Turkana woman.
Turkana tribe is the second largest pastoral community in Kenya. This nomadic community moved to Kenya from Karamojong in eastern Uganda. The Turkana tribe occupies the semi Desert Turkana District in the Rift valley province of Kenya. Like the Masai and tribes, Turkana people keeps herds of cattle, goats and camel . Livestock is a very important part of the Turkana people. Their animals are the main source of income and food. However, recurring drought in Turkana district adversely affect the nomadic livelihood.
Like the Masai and Samburu, the Turkana people are very colorful. Turkana people adorn themselves with colorful necklace and bracelets. Their decorations are made of red, yellow and brown colored beads. Cattle's rustling is common in Turkana district and round its border with Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia. Tribes inhabiting this area are often involved in tribal fights for livestock and water. Cattle's rustling has been a common phenomenon for many decades and appears to be a sort of cultural game for the nomadic communities living in parts of the Rift valley and its surroundings. With the proliferation of small arms, cattle's rustling has become more dangerous and the Kenyan government has intervened in solving the problem.
With a population population of about 250,000 people, the Nilotic language speaking Turkana people have successfully maintained their tradition compared to other tribes in Kenya. Turkana men cover their head with mud, which is then painted blue and decorated with ostrich and other feathers. The main garment for the Turkana people is a woolen blanket. The type of attire worn by a woman is determined by her marital status. Body tattooing was traditionally used to indicate achievement in the community. Men or warriors who killed enemies were tattooed to indicate what they have done for the community. Most of people in Turkana tribe adhere to traditional beliefs while 5 to 15% are Christians.
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Rendille warrior.
Living in the harsh regions of the Kaisut Desert, the Rendille tribe is a nomad and pastoralist group. They are really only semi-nomadic and tend to only move 2 or 3 times each year. The Rendille are member of the Cushitic family of tribes. The Rendille are closely aligned with the Samburu and have often adopted much of their language as well. Many years of drought have made life difficult if not impossible for traditional Rendille people, meaning many of them have had to leave their nomadic patterns behind and settle more permanently in various towns and aid depots. The town of Korr is one of the largest towns made up mainly of the Rendille.
Their original home was farther north, in Ethiopia and Somalia. It's likely that both the Rendille tribe and the Somali tribe have common ancestors. Oromo-speaking tribes of Ethiopia drove them out, and forced their migration southward into Kenya. The colonial occupation of Kenya had little or no effect on the Rendille people, since their lands are very harsh and not desired at all by the Europeans.
Unlike some other pastoral tribes, the Rendille tribe tend to favour camels for their herds rather than cattle. Likely because their lands are very dry and the camel is simply better suited to the environment. They are milked just like cows, providing the staple of the Rendille diet. This is particularly the case for northern Rendille, whereas the southern groups are more similar to the Samburu and keep cows because the environment is less dry. Their settlements are quite large, which is different from other nomadic tribes that live in separate extended family groups. An entire clan might live together, with a population of many hundreds. The tribal movements are not random, but follow a specific pattern to allow access to for all clans to the water sources and pasturing areas. It is a very fair system of land management.
Men are responsible for caring for the large herds of animals, as well as protecting them from predators and other tribes. All the household and childcare duties fall on the women of the tribe. It is the unmarried men who are required to travel the furthest from the camps with the herds. Age-sets are the main component of Rendille society. Initiation rituals take place precisely every 7 or 14 years, creating a series of generational age-sets, each with its own role in society. In the common Kenyan practice, the first initiation is circumcision. Men have many stages of warrior-hood, but women are simply married or unmarried. Marriages are usually arranged by parents, since it is not permitted to marry within one's own clan and contact with other clans is minimal for younger people. A bride price in livestock is always part of the negotiations.
Because men cannot marry until they have completed their warrior phase, there is usually a sizable age difference between man and his wife. It's fairly common for a 30-year old man to marry a girl only 14 or 15 years old.
Many tribes in Kenya have given up their old beliefs in the face of oncoming Christianity, but the Rendille tribe have not. The Rendille god is called Wakh, or Ngai. The fortune-tellers of the village cast stone or bones to predict the future, and to perform sacrifices for rain.
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Gabbra girl in the Chalbi desert.
The Gabbra live in the Chalbi desert of northern Kenya, between Lake Turkana and Moyale and Marsabit, extending into the Bula Dera plain east of the Moyale-Marsabit road, and the Mega escarpment in southern Ethiopia. hey share portions of this area with the Borana, Rendille, Samburu, Daasanech and Turkana. They still roam with their herds across the border.
The Gabbra are an Eastern Cushite people related to the Somali-Rendille in their historical origins in the southern Ethiopian highlands about AD 1000. The Miigo sub-tribe came more recently from the Garre group of he Somali people. The Gabbra are closely related both historically and culturally with the Sakuye people. They have exchanged their original language for the Oromo language of the Borana. Various accounts place the Gabbra primarily in Ethiopia prior to the colonial era. Before settling in Kenya, the Gabbra tended to migrate between Kenya and Ethiopia in search of pastures. They moved into Kenya as refugees fleeing from Ethiopian Emperor Menelik's armies in Ethiopia in the late 1800s.
The Gabbra first settled just south of the Ethiopian border. However, recurrent attacks from the Ethiopian soldiers and the Daasanach led to their relocation to near the Huri hills area farther south of the border. To ease tribal clashes between the Gabbra, Turkana and Rendille, the British government set up administrative boundaries. The government gave them escorts by camel-riding police for some time to ensure their security. Pasture land was proportionately restricted in some areas. Even with these steps, there were times when the administration had to move large groups of the Gabbra into areas like the Mt. Kulal region and the Northwest corner of Marsabit District because of overgrazing of the land.
The Gabbra are generally thought to be very good looking people, the men wearing traditional shorts and a blanket-cloak and the women wearing a wrap-around and a head cloth. Their traditions have a close relationship to those of the Israelite people as recorded in Genesis and Exodus. Relationships and family ties are very strong. Being Gabbra is important and anyone who gives up his Gabbra customary traditions is looked down upon. Through religious and cultural ties, intermarriage and alliances, the Gabbra have become part of the Borana peoples in the last 200 years. The Borana herd cattle while the Gabbra are attached to camels, though they also have cattle.
The Gabbra speak the Borana language, an Oromo language in the Eastern Cushite family, having gradually lost their Rendille-related language, which was in the Somali branch of the Eastern Cushite family.
The Gabbra culture is entwined with their care of camels. They are still primarily pastoralists although some have found work as night watchmen, or in the army or police or in reforestation or water projects. They share the Oromo clan identities with their Borana neighbors, but retain older Somali-Rendille identities. This yields a complicated pattern of clans and "moieties". There is a complicated Oromo generational system called "gada" which includes all people born with successive 7-year periods. But all the sons of one man are in one generation set, and it is common for a ruling generation to actually "keep the turban" for more than 7 years. Each Gabbra clan is attached to a Borana qallu, a holy man. The five sections of the Gabbra are the Algana (related to qallu of the Sabho Borana), the Gona, the Gara, the Galbo and the Odol. The Gara, Galbo and Odol are attached to the qallu of the Gona. Polygamy is accepted but rare. The family is the foundation of society. The Gabbra make round houses of bent pole frames covered with skins and grass mats. Up to 25 houses make up an olla (village) of up to 75 people. Ten to 15 families in a village is common. The packing and unpacking of the house at moving time is done by women. The men care for the animals. One elder is appointed as abba-alla (father of the village) and is obeyed because of his personal competence, respected by those who democratically chose him. An assembly of elders settles disputes and makes decisions related to community life, new grazing areas and celebrations. Animals belong to the head of each family, but no individual can own land--it belongs to the whole tribe. All have access to water wells. The Gabbra goat is known for hardiness and tenderness, a feat in the rough areas where they live. Their basic diet was milk and meat. But because of the decimation of their herds due to repeated droughts, they now include tea, ugali, beans and oil. Milk is drunk fresh or curdled. The Gabbra do not mix milk with blood as do some other herding nomads. They use tobacco with soda as snuff. The Gabbra mostly follow the traditional religion and heritage of their ancestors. Gabbra religious beliefs are inseparably linked to their herds. Animals are more than food: they are needed for sacrifice to ensure fertility, health and cooperation from spirits. The Muslim influence is stronger in some areas than others. They traditionally believe in one God, whom they call Waka. They recognize the Oromo institution of the qallu, the seer or holy men, from the Sabho group of the Borana. Another qallu, from the Gona group of Gabbra, is also recognized. The religious attachment maintains peace with the Borana and others following the qallu system.
The lifestyle of the Gabbra has limited contact with Christian influences. The Gabbra have come into contact with the gospel in towns, but there has been little concerted effort specifically targeting the Gabbra.
See also:
www.flickriver.com/photos/waltercallens/random/
www.flickr.com/photos/waltercallens/favorites/
english.cohga.net/flickr/user/74089637@N00_1.html
www.fluidr.com/photos/waltercallens/sets
www.lurvely.com/index.php?owner=74089637@N00
Tags: kenia africa tribal tribe tribes people travel photo image woman girl african gabbra chalbi kalasha xc
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Old Turkana woman.
Turkana tribe is the second largest pastoral community in Kenya. This nomadic community moved to Kenya from Karamojong in eastern Uganda. The Turkana tribe occupies the semi Desert Turkana District in the Rift valley province of Kenya. Like the Masai and tribes, Turkana people keeps herds of cattle, goats and camel . Livestock is a very important part of the Turkana people. Their animals are the main source of income and food. However, recurring drought in Turkana district adversely affect the nomadic livelihood.
Like the Masai and Samburu, the Turkana people are very colorful. Turkana people adorn themselves with colorful necklace and bracelets. Their decorations are made of red, yellow and brown colored beads. Cattle's rustling is common in Turkana district and round its border with Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia. Tribes inhabiting this area are often involved in tribal fights for livestock and water. Cattle's rustling has been a common phenomenon for many decades and appears to be a sort of cultural game for the nomadic communities living in parts of the Rift valley and its surroundings. With the proliferation of small arms, cattle's rustling has become more dangerous and the Kenyan government has intervened in solving the problem.
With a population population of about 250,000 people, the Nilotic language speaking Turkana people have successfully maintained their tradition compared to other tribes in Kenya. Turkana men cover their head with mud, which is then painted blue and decorated with ostrich and other feathers. The main garment for the Turkana people is a woolen blanket. The type of attire worn by a woman is determined by her marital status. Body tattooing was traditionally used to indicate achievement in the community. Men or warriors who killed enemies were tattooed to indicate what they have done for the community. Most of people in Turkana tribe adhere to traditional beliefs while 5 to 15% are Christians.
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The Samburu women welcome you.
The Samburu are related to the Masai although they live just above the equator where the foothills of Mount Kenya merge into the northern desert and slightly south of Lake Turkana in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya.
They are semi-nomadic pastoralists whose lives revolve around their cows, sheep, goats, and camels. Milk is their main stay; sometimes it is mixed with blood. Meat is only eaten on special occasions. Generally they make soups from roots and barks and eat vegetables if living in an area where they can be grown.
Most dress in very traditional clothing of bright red material used like a skirt and multi-beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings, especially when living away from the big cities.
The Samburu developed from one of the later Nilotic migrations from the Sudan, as part of the Plains Nilotic movement. The broader grouping of the Maa-speaking people continued moving south, possibly under the pressure of the Borana expansion into their plains. Maa-speaking peoples have lived and fought from Mt. Elgon to Malindi and down the Rift Valley into Tanzania. The Samburu are in an early settlement area of the Maa group.
Those who moved on south, however (called Masai), have retained a more purely nomadic lifestyle until recently when they have also begun farming. The expanding Turkana ran into the Samburu around 1700 when they began expanding north and east.
The language of the Samburu people is also called Samburu. It is a Maa language very close to the Masai dialects. Linguists have debated the distinction between the Samburu and Masai languages for decades.
Generally between five and ten families set up encampments for five weeks and then move on to new pastures. Adult men care for the grazing cattle which are the major source of livelihood. Women are in charge of maintaining the portable huts, milking cows, obtaining water and gathering firewood. Their houses are of plastered mud or hides and grass mats stretched over a frame of poles. A fence of thorns surrounds each family's cattle yard and huts.
Their society has for long been so organized around cattle and warfare (for defense and for raiding others) that they find it hard to change to a more limited lifestyle. The purported benefits of modern life are often undesirable to the Samburu. They remain much more traditional in life and attitude than their Masai cousins.
Duties of boys and girls are clearly delineated. Boys herd cattle and goats and learn to hunt, defending the flocks. Girls fetch water and wood and cook. Both boys and girls go
through an initiation into adulthood, which involves training in adult responsibilities and circumcision for boys and clitoridectomy for girls.
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