Cultural Warriors:

The Rendille & Samburu People of Kenya

DREW DOGGETT

I’ve always been fascinated by remote communities who have stayed true to their ancient cultural traditions while the rest of the world rapidly transforms into a single homogeneous culture. This is why Africa has been one of my consistent focuses. Within the many unique cultures embedded within the continent’s remote territories, there is a persistent and unwavering sense of self and pride in culture that I have yet to see anywhere else in the world.

During my travels throughout Africa I have found that the welcoming people and colorful traditions are in stark contrast to much of the landscape itself. This was especially true during my most recent trip through the Northern Frontier region of Kenya where, in 2017,

I travelled to document the Rendille and Samburu tribes. Beyond the traditions I encountered, I became fascinated with the salt flats and desert as a backdrop because as dry and void of life as the scorched Earth was, the people who live within this land are the exact opposite: full of life and energy. It was under the inescapable sun that the Rendille and Samburu people proudly displayed their heritage and eagerly shared their ancient ornamentation practices with me.

I was overwhelmed by the signs of shared humanity everywhere I looked; from mothers carrying their children in bright woven wraps as close to their bodies as physically possible to young women and men wrapped in swaths of bright red fabric and draped elegantly in beaded confections worn to perfection.

I marvelled at how daily duties were done while wearing this jewellery, from taking cattle out to search for food to digging for water in the beds of dry rivers. While I knew documentation of traditional ornamentation practices would be a part of my work, I was still in awe of how elaborate the jewellery was and how meaningful, too. Beads, for example, went beyond aesthetics as each colour and their order on a piece of jewellery signified a different aspect of the wearer. For women, this meant indicating how many kids they had or whether they were girls or boys, and for men it showed others if they had yet been initiated into warriorhood, the ultimate rite of passage.

The fiercest proponents of culture were the young women and men. They felt