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| Title |
Hundred Years of Conserving Tradition (Centenarian) |
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| Abstract |
Sometime in May 2015, we were returning from a demonstration in a village in Lower Eastern Kenya. There was a copy of the Honey Bee in the car which one of our partners picked up. The centenarian section piqued his interest and a discussion ensued. A few minutes into the discussion, the driver, Samson, interrupted, ÒMy great grandfather is more than 100 years old. Would you like to meet him?ÓAnd just like that in a few days, we were on our way to Samson’s great grandfather’s manyatta (household)which was in the vast expanse of grasslands just outside Rumuruti Town in the county of Laikipia located about 45 kms from the Thomson falls. The Samburu like the Masai are a seminomadic pastorialist tribe of Nilotic origin. The tribes parted in the 15th century when the Masais moved southwards and the Samburus settled closer to Mount Kenya. Samburus fiercely defend their herds from animals like lions, leopards as well as other tribes. They place a high importance on elders (the moran). Readers may not be able to relate to or agree with many parts of the Samburu lifestyle. However, the article attempts to state the facts as they are in a nonjudgmental way. The Honey Bee Network does not necessarily endorse the practices mentioned in the article. |
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| Details |
Mzee Salonik Tingani Lepere (102) and his first wife Mama Noltoijo Lepere (96) were idly sitting in the shade as we entered the fence of their household. The moran was lying on his mat chewing tobacco in the shade. The tobacco was packed in a bottle placed securely in the huge hole in his earlobe (see picture). Noltoijo is Salonik’s first wife; he has two more wives. Salonik and Noltoijo got married eight decades back. Noltoijo described the typical Samburu marriage tradition during that time. Salonik and Naltoijo knew each other well before their marriage. One day, Salonik asked Noltoijo’s father her hand by agreeing to give him 20 cows. However, the Samburus do not have to wait until you have the required cattle. The groom-to-be gifts a necklace to the girl as a mark to the society that they are together. This is equivalent to the concept of engagement in most societies. In Kenya, the tradition is to give dowry to the bride’s family. Their argument is that since the bride’s family is losing out on a working member they need to be compensated for it. The marriage ceremony is finalised by the slaughter of a big cow. When asked about what was the most enjoyable part of the marriage, Noltoijo replies that childbirths and raising children were the most enjoyable. Salonik has six children with Noltoijo and fifteen in total. He has 34 grand children and 15 great-grandchildren! When asked that if the first wife is comfortable with sharing her husband with other wives, Noltoijo replied that it is a tradition. In fact, the first wife should bring the second wife to the groom and the second brings the third one. Salonik adds that the roles are well defined. On joking asked how do you manage so many wives, he rather sincerely answers that their elders had thought of everything and taken care of things. All wives have separates huts. The husband should visit each wife’s house regularly. He can, however, spend more days with the one who serves him well and cooks well. The Samburu HousesThe manyatta (household) also has a specific plan. The doors of the huts in the Samburu Manyatta either face Mt Kenya in the north or Mt Nyero in the south (Samburu Trust, 2012). The arrangement is such that the first house on the left of the entrance to the manyatta belongs to the first wife. The first one on the right belongs to the second wife and so on. Besides the huts there are small huts for keeping cattle. The housing has a typical construction. A typical Samburu nkaji (house) is made a round structure. The walls are made of wood branches on which a mixture of cowdung and mud is spread. The roof is mostly of this mixture but serves them well even throughout the rains. Some minor leaks are often fixed with reapplication of the cowdung. The manyatta (the household area) is fenced with wooden branches. One mark of beauty in the Samburus is the size of ear piercing. Therefore, often men and women try to increase the width of the piercing. Loss of medicinal plants and change in climate and lifestyleThe couple rues that the urbanization is changing many things. Some of the elements of their culture are eroding. They often used olkiloriti [Acacia nilotica ssp. (L.) Willd. ex Del.] and seketet [Mysrine Africana L.] for treating stomach ache. They also often used olerai [Faidherbia albida(Delile) A.Chev.] for treating flu. Noltoijo claimed that these are not visible in their village any more. (They were seen in the region but probably were not in abundance.) She claimed another common plant called mokotan [Albizia anthelmintica Brong.] was not as abundant any more. They had not witnessed drought until a few years back. The health of people and animals was good. Salonik claims he remembers he could walk like 85 kilometers in a day. The used the above mentioned plants and many other herbs for treatment. Often witch doctors were called to treat people. Food habitsOn asked about what contributed to their good health. The couple and the relatives gathered around them unanimously answered cow milk. The Samburus make a slice next to the udder or often mix slaughtered cow’s blood with milk. This they claimed leads them to have a disease free life. Meat is a major part of their diet. Salonik said that in the old days, there was clear distinction in the diet of male and females. The males ate the ribs while the females ate livers, intestine and limbs. In Salonik’s time, they often avoided contact of metal and meat. Often they used wood or bone to cut the meat. On asking why, neither could substantiate more on the reason saying it was just a tradition. Salonik claimed the first time he went to the hospital was last year when he was 101 years old!Face-off with lions In the old times there was often a face-off with the lions. Normally, the lions and humans would leave each other alone. But the lions sometimes attacked their cattle. The Samburus defend their cattle aggressively resulting in clashes. Salonik claimed to have killed three lions with his spear. But he cedes that on some occasions it was to impress the girls in his villages. He explained that the Samburus have a technique to kill a lion. When a lion attacks, it pounces on the human being resulting in a big jump. He said, they normally allow the lion to come between seven to four feet and allow it to jump and then impale the lion with their spear amid its jump.Looking aheadSalonik is content with his life. He was quiet most of the time. He then interrupted the conversation with Noltoijo to say that he worked for sometime on a large farm of a German man. He would keep an eye on the other farmers and make sure everybody was working. He added with some sense of pride that he has seen many Americans, mzungus (people of European descent) and muhindis (people of Indian descent). Then Noltoijo continued that she was saying she wanted to make this house bigger so that her great-grandchildren and other young Samburus would come there and see their original culture. She then went quiet. The relatives then suggested that she needs to take rest. [Scout: Chintan Shinde andSamson Kernui] |
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee (26)2 10-11, 2015 |
