us and explain us the ceremony.
At first one of these men spits water on our faces. Then he shakes our arm and our fingers and pulls on our fingers to let them crack. If one of them crack it means that the person is accepted by the ancestors to participate to the procession. We also do the test and our bones crack. We can stay!
Those who are not so lucky have to participate to a purification ceremony in order to hunt the bad spirits: They have to walk on the ground and go three times under the legs of a man in charge. When they are purified, they are accepted to the procession.
After this ritual we learn a little bit more about the procession, the tribe and its culture. Before that we were not ready for it. Forest explains us so much he can.
The Herero tribe is divided in three groups: the Hereros under the "Red-Flag", the Mbanderus under the "Green-Flag"-, the Tjimbas under the "White-Flag"- in which are also the himba people represented. The actual procession is for the Mbanderu people: the "Green-Flag-Hereros". It takes place once every year and gather one thousand people together. Most of them are Mbanderus but Hereros are also here. At this occasion they honour Kahimenua Nguvauva, a former chief executed in Okahandja on June the 13th of 1896 during his fight against the german occupation.
The ceremony takes place on Sunday but lots of families already meet on Saturday. They arrive in their own clean pickup or gathered together on a truck they organised for this day. Hundreds of people arrive and set up their tents (some only sheets put up between two poles) at the wide space, graded specially for this weekend and collect firewood for the night.
And now it's the last time to train for the next day's competition. The troops march all day to their very own rhythm. Even if the uniforms are not quite uniform and the discipline is not quite what we'd expect of an army - these troops formed as a private group or in a school or village show real enthusiasm. The only thing that counts is being in the troop. They don't stop marching all day long, regardless of the hot sun in the sky and the dust on the ground. Just like the singers. About ten women in their beautiful traditional dresses - mostly green and black - form a circle and a "foresinger" enters the middle. He or she sings the "message" where all the others repeat the refrain an clapping and stamping the rhythm, supporting the message of the song. The auditorium listens and often laughs to the songs. Unfortunately we don't understand their language - so we miss the meaning of the songs as much as the jokes within ...
From far, sitting in old repaired folding chairs in the shade of the only tree, the delegation of teh Big Chiefs of the Herero watch all the marching and singing and dancing.
We are allowed to stay with the Mbanderus this night to make sure that we will be here at six o'clock in the morning the next day, when the procession starts. We park our car in between all the others, putting up our tent like all the others - except that ours is the only roof-tent!
Like usual we cook on our small fire, but this time we get a lot of visitors: people who just come to say "Hello" or young boys who want to discuss the Soccer World Cup (We don't speak a about France ...). :-)).
The whole night we hear the troops marching and the groups sing their unbelievable stories.
Sunday, June the 15th: At about six o'clock in the morning - after an very short period of silence - the camp becomes alive. Although some eyes are very small, the troops form, the people gather for the procession. One our later, the chiefs leave the camp for the graveyard, the procession starts to move. First the chiefs, then the troops, then the singers and all others in their festive costumes follow on the gloryful march to honour the great Chief. Being the only whites, we try not to draw too much attention on us and follow silently within the last group. The procession makes its way to the small graveyard where Kahimenua Nguvauva was buried. About one kilometre full of colours, singing and marching.
Arriving at the graveyard, the crowd gets silent. Only one of the highest healers of the Mbanderu is allowed to unlock the gate - any other person might be haunted if doing so. He opens the gate for the crowd and asks them to form two queues: to the right all the people who have been here before, to the left all these ones who come to honour the forefathers for the first time. That's also our queue, and when we manage to enter through the small gate, we are lead by the healers (who also did the welcoming-ceremony) and their meaningful words to touch the grave of the executed chief. The queue continues along all the other graves in the graveyard and every grave is to be touched. If someone has a wish - and who doesn't - he might take a stone or a handful of sand and put it onto a grave, it might be that the buried one helps the wish to come true!
After these silent minutes where everyone passed through the graveyard, the crowd finds itself at the other side of the cemetery and the troops start marching in the street (which has not enough space for all of the marching, but nevertheless). The same healer who opened the gate closes it and slowly the procession back to the marching field starts to move. Three hours after the starting moving, we are back at the camp. We take a small break and then take our folding chairs to the "demonstration area" where the official part continues. We sit down under the sun among all others to watch the final marching of the troops and listen to the songs and speeches. Four hours in the midday-sun, everybody talks about the brave forefathers, the pride of the Mbanderu, their past and their future as important cultural group in Namibia.
According to the tradition, everybody now has the possibility to express himself today. We are also asked that we could give a speech, but we refrain from doing so! Everyone is cooking under the sun, but we are the only ones to leave red!
At the end of the ceremony, the actual great Chief of the Mbanderus King of the Ovambanderu Community Munjuku II Nguvauva, whom we have been presented the day before, holds the last speech and - if we interpret his Mbanderu words right - wishes everybody a pleasant year until the next big party!

This weekend has been an extraordinary experience for us. We have been integrated into an - to us unknown - culture and were welcomed to join the most important ceremony for this people. We thank all of the Mbanderu who have accepted us in between them and mostly Forest, who has been an excellent guide to us, letting us know quite a lot about his people.