Otjize
Otjize is part of Binti’s identity. It represents home and the tradition of Himba, her people. Otjize is a mixture of red clay and fragrant oils derived from the local flowers. When she arrives to the space station to enter the spaceship that will take her to Omza University, the Khoush students frown at her and laugh at her appearance and the red clay on her hair and body, but she walks proudly, knowing the importance of it. When Binti runs out of otjize at the Omza Uni, she feels despair, because it makes her feel even farther from home than before.
Edan
Edan is the old device Binti found in the desert, and she carries in her pocket for good luck. Going through security before boarding the ship, the Khoush worker stops her, questioning her about the device because he can’t detect what it’s made off, which shows just how old it is. Edan turns out to be the only thing that keeps Binti alive after the Meduse attack. It becomes a tool of communication.
Okuoko
Okwu, the first Meduse with whom Binti establishes communication, calls the plates in her hair Okuoko, comparing them to his tentacles. Okuoko is the name for the meduse tentacles, and at the end Binti’s braids are changed transformed to become similar, to represent her connection to the Meduse and the things she’d done for the peace. Okuoko symbolize the change in Binti’s identity.
Bitolus-harmonizers
Binti is a harmonizer, meaning that she comes from a family of people who master the mathematics and know how to control and harmonize the systems, predict the best outcomes for the future. It is what gives her the opportunity to attend the Omza Uni in first place.
“We Bitolus know true deep mathematics and we can control their current, we know systems.”
