...------------------------------------------------- Kenya History Then and Now Early Kenya history evidence shows that man's prehistoric ancestors roamed Kenya as early as four million years ago. The modern history of Kenya, however, did not start until the Cushitic people of Northern Africa moved into present day Kenya around 2000 BC. Thousands of years later, at around 200 AD, the Bantu arrived and settled along Kenya's coast. Later, between the 10th-14th centuries, the Nilotic people arrived and occupied the Great Rift Valley plains. Arab traders began frequenting Kenya's coast during the first century AD. By 700 AD, Arab settlements had sprouted along the coastline, giving way to inter-marriages between the Arabs and the Bantu. This formed the beginning of the Swahili culture and language found in Kenya today. Arab dominance ended in 1498, when the Portuguese arrived and settled along Kenya's coast. It was during their stay that the Portuguese built the famous Fort Jesus in Mombasa in 1593. The Portuguese retained control of much of the coast until the late 1600s when the Imam of Oman defeated them and brought Kenya's coast under Islamic control. Kenya Colonial History The colonial history of Kenya starts with the Berlin Conference of 1885 when European nations divided Africa among themselves. In 1894, the British government declared the East African Protectorate over Kenya and Uganda and, in 1920, the protectorate became a colony. The Kenya historical events timeline below highlights key events of the colonial...
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...from a strong sense of identity. The novel My Maasai Life is about Robin Wiszowaty, a typical teenage girl from the suburbs of Chicago who embarks on a journey to Kenya to find her true self. Robin was dissatisfied with her life from a very young age, even though she grew up with access to malls and technology, she always felt as if something was missing. In search for excitement and thrill Robin travels to Kenya hoping maybe this journey can help her find her inner self. Robin asks her self the same question through out the book “ Who am I?” and during her quest to seek answers for the question that has been pestering...
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...Passage In “The Initiation of Maasai Warrior” Tepilit Ole Saitoti tells everyone her life for the massai is a series of conquest and tests involving the endurance of pain, which consist of cutting the front skin of the penis representing his responsibility and a big change from childhood to adulthood. When people read the story “The Initiation of Maasai Warrior” they start to notice how painful the rites of passage transformation between childhood to adulthood is for the Maasai people, another common culture has the similar believes is the Americans concerning the rites of passage which Naomi Wolfs explains in her story “Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle Towards Womanhood.” In both the Maasai and American cultures, both men and women go through rites of passage in order to learn responsibility and respect for family needs. When it comes to honoring your family’s name you’ll do anything to make them proud. In “The Initiation of Maasai Warrior” Tepilit Ole Saitoti tell “Ours has always been a proud family, and we would like to keep it that way. We will not tolerate unnecessary embarrassment, so you had better be ready. If you are not, tell us now so that we will not proceed.”(1) The key words in this quotation are “Tolerate” and “unnecessary” Webster’s new dictionary defines “tolerate” as the exixting presence, practice or act of without prohibition or hindrance and “unnecessary” as essential, needless. The children of Maasai must do what is needed...
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...Name Professor Title Date The Masai People of Kenya and Tanzania The Masai people commonly written Maasai make up one of the numerous varied African tribes inhabiting most of northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. In Kenya, they are located in three counties, specifically Samburu, Kajiado, and Narok. Smaller groups like the Njemps (Ilchamus) reside around Laikipia District and Lake Baringo. In Tanzania, the huge population inhabits Kiteto, Monduli, Ngorongoro, kilimanjaro and Longido. The Maasai (or Maa) natives are pastoralists fall under the plain Nilotes ethnic group. Even though the ethnic group has urbanized in recent times from their nomadic, pastoral, and warrior ways of life into a more developed people, the traditions that exemplify their culture and their everyday lives stay virtually unchanged. This paper provides an overview of the Maasai identity, culture, as well as their political and social structure as it is associated with a typical Maasai culture. 1. Language and dialects There are various Maasai subdivisions found in their dialect, geographical locations, and socio-territorial. The Maasai converse in Maa language. The language has two inner subdivisions; the Ilsampur (Samburu), and Maasai. Maasai people live jointly amid two different kraals types. The enkang is the first type of kraal, which is a place where married people reside with their relations. The enkang is made of approximately thirty to fifty shelters usually huts surrounded by a rounded...
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...Rites of Passage: Female Genitalia Cutting Cultural Anthropology ANT101 Rites of Passage: Female Genitalia Cutting Have you heard of Female Genitalia Cutting or FGC? It is not an unknown practice here in the United States, but laws prevent it from occurring here. In other cultures in other countries Female Genitalia Cutting is being performed to children as young as 5 years old. In Cultures like Maasai in Tanzania and Shendi in Sudan these procedures are being performed on children as young as three. Is this a form of mutilation? Or is it the right thing to do to a child? Growing up in these cultures they are taught that this is the right thing that must be done, to show that they are fertile, to show their fidelity. A tradition that goes back over a hundred years and their “stubbornness” to end tradition keeps this rite of passage going. Female Genitalia Cutting is the cutting of the female external genitalia, there are four forms of female genitalia cutting according to the World Health Organization also known as WHO. Clitoridectomy, excision, infibulation and other which is any harmful procedure done for non-medical reasons such as piercings. All of these procedures are normally done by a person who has no medical training and can cause death or infection to the person it is being practiced on. Clitoridectomy is cutting the clitoris as what the name says, the excision removes the clitoris and labia minora and the most invasive is the infibulation which...
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...Passage In “The Initiation of Maasai Warrior” Tepilit Ole Saitoti tells everyone her life for the massai is a series of conquest and tests involving the endurance of pain, which consist of cutting the front skin of the penis representing his responsibility and a big change from childhood to adulthood. When people read the story “The Initiation of Maasai Warrior” they start to notice how painful the rites of passage transformation between childhood to adulthood is for the Maasai people, another common culture has the similar believes is the Americans concerning the rites of passage which Naomi Wolfs explains in her story “Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle Towards Womanhood.” In both the Maasai and American cultures, both men and women go through rites of passage in order to learn responsibility and respect for family needs. When it comes to honoring your family’s name you’ll do anything to make them proud. In “The Initiation of Maasai Warrior” Tepilit Ole Saitoti tell “Ours has always been a proud family, and we would like to keep it that way. We will not tolerate unnecessary embarrassment, so you had better be ready. If you are not, tell us now so that we will not proceed.”(1) The key words in this quotation are “Tolerate” and “unnecessary” Webster’s new dictionary defines “tolerate” as the exixting presence, practice or act of without prohibition or hindrance and “unnecessary” as essential, needless. The children of Maasai must do what is needed for...
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...polytheism, and patriarchy. One such culture that followed these were the nine Ibo-speaking villages of Umuofia. Umuofia is the village in which Okonkwo, prospers in everything to secure his manly post in the tribe. The role of each family member in Umuofia is much defined. The men are overly intimidating. The women and children are treated defectively and often abused. Life in Umuofia is very different from life in Kenya before colonial times. Before the arrival of the Europeans, there was a dominant tribe called the Maasai. Like Umuofia, the Maasai’s were feared by other tribes because they had a fierce reputation, engaging in frequent raids against their neighbors, that gave them power beyond the number of warriors. But the Maasai were quite different from Umuofia. The Umuofia people did not engage in frequent attacks against their neighbors. They made the opponents choose whether they wanted to go to war or present them with a young man and a virgin woman to spare their village from devastation. The Maasai also had some beliefs similar to Umuofia. They had a god called Enkai who they believed gave them all the cattle in the world. For the Umuofia people it was different but on a small-scale level. They had a god called Chukwu, who is their only God and all the others are false. He made the whole world and the other gods. He made the other gods so that they could do work for him, for he had too many responsibilities. The Maasai god Enkai, had messengers to help him...
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...Question Bank in Social Science (History) Class-IX (Term-II) 5 PASTORALISTS IN THE MODERN WORLD CONCEPTS NOMADISM AS A WAY OF LIFE The Mountain Nomads The Gujjar Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir — They are pastoral nomads who move in groups called ‘Kafila’. Their movements are governed by the cold and snow. In winters when the high mountains are covered with snow these Gujjars move down to the low hills of the Sivalik range. On the onset of summer, when the snow melts and the mountains become lush and green, these pastoralists move back to the mountains. The Gaddi Shepherds of Himachal Pradesh have a similar cycle of movement. They also spend the winter on the low Sivalik hills and the summers in Lahul and Spiti. The Gujjar cattle herders of Kumaon and Garhwal spend their summers in the ‘bugyals’ and their winters in the ‘bhabar’. The Bhotias, Sherpas and Kinnauri follow the cyclic movement which helps them to adjust to seasonal changes and make best use of pastures. On the plateaus, plains and deserts — The Dhangars of Maharashtra : The Dhangars stay in the central plateau of Maharashtra during the monsoon. This is a semi-arid region. By October they begin their movement towards Konkan. Here their cattle help to manure the fields and hence they are welcomed by the Konkani peasant. As soon as the monsoon sets in, they retreat back to the semi-arid land of Maharashtra. The Gollas who herd cattle and the Kurumas and Kurubas who reared sheep and goat are ...
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...A couple of us would wake up early, work out, and watch the sunrise. It was truly a magical experience. During the day we would spend a few hours learning Swahili and the history, culture and economy of the Tanzanian people. Every other day we would study engineering topics like mass and energy flow through systems, with the end goal of designing a stove for an indigenousness ethnic population known as the Maasai. After the first two weeks we drove fourteen hours to northern Tanzania near Mt. Kilimanjaro. There the studies continued, but we also got to go on Safaris in Ngorongoro Crater. In one day, we saw wild elephants, lions, buffalo, hippopotami and a lot more. One of the locations we stayed at was in a wildlife reserve and multiple times we had elephants cruising through our campground. It was startling, especially at night, but definitely an...
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...The story ”They Sold My Sister” is written by Leteipa Ole Sunkuli in 1989. The text includes subjects as forced marriages, growing up in a society with powerful men and helpless young girls. The fear of being sold to wealthy unknown men was very common. The way the suitors bought them, was not that difficult. The men’s appearance was not important for the parents. They just wanted money and gifts for their daughters. “They Sold My Sister” is a very good example on how girls, in the Maasai tribe, had been forced into marriage. “They Sold My Sister” is a story which takes place in Kenya in the period of 1970’s. Naliki is 12 years old and the narrator of the story. She describes the action which happens in the Maasai tribe. Through the entire story, we will follow Naliki’s feelings and conversations between the parents. She is described to be afraid, sensitive and unhappy (p. 17 line 2). Two years ago when Naliki was 10 years old, her parents sold her sister, Nyamalo, to a wealthy ugly man who owned a large flock of sheep. The mother is violent. The family lives together in a poor society in Kenya where many farmers and nomads lives. A patriarchal- traditional society. Naliki said the word, “sold” to refer her sister’s marriage, but her mother did not like it and beat Naliki and said that, “dowry” was a kinder and more civilised word (p. 13 line 21). Even if the girls are willing to rebel against the marriage, they are unfortunately helpless, but the close bond between the sisters...
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...“They Sold My Sister” is written by Leteipa Ole Sunkuli, and was published in Kenya 1989. The story is dealing with problems like growing up and having your own opinion, being trapped in your family culture, traditions and religion. The story takes place in Kenya probably around the 1970’s-80. The events take place in a Maasai tribe, by that we can tell that the story takes action in Kenya because Maasai tribe is in Kenya. The “sister” in the story, Nyamlo, goes to secondary school, which indicates that we are in a newer time – about the time that the story was published, around 1970’s-80, perhaps. The action we are told lasts for two years. Flashbacks are the first thing we meet in the text. Then on page 16, line 12 we get into the present. The narration is a first person narrator and she is very subjective, that causes that she is the character, we follow through the entire story. Her name is Naliki she is 12 years old. She, as a character, is very afraid, forsaken and unhappy. Her sister Nyamalo was “sold” when Naliki was ten years old, trough the whole story, we get to know Naliki and her thoughts, she know what is wrong and what is right. In the end of the story she realizes, that now, when she is 12, it is her turn to get married. She is very sensitive about it and scared about the thought of getting married, because she have already seen her sister go trough it, but at the same time she shows curiosity, when she is eavesdropping at times, she is...
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...They Sold My Sister “They Sold My Sister” is written by Leteipa Ole Sunkuli, and was published in Kenya 1989. The story is dealing with problems like growing up and having your own opinion, being trapped in your family culture, traditions and religion. The story takes place in Kenya probably around the 1970’s-80. The events take place in a Maasai tribe, by that we can tell that the story takes action in Kenya because Maasai tribe is in Kenya. The “sister” in the story, Nyamlo, goes to secondary school, which indicates that we are in a newer time – about the time that the story was published, around 1970’s-80, perhaps. The action we are told lasts for two years. Flashbacks are the first thing we meet in the text. Then on page 16, line 12 we get into the present. The narration is a first person narrator and she is very subjective, that causes that she is the character, we follow through the entire story. Her name is Naliki she is 12 years old. She, as a character, is very afraid, forsaken and unhappy. Her sister Nyamalo was “sold” when Naliki was ten years old, trough the whole story, we get to know Naliki and her thoughts, she know what is wrong and what is right. In the end of the story she realizes, that now, when she is 12, it is her turn to get married. She is very sensitive about it and scared about the thought of getting married, because she have already seen her sister go trough it, but at the same time she shows curiosity, when she is eavesdropping...
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...ST PAULS UNIVERSITY LIMURU CAMPUS REGULAR PROGRAM FACULTY OF BUSSINES AND COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE UCC 102; ACADEMIC WRITING EARLY MARRIAGES IN MAASAI LAND ADM NO; BOBIT/LMR/1575/16 LECTURER; DR. J. NDAVULA DATE; DECEMBER 1,2015 Abstract Reasons for early marriages The main reasons girls are forced to marry early are for the parents to acquire wealth and to be respected in the community (Ondiwo, 2002). Within the Maasai community the male spouses are likely to be a few years older than the girls; some may be more than twice their age, and most of them are wealthy. Parents who make such marital choices look upon marriage as an economic arrangement. Within the Kuria community the tradition is practiced because of interests in acquiring wealth. There are rampant cattle rustling incidences in the area because of poverty. Some parents find it safe to marry off their daughters to compensate for their stolen herd since early marriages are done in exchange for livestock The poverty stricken families also see early marriage as a way to take off their shoulders the responsibility of bringing up girls (Hinshelwood, 2001; Jens, 2003; UNICEF, 2000; UNICEF, 2002). In the event that the parents of the girl child have been given some money or material wealth and the girl has refused to join her husband to be, men from her husband’s side will abduct her. During abduction, the girl will be beaten to make her submissive. If she cries out aloud, her...
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...depending on the types of violence. Traditional attitudes towards women around the world help perpetuate the violence. Stereotypical roles in which women are seen as subordinate to men constrain a woman’s ability to exercise choices that would enable her end the abuse. Culture has been cited as the leading cause of violence against women. Some men it seems still subscribe to outdated traditions for example battering a woman is seen as a way of discipline and is acceptable. Some of the examples of cultural based violence include: • Child Marriage – the early marriage of girls is an accepted part of many economic and social systems. Child marriage has been described as ‘the socially legitimized institutionalization of marital rape or in other words the rape of young girls. It is the practice of marrying very young girls to older men. An example is in the Maasai community which allows older men to marry young girls. Young girls are considered as trophies or source of richness to their families. • Female genital mutilation - is a traditional practice that involves cutting or altering the female genitalia as a rite of passage or for other socio-cultural reasons. This is commonly practiced among the Maasai community up to date and it is considered as a rite of passage. It was also practiced among the Kisii community but it is not rampant though practiced secretly. Financial insecurity has also been said to be a factor of gender based violence in Kenya. The role of a man has...
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...Rites of Passage Your Name ANT 101 Instructor's Name Date In times we see many different cultures that evolved around the earth and throughout time as well. This paper will examine Native Americans, Greek and the Japanese rites of passage. Ceremonies that mark important transitional periods in a person's life, such as birth, puberty, marriage, having children, and death. Rites of passage usually involve ritual activities and teachings designed to strip individuals of their original roles and prepare them for new roles. The traditional American wedding ceremony is such a rite of passage. In many so-called primitive societies, some of the most complex rites of passage occur at puberty, when boys and girls are initiated into the adult world. In some ceremonies, the initiates are removed from their village and may undergo physical mutilation before returning as adults (Rites of passage,(n.d.). Rites of Passage have been a path of life throughout time and space. Anthropologists have found many differences between cultures but also many similatries. Rites of passage from boy to man or girl to woman are different in some and strange in others. The Native Americans and the Greeks were not the same as the Japanese, but yet believed in some of the same old blood ways. Rites are not taught but learned throughout one’s lifetime. Native Americans had a volatile version of passage. In the earlier years, the Native American boys would play as boys. They would follow fathers and...
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