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The discourse of restitution often takes place within the framework of the 'ethics of collecting' with a focus on the return of objects violently obtained, which has restricted the debate. This case study of the return of two sacred stones from Finland to Namibia reflects on the cultural impact of their return. Largely Christianized communities re-encountered objects that were sacred and central to earlier belief systems. We argue that the role of the sacred stones changed over time in ways that challenge any assumption of stasis that might be assumed when deploying the concept of 'tradition'. The return of the two stones provoked renewed interest in pre-Christian rituals but also efforts to strengthen the position of 'traditional authorities' in relation to the democratic system of governance in Namibia. The ripples of restitution illustrate the wider importance of the return of cultural artefacts for stimulating contemporary cultural and political debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being based on oral interviews, archival records and much of the published literature on the topic as well as press reports, this article analyses the political effects of the General Contract Workers Strike of 1971-72 on Owambo contract workers. It shows how, through the workers' political consciousness and organizational potential, the strike was successful in the struggle against the colonial contract labour system. The first part of the article provides a brief outline of how the workers developed their campaign from a growing sense of discontentment with the oppressive contract system. It explores the various factors that led to the strike, and examines the court hearings, Owambo unrest, and the public floggings that ensued. The second part traces the role of the Owambo 'traditional' authorities in the public floggings which had an enormous impact on the state of politics in Owambo. The article maintains that while Owambo headmen had authority over contract workers their position lacked legitimacy. When the Owambo kingships came under colonial control, chiefs and headmen found their authority profoundly changed, and allied themselves with colonial officials. They used public floggings to consolidate their power, claiming that they were an old 'tribal' custom based on traditional forms of discipline and punishment. The final section outlines the key debates surrounding the public floggings and the aftermath of the strike. The analysis shows that although the strike did not end the poor working conditions and workers were still separated from their families, it laid the foundations for the struggle for the underlying political aim: independence from colonial South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the desire for modernity as represented by western commodities, Christianity and education, among Ovambo. It addresses the reasons why Ovambo men in particular entered contract waged labour, the struggles they went through due to the work environment, and the different ways in which waged labour was integrated into their lives. Sources include elements of former migrant labourers' biographies. The article argues that the way in which Ovambo men set about acquiring European commodities was mediated by an existing set of motivations, which suggested disillusionment with their traditional leaders and headmen from the late 1930s to the early 1950s and that, while in most cases the immediate reason given for men becoming migrant labourers was the monetary benefit, young men were also attracted by the status symbols possessed by the elite such as clothing and consumer goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we describe a single sample of nineteenth and twentieth century bows and arrows of the Ovambo, Namibia. Unlike some other southern African bow-hunting groups, there is a paucity of literature describing the traditional hunting weapons of the Ovambo. Two types of bows and two broad types of arrows were observed, the latter each with multiple variants. The varied arrow designs reflect different types of prey and hunting techniques. There is apparently greater design affiliation with several Angolan tribes, such as the Ovimbundu, than with the Hei//om hunter-gatherers, with whom the Ovambo also interacted. We argue that the basic Ovambo weapon designs and hunting techniques were well established prior to their entrance into Namibia and was not affected tangibly by contact with the Hei//om. There are several features of the arrows that seem unique to the Ovambo material and are probably of local invention. We postulate probable functions of some of the arrow designs, although others remain ambiguous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent can ethnic boundaries be transcended in interethnic interactions? We are tackling this question in reference to Namibia, a post-apartheid society marked by a legacy of ethnic and racial divisions. Relying on discourse as a source of data, we identify the strategies employed by Namibians in a range of interview data and semi-experimental interethnic interactions for either accentuating or attenuating interethnic boundaries. We identify these strategies at the levels of ethnic categorization, language choice/variation and the management of speaker turns, and place them in the perspective of the participants' perspectives on ethnic Others. Our findings suggest that ethnic categories are salient in our data, although they do not exclude identification with superordinate categories in specific contexts. Our findings also show that patterns of categorization are reflected in language choice and turn management in the interactional context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Y-chromosomal 28 short tandem repeat (STR) loci were investigated in unrelated healthy individuals of the Ovambo population from Namibia (n =54). Sixteen Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) polymorphic loci (DYS456, DYS389I, DYS390, DYS389II, DYS458, DYS19, DYS385, DYS393, DYS391, DYS439, DYS635, DYS392, GATAH4, DYS437, DYS438, and DYS448) were analyzed using AmpFISTR Yfiler Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Amplification Kit. DYS441–445 and DYS446, DYS447, DYS449, DYS450, DYS459a/b, DYS463 and DYS464a/b/c/d were investigated using a multiplex PCR system. Fifty-one haplotypes were identified in 54 Ovambos. The STR diversity values for Y-STRs loci ranged from 0.036 (DYS392) to 0.900 (DYS 385). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Human glutathione S-transferase omega-1 ( hGSTO1) has monomethylarsonate (MMAv) reductase activity. Recent study suggests that two polymorphisms (E155 deletion and E208K) in hGSTO1 can be related to inter-individual variations in inorganic arsenic metabolism. As useful PCR-based genotyping methods for these hGSTO1 polymorphisms are not available and data on hGSTO1 polymorphism in African and Asian populations are insufficient, the aim of the present study was to develop a PCR-based genotyping method for E155del and E208K, and to investigate the allele frequencies of these two polymorphisms in Ovambo and Japanese populations. Methods: The E155del and E208K polymorphisms were detected using confronting two-pair primers analysis and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism, respectively. Results: Allele frequencies for the hGSTO1 polymorphisms were investigated in Ovambo (n=144) and Japanese (n=144) populations. For E155del, the mutation frequency in Ovambo and Japanese subjects was 0.000 and 0.017, respectively, similar to those for other populations. As for E208K polymorphism, no mutation allele was found in Ovambo or Japanese subjects. Conclusions: The present study developed a PCR-based hGSTO1 genotyping method that could be applied to a large number of individuals at most locations. Clin Chem Lab Med 2007;45:621–4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore cultural discourse, gender and the subjectivities of local people on the frontier of empire in mid‐20th century southern Africa. Using the example of Nekwaya Loide Shikongo, a prominent woman from Ondonga in northern Namibia (the colonial “Ovamboland”), and an epic poem on the deposed King Iipumbu yaShilongo that she performed in 1953, I discuss how gender was constituted and mediated. The narrative of a remarkable woman’s life and her poetry is told to understand how gender in relation to other forms of identity was constructed in different cultural discourses. I argue that both the Christian mission’s cultural discourse and the South African colonial administration’s efforts to masculinise the “native” political authority gendered Owambo elite women whose identities had previously included “gender” only as a rather contingent component. The example of Loide Shikongo, however, also shows that many Owambo continued to pursue heterogeneous, and sometimes ambiguous, strategies in their claims to Christian models of modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the move of the Ovambo into central and southern Namibia. Impact of war and drought on Ovambo societies; Focus on the treatment of Ovambo famine migrants in the Karibib settlement.

Rapid changes in Ovambo society in northern Namibia are caused by the mutual and multiple influences which male migrant work, colonial and postcolonial economic policies, and development aid had on each other. As a result women became the linchpins of agricultural production and took over the responsibility for family provision. Their planting decisions and agricultural knowledge are core issues which are looked into in this article. It becomes clear that age. family status, and household structures are the main influences on women's access to and control over resources. Factors which are dealt with in detail are: control over land. access to labour. men's remittances, capital, skills, inputs. and information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addresses the issues of kinship, marriage and family in Northern Namibia from 1948-1954. Complaint filed by Helvi Kondombolo against colonial officials that her son, who had been working in the southern part of the colony for eight years, be either sent back home or persuaded to send her money to buy food, a complaint made more unique by the fact that her son was president of Namibia; Formation of the Ovambo People's Organization, a forerunner of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO); Concerns of recent historical research on famine, including how famines force people to react in ways we can see, which allows for them to be constructed as active rather than passive.

Abstract: Allele frequencies of 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, and FGA were determined in unrelated individuals in the Ovambo population from Namibia (n =195). Amplification was performed using AmpFlSTR Identifiler Kit. For each locus 6–20 alleles were observed. For all 15 loci, the combined matching probability is 3.3×1016 and the power of exclusion is 99.99986%. AmpFlSTR Identifiler detection system is a valuable tool for individual identification in Ovambo population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1, glutathione S-transferase (GST) M1, and GSTT1 gene polymorphisms have been shown to be associated with several diseases. In this study, CYP1A1 MspI, GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene polymorphisms were investigated in 134 Ovambo and 207 Mongolians, and the results were compared with those from previous studies. Using polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) the frequency of CYP1A1 MspI mutation was determined. The multiplex PCR was used to determine the GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphism. The frequencies of wild-type, heterozygous variant and homozygous variant of the CYP1A1 MspI genotypes were 72.4%, 25.4% and 2.2%, and 22.7%, 55.6% and 21.7% in the Ovambos and Mongolians, respectively. The frequencies of GSTM1 (null) and GSTT1 (null) genotypes were 11.2% and 35.8%, and 46.4% and 25.6% in the Ovambos and Mongolians, respectively. The CYP1A1 MspI and GSTT1 (null) genotype distribution of the Ovambos was similar to that of African-Americans and some Caucasians. In contrast, the GSTM1 (null) genotype distribution was different from that of all other populations. Among Mongolians, the CYP1A1 MspI polymorphism showed the highest mutation frequencies, GSTM1 (null) was similar to that of East Asians, and GSTT1 (null) was different from that of almost all the Asians examined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Allele frequencies for the nine short tandem repeat (STR) loci D3S1358, vWA, FGA, TH01, TPOX, CSF1PO, D5S818, D13S317, and D7S820 were investigated in 195 unrelated Ovambo (Bantus) population from Namibia. AmpFlSTR Profiler Kit was employed for amplification. For each locus, 6–19 alleles were observed. Comparison between Ovambo population data and that of other African populations was performed. AmpFlSTR Profiler detection system is a useful tool for individual identification in Ovambo population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]