The medical culture of the Ovambo of Southern Angola and Northern Namibia

This thesis focusses on the medical culture of the Ovambo peoples of southern Angola and northern Namibia, a group who have been little-researched anthropologically. Because health and affliction are such poignant human concerns, the study of a society's medical culture can tell us much about their social and cultural organisation in general. It is for this reason that Ovambo medical culture has been examined in relation to the wider socio-cultural background, rather than in isolation; especially since Ovambo evidence has shown that concern about health and affliction is not confined to the physical and spiritual wellbeing of individuals, but extends to include harmonious social relations, environmental and economic prosperity, and politicaly stability.

A holistic analytical approach has been adopted, whereby all aspects of the medical culture are considered (insofar as the data allow), as opposed to only certain aspects. Ovambo beliefs and practises relating to healt hand health maintenance are therefore discussed, as well as external (i.e. European) medical influences. Particular attention has been paid to Ovambo use of plants as medicines, as well as to their prophylactic and propitiatory measures, since these are areas of athnomedical research that are identified as being under-researched. Focussing upon these areas has also highlighted the significance of material culture in the Ovambo medical domain, and the value of museum collections of ethnography in this regard.