Stories From Africa To Celebrate World Cup 2010

It's only 3 days to the FIFA 2010 WORLD CUP from South Africa, but since this is the first ever World Cup on the African continent, I decided to bring you stories from all over Africa. Today I would like to introduce you to our first guest blogger;

Gilbert Sabinga from Nairobi in Kenya!

Gilbert will bring you stories about his tribe "The Samburu" &  and their culture in a 4 part series over the next month.

Below is his first post from Kenya!

    Samburu Background 

The name ‘Samburu’ is also of Maasai origin, ‘Samburr’, being the traditional leather bag specific to the tribe that they use for carrying meat and honey. Samburu are a proud warrior-race of cattle-owning pastoralists. The Samburu are closely related to the Maasai. Like the Maasai, they live in the central Rift Valley area of Kenya, where the climate is semi-arid. They are semi nomadic and belong to the Maa (Nilotic) speaking group of people. Their livelihood depends upon the cattle, sheep and goats they raise. They use their milk more than meat, often drinking milk mixed with cow's blood. Like their neighbors, they have to search for water and grazing land which leads them out from their homes during dry seasons. The Samburu live in huts made of branches, mud, and cow dung. Around it, there is a fence made of thorn bushes, in which the cattle are kept at night. Most Samburu still wear traditional dress. Like the Maasai, women wear colorful beaded necklaces. The number of necklaces is a sign of wealth, often given as dowry. They wear bright clothes, usually red and pink. To protect their eyes from the sun, Samburu warriors often paste their hair with ochre which creates a visor. Samburu are very spiritual people, believing and praying every day to the God called Nkai. Age determines men's social status: each man has to go through various stages before becoming a powerful elder. Circumcision marks the boy’s transition to a young warrior, while girls’ excision is carried out mostly on the day of marriage or before (usually at 16 years old).

 

History

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 Maasai), 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.  

Language:

The language of the Samburu people is also called Samburu. It is a Maa language very close to the Maasai dialects. Linguists have debated the distinction between the Samburu and Maasai languages for decades.

 In normal conversation one who speaks one of these languages can understand the other language 95 percent of the time. But a joint Bible translation was found to be ineffective to cover both groups. Preferred word usage and some grammatical difficulties required a separate translation for Samburu and Maasai.

 The Samburu tongue is also related to Turkana and Karamojong, and more distantly to Pokot and the Kalenjin languages.

The Chamus (Njemps) people speak the Samburu language and are often counted as Samburu people. The Ariaal group of Rendille has been greatly affected by the Samburu and now speaks the Samburu language. The Ariaal number 102,000, making a total of 249,300 mother-tongue speakers of the Samburu language.

Swahili is used extensively, particularly among younger people. Swahili is the language of education and English is taught in schools. There is still a low level of literacy and education, however, among the Samburu.

 

Customs

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.

Photo to the left of a Samburu Hut made of branches, mud & cow dung!   In the next posting, Gilbert will talk about marriage customs & initiations! To learn more about Kenya or to speak with Gilbert Sabinga, you can contact him at   

Address:  P.O Box 54667, Nairobi

 Email:     sabinga@gmail.com

 Cell phone:  +254722 641 059