Nama

Nama women are highly skilled artisans, their embroidery and applique work, regarded as an art form, consists of brightly colored scenes inspired by the environment and the lifestyles of the Nama people.

The only true descendents of the Khokhoi in Namibia, the Nama were once pastoral nomads farming cattle. Today, there are 13 Nama tribes, for the most part still practicing communal land ownership, with a rich tradition of poetry, music and dance that is shared throughout the Kalahari. Numerous proverbs, riddles and poems have been handed down orally from generation to generation, everything from impromptu love songs and praise of heroic figures, to songs of the animals and plants in the environment.

You’ll find the Nama spread through Namibia at Sesfontein in Kaokoland, in the far south at places like Warmbad, or around Mariental, Tses, Gibeon, Maltahöhe.