Economics is a modern term inconceivable to a people who till small plots of maize, grind millet daily, cook over open fires, make jewelry and weave baskets. Wearing pleated goatskin skirts, they heavily bejewel themselves with bark and copper bangles, seashells and strips of embroidered leather. The Himba live in scattered encampments of 20 to 30 people, their conical huts encircled by thick brush corrals. They drift with the seasons to new ones in search of water and grazing lands. Complex social codes govern personal conduct, grazing and leadership.
Crime is almost unheard of.
Traditional medicine women heal. More than 160 sacred graves mark the valley behind them, potent cultural totems that indicate clan power and grazing rights. Rare fish species found nowhere else would be wiped out. The idea to build here dates back 60 years. The democratic government headed by President Sam Nujoma aggressively resurrected it after Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990.