[Watch Video] #NHW2020 | Museum of Namibian Fashion | Ongodo/Ongondo

MAN would like to use Namibian Heritage Week to introduce you to our plan to develop a Virtual Museum of Namibian Fashion. The museum will feature photographs of historical and contemporary clothing and accessories. We will make the site interactive and welcome comments and contributions that might feature in the museum when it is launched by the end of 2020. We will post a couple of items this week to start the conversation. The first object we are introducing is the Ongodo (Oshikwanyama) or Ongondo (Oshindonga).

Listen to Ms Elizabeth Betty Hango, the retired History Curator of the National Museum of Namibia explaining, in Oshikwanyama, the significance of the ongodo.

“ The one I am holding is made of ongopolo which is copper, the others are normally made of iron. During historical times the ongodo was worn around the ankle with the sole purpose of strengthening the leg, when it was weak.

For instance if you had a fractured leg at some point; the leg becomes weak after the healing. It is believed that the leg must have become shorter due to immobilization or that the ligaments may not be straight. The Ongodo is then worn as an anklet to help straighten the leg and strengthen it in order that it might retain its normal function."