Otjize is a mixture of

butterfat Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain. Composition Butterfat is mainly composed of triglycerides. Each triglyceride contains three fatty acids. Butt ...

and

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

pigment used by the

Himba people The Himba (singular: OmuHimba, plural: OvaHimba) are an indigenous people with an estimated population of about 50,000 people living in northern Namibia, in the Kunene Region (formerly Kaokoland) and on the other side of the Kunene River in sout ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

to protect themselves from the harsh

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

climate. The paste is often perfumed with the aromatic resin of '' Commiphora multijuga'' (''omuzumba''). The Himba apply otjize to their skin and hair, which is long and plaited into intricate designs. 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 Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...

, the burial of human corpses, and as a

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

repellent. The use of otjize by both men and women has been documented, with the decline in use by men beginning in the

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong and Buzz ...

and attributed to "the presence of the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

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 Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water Water resources, resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water ...

. Over time, otjize flakes off, removing dirt and dead skin.

Wood ash Wood ash is the powdery residue remaining after the combustion of wood, such as burning wood in a fireplace, bonfire, or an industrial power plant. It is largely composed of calcium compounds along with other non-combustible trace elements presen ...

is used to wash the hair.

In literature

Nnedi Okorafor Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels ''Who Fears ...

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

–winning novella '' Binti'' (2015), the protagonist's use of otjize represents an "animist spirituality

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

radically decenters human exceptionality while simultaneously imbricating people thoroughly with their material world". For scholar S. R. Toliver, Binti's success in creating otjize on a planet away from her home planet "symbolizes a metaphorical rebirth of the Himba culture in a new land" and "is a lasting remnant of home and healing in a land that was initially defined by surveillance and control".

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 Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...

rate within the Namibian Himba community".

References

{{Reflist

External links

Northern Namibian handmade items - Otjize
Health in Namibia Skin care Traditional African medicine