The Ndau proclaimed their identity with cultural materials that were important to themselves and visible to others. They adorned their bodies and living spaces in a manner that signaled social and ethnic boundaries and accentuated gender and status distinctions. By marking their own appearances as Ndau, they presented a group identity to outsiders they encountered. Recognizable aspects of Ndau culture such as body art and ear piercing, as well as details of Ndau tastes in dress, jewelry, pottery, and houses, caught the attention of Europeans, who recorded various intricacies of Ndau culture to leave a rich written record of how the Ndau kept up appearances and maintained standards of beauty.

Body art was one important way to link people together as insiders and set them apart from others not in the social group. Tattoos, called pika, and scarification, known as nyora, were two observable expressions of female beauty and attractiveness. Over several centuries, Ndau women shaped connections by sharing a body language of decorative markings, chains of beads, and metal jewelry such as anklets, bracelets, and earrings. Performing identity with the body allowed the Ndau to shape, and indeed inscribe, a sense of being Ndau in both personal and communal ways.