Olukonda National Monument

Olukonda National Monument

                                          
In the beautiful plains of Olukonda village, amidst Makalani palms, Thorn Trees and Mahangu fields, is the Olukonda National Monument. It is one of the most famous places in our area.

The way to Olukonda National Monument

The Monument is situated in Olukonda Village, 5 km south of Ondangwa. It can be reached by taking the tarred road from Tsumeb (245 km) and 8 km before Ondangwa. At Onethindi, find Olukonda T-junction, drive to the south taking Olukonda - Oshipala - uulunga wakolondo tarred road and the monument is just 5 km from there.

Olukonda was one of the first Finnish mission stations in Ovamboland and was founded in 1871. From 1880, it was the home of the pioneering Finnish missionary, Rev. Martti Rautanen (Nakambale) until his death in 1926 according to the Olukonda National Monument information brochure. This makes Rev. Martti Rautanen, whose nickname was "Nakambale” an important person in the history of Olukonda National Monument. In the premises, his family pictures can be seen.

In 1889, Rev. Martti Rautanen erected the first church building of Northern Namibia at Olukonda. A mission house was built four years later in 1893 and both of the two buildings still exist. 

first church building

mission house

In 1992, the Government of the Republic of Namibia proclaimed the two buildings National Monuments of Namibia (Banker, T. et al. 2015: Plantinum social studies grade 4: Learners book, Pearson Education, Windhoek, Namibia).

One of the Olukonda National Monument infrastructures is The Nakambale Museum. Nakambale Museum is named after Rev. Martti Rautanen (Nakambale), the Finnish missionary. The Nakambale Museum was opened on the premises of the National Monument in May 1995 and became a member of the Museums Association of Namibia (Olukonda National Monument information brochure).

Nakambale museum

The Museum is situated in the former missionary house and mainly displays items from the Finnish missionary station, but also some artifacts of the Ovambo culture. When you enter it, you should be welcomed by the display of musical instruments, traditional baskets, palm leaves, traditional hats, old sewing machines, ornaments, animal skins, clay pots, bows, and arrows. These exhibits inform one about old missionary architecture, the Rautanen family, Ovambo culture, the development of the church, everyday missionary life, traditional music instruments, decorations, toys, household utensils, livelihoods, the political history of Ovamboland, and the kings of the North. 

A very special part of the Museum is the full-size traditional Ndonga homestead. The monument is in Ondonga and therefore, hosts a complete homestead of the Ndonga, one of the language groups of the Ovambo culture. This is another significant infrastructure in the monument.

The homestead is built with wooden sticks and consists of different thatched huts of Ondonga culture.

Most of the huts are given names such as pounding hut, gathering hut, boys hut, storage hut, dairyhut and sleeping hut. In the homestead, you can enjoy Oshiwambo traditional food such as ‘ondjuhwa’ (oshiwambo chicken) ‘oshimbombo’ (mahangu porridge) ‘ekaka’ (wild spinach) ‘oshigali’ (white beans soup), prepared in the traditional ways. You can also be treated with ontaku (oshiwambo traditional home drink) and ‘omalovu giilya’ (oshiwambo tradition homebrew). Apart from that, in the homestead, you have an opportunity to see examples of Oshiwambo domestic activities.

Oshimbombo and Ondjuhwa

According to Ms. Magdalena Iitula, one of the tour guides at the monument, “the exhibits inform people about old missionary architecture, the Rautanen family, the history of Olukonda, and the development of the church. This makes Olukonda monument a place absolutely worth seeing for a visitor interested to learn more about Namibian history and indigenous culture and customs.

One more interesting thing in the surroundings of the monument next to the first church building is Nakambale ox-wagon.

Nakambale ox-wagon

Nakambale ox-wagon is a very big ox-wagon that Nakambale used and it is placed under a thatched roof for the visitors.

According to Ms. Itula, the local cemetery near the Nakambale’s first church is also important in the history of Olukonda and that of Finish Missionary because is where Nakambale and his family are buried as well as many kings of the Kingdom of Ondonga.   

 Old Olukonda local cemetery.

Current Olukonda church building

Opposite the monument to the west is our modern church building of Olukonda parish that we currently use as a congregation. The Olukonda Health Clinic is also close to the monument at the west next to the parish church building, while Olukonda Primary and Senior Secondary Schools are 1km far west of the monument. This indicates that the monument is close to the most important meeting points of the Olukonda people.

Olukonda National Monument is an important place in Olukonda. It is being taken care of by four local people, who work as tour guides. They also have a great responsibility to keep the monument premises clean. The monument is open Monday to Saturday for visitors.

The Monument is an interesting place at Olukonda.