The Religion of the African Himba and Herero Ethnic Groups: the Supreme God Mukuru and his Violent Transformation into the Trinity
2022
Abstract
The paper targets the religions of the African tribes Himba and Herero. The aims are twofold: (1) to introduce the original African religion of the Himba ethnic group, which relatively strictly preserves its religious tradition, and (2) to introduce the religion of the closely related Herero ethnic group, which was exposed to the (now German-recognized) genocide, after which a handful of survivors (for many) paradoxically adopted the religion of their executioners.
I work using field research, which took place in northern Namibia and southern Angola during a two-month ethnographic stay between Himba and Herero people.