Samburu

Called Loibor Kineji (people of the white goats) in the past, the Samburu people sometimes refer to themselves as the Loikop. Inhabiting parts of northern Kenya, the Saburu are nomads who speak Maa, the same language as the Maasai.

The eight patrilineal families and roughly seventeen small clans that comprise the Samburu generally live in small settlements of between four and six stock owners. The low huts in which they live and each family's cattle yard are surrounded by a thorn fence (mboo). Young boys take care of the goats and sheep, while young warriors (il-murran) take care of the cattle in the areas where they can graze. Samburu power is in the hands of the elders, who make decisions and are responsible for community decisions.

Herds are important and provide the main source of the tribe's food is milk, which is often mixed with blood tapped from cattle or from goats and sheep killed for meat. Roots and bark are added to soups. Agriculture is not easy in the rather arid region but crops like maize and vegatables are grown.

Like other tribes, Samburu boys (ilayeni) are circumcised and then initiated as warriors (il-murran). Both these ceremonies and later ones take place during certain phases of the moon in settlements built for the occasion (lorora). With their heads shaved, each initiate is seated in turn in front of his mother's hut on an ox-hide. He is supported by two ritual patrons. After the operation, the initiates all sing together. Like the Maasai, the boys then go out and hunt small birds, collecting their feathers to make headresses. About a month later, the initiates become il-murran and are allowed to put on the red ochre that distinguishes them as warriors.

The junior warriors become senior il-murran about five years later in the ilmugit lenkarna naming ceremony. In another six years, the age-set is allowed to marry after the ilmugit lolaingoni, during which a bull is suffocated and eaten. Married status gives the warriors further prestige in the community.

The Samburu also practice female circumcision (which the government is trying to stop), with the girls being circumcised at roughly the same age as the boys. They are married an hour or two after the ceremony. The bridegroom arrives at the settlement with others of his age-set and brings a bull, a cow, and a sheep. The bull is driven into the settlement and slaughtered, finalizing the marriage contract. The elders oversee and perfrom various rituals throughout the day. On the following morning, the bride leaves for her new home, passing through two rows of elders who bless her.

Although the Samburu are very close to the Maasai culturally, they are not the aggresive warrior tribe that the Maasai have always been. Instead of placing high value and warlike attributes, the Samburu value respect (nkanyit) and are more tolerant of other tribes.