africa is a continent full of beauty its beauty can be seen through its places and its people
welcome to the amazing people of africa series where we take
a look at some of the indigenous people of africa we'll be looking at their lifestyle
culture and getting to learn about life through their knowledge and experiences
before we start please take the time to subscribe and hit the notification bell
today we take a look at the udabe people the Wodaabe are a nomadic group who
migrate through the sahel from northern cameroon to chad and northeast nigeria
abu dhabi are a pastoralist community which means their main economic activity is cattle harding
the community divide themselves into 15 lineage groups and membership is based on bloodlines
unlike the other indigenous people in the area who mainly practice islam they believe in animism if
you don't know what animism is it is a belief that objects places and creatures all possess
a spiritual aspect they also worship physical beauty not a superficial decoration but as an
intrinsic part of their culture which must be glorified and paraded for the enjoyment of others
from the outside some of their practices may seem vain but they have a deeper meaning to them
water is so scarce that the Wodaabe be spend months following the rains across the sahara
but when the rain season comes they all come together to celebrate
at this time arranged marriages also happen the celebrations may run for a week or even longer
beauty plays a major role during this festive season especially for the men
they spend a whole day applying elaborate makeup which they make from red
chalk animal bones and some even use battery acid to paint their lips black once they have their
makeup done they dress extravagantly in bright colored beads and feathers sometimes they even
adorn their clothes with recycled whistles lighters and sunglasses they perform a teeth
gnashing eye rolling dance in front of the women in hopes of being judged the most beautiful man
would have women look for tallness white eyes and teeth a slim nose and a symmetrical face
i might say that the Wodaabe might be the only african culture that allowed
girls to take the lead in choosing their betrothed
even married Wodaabe be women have the right to take a different man as a sexual partner
unfortunately the Wodaabe are one of the last nomadic people in the area
an estimate suggests that this could be less than one hundred thousand
decades of drought have depleted their hearts and their traditional grazing roots are being
cultivated into farmland squeezing the wadabe into smaller groups and more marginal areas
i'm interested in hearing your thoughts about this video what do you feel about men putting on makeup
also what are your thoughts about these beautiful people would you love to visit them and learn more
of their culture let us know in the comments below also let us know of any other indigenous people
you'd like us to cover thank you for watching and if you haven't subscribed already please do
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also make sure to watch our other videos which celebrate our mama africa
it's been me linda from 2natravel be sure to check out my youtube channel
until the next video stay safe and i'll see you then did you like today's video please
feel free to leave your suggestions news tips or topics about africa you'd like us to cover