Milne Anthony Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya by Elliot M. Fratkin The Ariaal people of Kenya are a relatively small pastoralist people that currently live in areas near Ndoto Mountains and Mt. Marsabit. The Ariaal have lived in these areas since at least the nineteenth century. The Ariaal are a group that have descended from mixing of both Samburu and Rendille groups through intermarriage and common interest such as war against Turkana. Author Paul Spencer explains that these two distinct societies of the western highland cattle keeping Samburu and the camel keeping Rendille of the lowlands, were able to ally and intermarry because they had no competitiveness over herding environment. The Ariaal in turn have formed the bridge between both the Maa speaking Samuburu and the Cushitic speaking Rendilles' cultures. For instance, the Ariaal speak both languages, use many pieces of each groups' specific cultures, and of course in actual geography, being somewhat of a buffer between the two territories. These Ariaal groups for the most part can trace their ancestors back to either Rendille and Samburu groups but it is not uncommon for many Ariaal to be from other tribes such as Maasai, Turkana, Somali, and many others. Yet the combination of Samburu and Rendille culture, customs, and general lifestyle that are the main ingredients of the Ariaal. And because of the relatively young existence and common descent of the Ariaal, much of Ariaal life is described in terms of Rendille and Samburu throughout this book. The Ariaal, like all pastoralists, depend on the possession of animal livestock for survival. Most Kenyan pastoralists' herds consist of camels, cattle, or small stock such as goats and sheep, or a combination of the three. The Ariaal mix the lifestyles of both the Rendille and of the Samburu by keeping substantial amounts of all three types of animals. The keeping of different types of animals lets the Ariaal utilize different grazing
environments and to help against major losses if something such as illness was to strike only one type of livestock. Because, Camels and cattle tend to need different types of grazing to survive, such as cattle in the highlands and camels in the lowlands, the Ariaal tend two split up their herds into these two groups. Although pastoralists, which tend to be thought of as constantly moving, the Ariaal set up major encampments as a sort of base or center to their civilization. Elders, married women, and young children are the primary inhabitants of these semi-permanent developments along with the "domestic herds" of milking and transport camels and most small stock. The rest of the animals known as the "camp" stock consisting of the adolescent males, and non-milking animals (usually cattle) are taken to highland camps known as fora in Rendille and lalei in Samburu. These fora are tended by the men of the warrior age-set and sometimes by adolescent children for long periods of time during the year and usually only return during wet season where rainfall and pasture is prominent. In general, the Ariaal, like most east African pastoralists, are not long-distance herders but lead independent herding groups through semi-permanent locations around a common orbit. The combination of the Samburu and Rendille to form the Ariaal people is one that takes many of the everyday lifestyles and beliefs of both groups. For instance, the Ariaal use livestock rituals from both groups so as the mugit ox feasts that are associated with Samburu, but may also participate in the camel almodo blessings and sorio sacrifices. The Ariaal also share the Samburu belief of sorcery and power of medicine men or laibons. One of the most important things that the Ariaal have taken from Samburu is their age-set systems. This age-set system is on where as the people grow, they pass through certain age-grades such as boys, warriors, and elders. These age-grades
are very important in the definition of a persons' every day life in that they tend to be the framework for that persons responsibilities, daily actions, enforce what they may wear, eat, and with whom they may associate. The age-set is the group one belongs to for life usually depending on their birth while the age-grades are simply the life stages that they pass through. For instance, how the warriors do most of the cattle herding in the highlands foras, while the married woman of the tribes tend to the milking of animals at the main camp and the keeping of the household. The women do not pass through named age sets but are still considered to pass through stage of their life cycle such as young girls, adolescent girls, and married women. These age-sets and groups become very important in the recognition other Ariaal and more importantly of the Ariaal in general by other groups such as the Rendille. The Ariaal have many distinctive qualities of their society, but the one thing thing that could be considered the most important would be the relationship that they share with their livestock. The Ariaal depend on their livestock almost complete nourishment just as their animals rely on them for grazing and care. The Ariaal diet almost completely consists of milk, blood, meat, and small amounts of town bought products such as maize. The main source of nutrition for the Ariaal is the milk of their animals and it is the camels that in total produce the most amount of with milk about 2.5 liters in the wet season and 1.2 liters in the dry season per camel. Cattle only produce about 1.3 liters in the dry season .5 liters during the dry but make up for this difference considering that they have larger herd growth rates and smaller birthing intervals. The small stock are not a good source of milk and are usually used more for meat than anything. Another valuable nutrition source from the animals, especially in the dry season, would be the blood. When
it is dry and the animals are not producing enough milk the Ariaal may bleed an animal my inserting a small arrow type device into the jugular vein of the animal and draining blood for consumption. This relationship between animal and man is the primary characteristic of the Ariaal and most pastoralists . The Ariaal families consist of a man his wives, through the practice of polygyny, and his children. But because of the intermarriages of different clans and the inheritance of wives, the family system of the Ariaal becomes very complicated. But in the best possible scenario a man would have many children for labor needs and more than one wife to split the house maintenance duties. But because of the complex associations web created through marriages, friendships, and favors, a man has many options to use in terms of giving and receiving help. These acts of help or favors tends are a driving force in the life of African pastoralists, and are very common with cooperative herding groups and and the sharing of labor. For instance a man may do another a favor and may receive a favor later when he is in need of one. The most common house of the Ariaal is the lowland style house of the Rendille, consisting if a sleeping and social area. These houses are mostly used in the domestic clan settlements. All of the house building and maintaining is done my the wives. Every person of every age-set and family contributes in important ways and are needed for the Ariaal lifestyle to survive. Although the pastoralist way continues to be the most prominent way of life for Kenya's pasoralists, about twenty percent of the Ariaal population has resorted to other lifestyles such as agriculture, agro-pastoralism, or movement to famine relief towns. Fratkin explains that several factors have acted as influences away from the Ariaal's current pastoralism lifestyle. For instance things such as population growth, loss of
herding range, increased drought and risks to livestock, and increased raiding have acted as "pushes" away from pastoralsim, while the attraction of schools, hospitals, famine relief, and new economic opportunities have acted as "pulls" towards the sedentarization process. Fratkin explains that towns and missions can provide a better way of life for some pastoralists, and that in fact many foreign aid campaigns believe that sedentarization is the best thing for the Kenyan pastoralists. And although there have been many instances where sendentarization has become successful, Fratkin has found that the people of the Ariaal pastoral communities tend to be in better nutritional health than that of the towns. Fratkin himself suggests that the government and developmental planning agencies involved in the area to appreciate the pastoralist systems of the Ariaal and other pastoralist groups because it is these people who have lived here for very long periods of time and have generations of knowledge about the behavior and lifestyles needed to survive these areas. The Ariaal are not "anti-development" and are in fact very vocal about their needs and beliefs. And that if foreigners and developers would learn from these Ariaal and assist in the Ariaal's way of life instead of trying to change it, that the Ariaal would continue to grow and flourish as they become a strong and distinct pastoral group of Kenya. Personally I believe that this book my Fratkin was a very god one in the sense that he was able to explain and give so much information in such a short time. I thought that the book was very strong in terms that it gave a great understanding of the Ariaal people. Fratkin organized the book very well so that the information came together very smoothly and fluently that aided me in getting a good sense of not only the Ariaal but pastoral life style in general. The only aspect of the book that I would not consider very
strong is the fact that there were lots of small details and a very large amount of information that prevented the book from being a very entertaining read. But in terms of a textbook I thought that this book was extremely strong and I was able to retain the information. In general, the organization and content of the book was excellent and perfect for someone reading about this topic for the first time. In terms of liking the book or not, I am truly able to say that I did. All of the information was very new to me and was able to keep me interested in the subject. The best part of the book for me was when Fratkin gave stories of his experiences in Africa and with the Ariaal because I was able to imagine and feel more of an experience rather than just examining information of the people. Even though the book was a text book and what some may consider just too much information, the organization and pieces about actual tribes and people and the author had visited and his personal experiences, made this book enjoyable.