Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya

Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya
Author: Elliot M. Fratkin
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2004
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Based on over twenty-five years of research and fieldwork, the Second Edition of Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya: Studying Pastoralism, Drought, and Development in Africa's Arid Lands, offers a highly readable and often humorous ethnographic description of the Maasai-speaking society of East Africa. This unique text details the story of how one society of livestock herders in northern Kenya has adapted to and survived both natural and human-induced disasters of recent times, including drought and famine, inter-pastoralist warfare, and the wide-scale intervention of international development and relief organizations. The Ariaal's determination to maintain their pastoral lifestyle while taking advantage of new health, employment, marketing, and education opportunities offered in the growing Kenyan towns provides a fascinating study of the dynamics of cultural change and the threat to cultural survival among East African pastoralists. This small, accessible ethnography offers a detailed look at pastoral ecology, life in an Ariaal community, the trials and tribulations of anthropological fieldwork, and problems of development and social change for Ariaal people.

As Pastoralists Settle

As Pastoralists Settle
Author: Elliot Fratkin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2006-03-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0306485958

Throughout the world's arid regions, and particularly in northern and eastern Africa, formerly nomadic pastoralists are undergoing a transition to settled life. This reference shows that although pastoral settlement is often encouraged by international development agencies and national governments, the social, economic and health consequences of sedentism are not inevitably beneficial.

Laibon: An Anthropologist’s Journey with Samburu Diviners in Kenya

Laibon: An Anthropologist’s Journey with Samburu Diviners in Kenya
Author: Elliot Fratkin
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2011-10-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0759120692

Elliot Fratkin shares the story of his early anthropological fieldwork in Kenya in the 1970s. Using his fieldnotes and letters home to bring to life the voices of those he met, Fratkin invites the reader to experience his cross-cultural friendships with the enigmatic laibon (a diviner and healer of the Samburu and Maasai peoples) Lonyoki, his family, and the people of the nomadic community of Lukumai. Fratkin participated in the daily lives of the Ariaal livestock herders and accompanied the laibon as he performed divination and healing rituals throughout Marsabit and Samburu Districts. After Fratkin reunited Lonyoki with his son and wife, Lonyoki adopted Fratkin into his family, and Fratkin continues his close friendship with Lonyoki’s son Lembalen today. Black-and-white photographs, a guide to the characters, words, and places, and a list of suggested readings supplement the engaging narrative. Laibon is more than a memoir; it delves into nitty-gritty details of fieldwork, speaks to larger questions about ethnographic research, and provides unparalleled insight into the world of the laibon.

Surviving Drought and Development

Surviving Drought and Development
Author: Elliot Fratkin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2020-06-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9780367289270

Focusing on one society's responses to famine relief and development efforts, this book is the story of how a people have adapted to, and survived, both natural and human-induced disasters. The Ariaal's determination to maintain their tradional lifestyles while taking advantage of the health and educational benefits offered to Kenyan society at lar

Surviving Drought And Development

Surviving Drought And Development
Author: Elliot Fratkin
Publisher: Westview Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 1991-11-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Focusing on one society's responses to famine relief and development efforts, this study in the dynamics of culture change focuses on the Ariaal people of Kenya and their survival of both natural and human-induced disasters in their determination to maintain traditional lifestyles.

Being Maasai

Being Maasai
Author: Thomas T. Spear
Publisher: James Currey Publishers
Total Pages: 340
Release: 1993
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780852552155

Many of the people who identify themselves as Maasai, or who speak the Maa language, are not pastoralist at all, but framers and hunters. Over time many people have 'become' something else, adn what it means to be Maasai has changed radically over the past several centuries and is still changing today. This collection by historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and linguists examines how Maasai identity has been created, evoked, contested and transformed. North America: Ohio U Press; Tanzania: Mkuki na Nyota; Kenya: EAEP

Fragmentation in Semi-Arid and Arid Landscapes

Fragmentation in Semi-Arid and Arid Landscapes
Author: Kathleen A. Galvin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2007-10-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402049064

With detailed data from nine sites around the world, the authors examine how the so-called ‘fragmentation’ of these fragile landscapes occurs and the consequences of this break-up for ecosystems and the people who depend on them. ‘Rangelands’ make up a quarter of the world’s landscape, and here, the case is developed that while fragmentation arises from different natural, social and economic conditions worldwide, it creates similar outcomes for human and natural systems.

Maasai

Maasai
Author: Elliot M. Fratkin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2020
Genre: Families
ISBN: 9781569026830

This novel is based on true events of the 19th century, a period of widespread warfare between pastorialist groups fighting for grazing lands and cattle. The fiercest of these groups were the Laikipiak Maasai who dominated Kenya's Great Rift Valley until their defeat in the 1870s. The novel focuses on two lovers, Maron and Endelepin and their son Kitoip, as they endure the tribulations of warfare, smallpox, slave traders and the coming of European colonialism.

Pastoralism and Development in Africa

Pastoralism and Development in Africa
Author: Andy Catley
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2013-05-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1136255850

Once again, the Horn of Africa has been in the headlines. And once again the news has been bad: drought, famine, conflict, hunger, suffering and death. The finger of blame has been pointed in numerous directions: to the changing climate, to environmental degradation, to overpopulation, to geopolitics and conflict, to aid agency failures, and more. But it is not all disaster and catastrophe. Many successful development efforts at ‘the margins’ often remain hidden, informal, sometimes illegal; and rarely in line with standard development prescriptions. If we shift our gaze from the capital cities to the regional centres and their hinterlands, then a very different perspective emerges. These are the places where pastoralists live. They have for centuries struggled with drought, conflict and famine. They are resourceful, entrepreneurial and innovative peoples. Yet they have been ignored and marginalised by the states that control their territory and the development agencies who are supposed to help them. This book argues that, while we should not ignore the profound difficulties of creating secure livelihoods in the Greater Horn of Africa, there is much to be learned from development successes, large and small. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars with an interest in development studies and human geography, with a particular emphasis on Africa. It will also appeal to development policy-makers and practitioners.