Africa my Africa!! 'THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND SHOULD COME HERE TO TAKE LESSONS FROM US!' MEET THE LION SKIN-CLAD QUEEN OF NAMBIA'S OKWANYAMA TRIBE, WHO LIVES INSIDE A LABYRINTH
One of the Namibia's last tribal monarchs, Queen Meekulu, leader
of the Okwanyama tribe, offered photographer Eric Lafforgue a rare glimpse into
her world and allowed him inside the royal palace, which is protected by an
elaborate labyrinth.
From within her sprawling
thatched palace, she rules over the Okwanyama's 55 villages with the help of a
council, or board, whose members she chooses herself and can fire at will.
Indeed, according to Lafforgue, she did so just before the visit on the grounds
that the offending councillor was 'lazy'.
Resplendent in a bright pink striped dress, a fluorescent shell and bead necklace and a gleaming lion skin robe, Meekulu Mwadinohmo looks every inch the Queen.
When not taking care of business at the omaada or tending to her HIV positive adopted son, much of her time is spent touring her kingdom, visiting the sick in hospital and hearing the petitions of village elders from the throne room in the centre of her palace.
To get in, visitors must
endure an elaborate security process that begins with shouting loudly on
approach and involves navigating an intricate labyrinth before submitting to a
ceremonial greeting and a lengthy wait in one of the antechambers before being
called in to see her.
'Only those who are
familiar with the palace know how to get inside,' says Lafforgue. 'It was built
to make the invaders lose their way and it's protected by the men who live on
the outside. The women live in the middle and the Queen ls in the centre.'
Surrounding the palace is a stockade made from tough mopane wood, which is spiked in a bid to keep both enemies and local elephants at bay.
'By the fence is the
olupale where the men gather to tell stories at night while having a few
drinks,' explains Lafforgue.
'People put the skulls of
the cows killed during the reign of the Queen on the fence. Cows are
slaughtered for weddings or funerals, and sometimes to use as a trade for
millet if the harvest was bad. When the Queen dies, all of it will be burned.'
The Queen, who has ruled
the Okwanyama since being elected by a council of elders in 2005, hopes to one
day build a museum to house some of the tribe's most important cultural
artifacts and to highlight some of her most illustrious ancestors, among them,
her grandfather Mandume Ya Ndemufayo.
The last king of the
Okwanyama, Mandume is a national hero in both Namibia and neighbouring Angola
and was killed fighting South African forces as they swept through what was
then Deutsch-Südwestafrika [German South-West Africa] in 1917.
After Namibia was incorporated
into South Africa, many of the tribal royals were banned and Queen Meekulu's
family were only reinstated, following much discussion among the elders, after
the country gained independence in 1990.
Since regaining her
throne, Queen Meekulu's mission has been to boost Okwanyama culture and
wellbeing of its people, and says there is much that other royals, the UK's own
Queen Elizabeth among them, could learn from her tribe and its traditions.
'She dreams of meeting
Queen Elizabeth one day and has invited her to visit twice,' explains
Lafforgue. Queen Meekulu adds: 'Anyone can enter my palace. The Queen of
England should come here to take lessons from our traditions.'
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