Are the Okiek really Masai ? or Kipsigis ? Or Kikuyu ?

Abstract

C. A. Kratz—Les Okiek sont-ils réellement Masai ? ou Kipsigis ? ou Kikuyu ? Étude des procédés d'auto-identification d'un groupe de chasseurs-collecteurs, les Okiek (plus connus sous le sobriquet péjoratif de Dorobo), aujourd'hui éparpillés parmi les Masai, Kipsigis et Kikuyu dont ils ont adopté certains traits culturels et même, dans une large mesure, les langues. En dépit de la diversité découlant de ces emprunts, et de la date reculée de leur dispersion initiale (c. 1000 A.D.), les Okiek préservent un sentiment d'appartenance commune résultant à la fois de la conservation de thèmes propres (notamment sur le plan rituel) et d'une sorte de volonté collective de contraste avec leurs voisins.

Mobility, Marginality and Tenure Transformation in Kenya: Explorations of Community Property Rights in Law and Practice

“…Age-set names, for instance, coincide with those of the Maasai. See Kratz (1980 (Nairobi High Court Civil Case No. 635 of 1997), in which the Ogiek successfully secured the injunction that halted the settlement scheme in Nessuit.…”

‘The bees are our sheep’: the role of honey and fat in the transition to livestock keeping during the last two thousand years in southernmost Africa

“…They live in scattered pockets across Kenya, mainly in the high altitude forests (Huntingford 1929(Huntingford , 1942(Huntingford , 1955Blackburn 1971Blackburn , 1973Blackburn , 1974Blackburn , 1982Blackburn , 1986Blackburn , 1996Kratz 1980Kratz , 1986Kratz , 1988Kratz , 1989Kratz , 1993Kratz , 1994Woodburn 1982Woodburn , 1988Distefano 1990;Marshall 1994;Kratz and Pido 2000;Dale et al 2004;Micheli 2013). They live in scattered pockets across Kenya, mainly in the high altitude forests (Huntingford 1929(Huntingford , 1942(Huntingford , 1955Blackburn 1971Blackburn , 1973Blackburn , 1974Blackburn , 1982Blackburn , 1986Blackburn , 1996Kratz 1980Kratz , 1986Kratz , 1988Kratz , 1989Kratz , 1993Kratz , 1994Woodburn 1982Woodburn , 1988Distefano 1990;Marshall 1994;Kratz and Pido 2000;Dale et al 2004;…”

“…There are about 30 to 40 Okiek groups (sometimes described as 'Dorobo') (Kratz 1986). Blackburn (1974) notes how dependent the Maasai pastoralists were on Okiek honey, without which they could not complete rituals (see also Kratz 1980Kratz , 1988. Huntingford (1929Huntingford ( , 1942Huntingford ( , 1955 described the way beekeeping facilitated Okiek foragers' relationships with neighbouring agropastoralists and predisposed them to livestock ownership.…”

Kenya's new indigenes: negotiating local identities in a global context

“…Unlike most Kalenjin, Ogiek have an oral history of permanent residence; their ‘traditional’ livelihood is as hunter‐gatherers; and some use Maasai (and not Kalenjin) dialects (Blackburn 1976: 54–6). Their inclusion within the larger Kalenjin alliance is debatable and contested (Adamson 1967: 122; Kimaiyo 2004: 7; Kratz 1980: 360), while their claim of first residence, distinct way of life and relationship with the forests has enabled them to enter indigenous networks with relative ease. In these indigenous networks, notions of ‘ecological indigenism’ and an asserted cultural affiliation with, and natural protection of, their environment has been used to support communal demands for access, use and ownership of forest land in the face of heightened competition and ecological conservation.…”