The Dimba of Angola are a cattle-herding society living mainly in the savannah around the town of Cahama. They also practise hunting and subsistence farming. They often farm the land of the Himba and enliven their celebrations with songs, and in the local social hierarchy they rank immediately below them. Their villages are surrounded by sturdy palisades, and their houses are decorated with colourful geometric patterns. Despite the spread of Christianity in the area, women still preserve a fascinating hairstyle culture, with different and striking styles for each occasion and stage of life.
Location of the Dimba tribe in the territory of Angola.
Population and ecosystem of the Dimba
Around 15,000 Dimba live between the wooded savannah east of Cahama and the dry, rocky valleys that run down to the Cunene River.
Landscape of the savannah inhabited by the Dimba in south-western Angola.
Economy and social organisation
The Dimba are herders and also practise hunting and subsistence farming. Women still make and use beautiful baskets with interesting geometric patterns. They are organised in clans, led by the eldest man.
Dimba hunter.
Art and architecture: dolls, painted houses and basketry
Dimba women make beautiful dolls for their young daughters to play with. They often decorate them lavishly with plant-fibre cords and braids covered in coloured glass or plastic beads.
Traditional Dimba doll with plant-fibre belts, beads and braids made of natural or artificial hair.
As skilled craftspeople, the Dimba decorate the façades of their homes with geometric patterns. The dominant colours are white, black and red, which they obtain from clays found in riverbeds. Their decorated houses are rectangular and spread out over a wide area enclosed by a palisade of thick logs.
The esparto granaries where they store their seeds are the largest in Angola.
Vernacular architecture in a Dimba village.
Women also make plant-fibre utensils that apply geometric concepts of great interest: truncated conical and cylindrical shapes, spirals, complex patterns, transformations in the plane and friezes. These mathematical practices applied to basketry have attracted the interest of ethnomathematics.
Dimba woman with the traditional ‘three crests’ hairstyle.
Aesthetics and beliefs: a culture of hairstyles
Married Dimba women wear two hairstyles: the ‘afro’ – worn by older women or mothers with babies – and the ‘three crests’, less striking than the ‘afro’. Dimba girls who have had their first period but are not yet ready to marry wear beaded wigs (sometimes covering their faces) at wedding celebrations.
Dimba woman with the traditional ‘afro’ hairstyle.
Dimba society is being influenced by the neighbouring Humbi and Gambue, and is increasingly converting to Christianity. Despite this trend, traditional worship of the bull and the ancestors is still widely practised in small villages.
Young Dimba woman with a beaded wig.
Challenges facing the Dimba
The Dimba are the herding group closest to paved roads and to the most westernised peoples of south-western Angola, such as the Humbi. Aggressive pressure from missionaries, schooling, Western clothing and the emigration of young people to Namibia are undoubtedly the greatest challenges the Dimba face today. Drought has also become a constant threat to this herding society, which depends so heavily on pasture. Improving irrigation and developing cultural tourism as a source of income could help them face the future.
Would you like to meet the Dimba?
The Dimba live in the savannah around Cahama, in the south-west of the country. If you are planning to travel to Angola, our destination page has our upcoming departures, what to see in the country and useful information to help you plan your trip.
Discover the tribes of Angola with the book "Last Tribes of Angola"
If you would like to learn more about these peoples of the south before you travel, you can read Last Tribes of Angola, the result of the joint work of the anthropologist Joan Riera and the ethnophotographer Aníbal Bueno. Written in English and Spanish (a bilingual edition), and with a wealth of photographs, illustrations and maps, the book is a visual guide to the most remote tribes of south-western Angola.
► For delivery to the Iberian Peninsula and islands: buy the book from Exlibric.
► For delivery to the rest of the world: buy the book on Amazon.
You can learn more about the Dimba at www.101lasttribes.com.
© Photographs by Aníbal Bueno, taken during our trips to Angola.
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