On CNN Samburu beading. We must differentiate between different types of beadings.

Ole Ngais  On CNN Samburu beading.

We must differentiate between

different types of beadings.

Follow the facebook debate here. Visit the Maasai-Youth-Led Congress Facebook forum to follow how the Samburu and Maasai are reacting on the beads for rape as provided by the CNN reporter David McKenzie.

1. Category one: Non ceremonial beads. There is a beading which is non ceremonial. A part of wear that anybody can have anytime anywhere just as you would have any clothing. I wear beads myself even in a city where there are only two or almost three Maasai and Samburu. This type of beads are not harmful in anyway.

2. Category two: The ceremonial beads. The other type of beading, is the type you wear during ceremonial traditions. Fathers, mothers are beaded when they get children. Mother are given what is known by the Maasai as Imporo(long beaded necklaces) (What is the term in Samburu?) Mothers pride themselves when decorated by their children with Imporo which signifies their wealth, as mothers and the natural foundation of the Maa society. Fathers are beaded during initiation ceremonies with a bead lace around their heads. They also carry a beaded snuff containers made of small calabashes and beads. Young adults carry a certain bead chain around their necks (Esayei orporor) or the age-group’s chain. This is to symbolize that they’re young adults or elders and they belong to certain age group.

3. Category three: Regalia beads. Warriors carry the warrior regalia and the girls their girl regalia too. Even grandmothers have their special beadings.

4. Category four: Public leadership beads. Leaders are also beaded with (Encheta Narok) or Orinka Lo Laiguanani), the black yard stick and a leader’s club respectively. These types of beadings are just fine and I suppose the community would not have any reason to shed them off.

5. Category five: The Crucial beads (Or by CNN McKenzie, the “Rape beads”. The engagement beading. This kind of beading is done by adult men or even by the parent of the adult man as a symbol of engagement.

What is the problem?

1. The engagement would be OK if it was done by an adult man to an adult girl. Just like adult people in the other ethnic groups or in the west give flowers to adult women, or even engage with them based on a mutual interest. In almost all societies having sex with children is regarded as pedophilia. What should we call the case scenario reported by the CNN channel? If for sure the adult man was her relative, then it is even worse. Most of the ethnic groups in the world refer this as criminal congress. What shall we call it? Unlawful carnal knowledge? Or straight away incest? The problem now is that if we keep a narrow mind, a mind that is static, we may morally ignore the harm inflicted on the children for the sake of our common identity. How many of you want to continue allowing their names and identities be used by our common culture to perform such aggression on our daughters, sisters and family members? The problem is that a section of our retrogressive and perilous common identity (perceived identity) lure a number of us into darkness, a fantasy-less world of the mentally blind and mentally deaf and static figures, who rather die standing with a head full of ignorance than, if must be, die fighting to survive the dynamics of this changing globe with an open mind. Who is doing the community of Sambur/ Maasai a service? The one who refuses to change for survival or the one who carries dignity into that dynamic world, and with an open mind, select the best of all cultures and combine with the best of their native culture and survive the inevitable changes? Do you now see our problem?

Double tragedy.

1. The girls are engaged before they attain 18 years of age.

2. By culture, a Samburu/Maasai girl is not allowed to conceive before shes’ (initiated) or what is referred to as genitally cut.

3. One scenario: The beaded girl-child who is now culturally sanctioned despite her childhood age (CNN’s Josephine is 12 years old), to provide sexual intercourse to the man who booked her. It does not matter how old the man is. Another scenario: Sometimes it can also be a young boy whose parents from both sides have agreed to engage him with a girl who could be older. This could also lead to unspoken trauma to the boy who may find himself under a cultural pressure to play a fiance’ to the elder girl. Some school going boys, after they undergo initiation and gain a rich open mind, go on with their true dreams seeking to understand the world, keeping their cultural knowledge safe and sound. Some of these boys may have been engaged to girls chosen by their parents but instead, they make their own choices which may always be popular among their relatives. The boy-child naturally sustains lesser damages that their female counterpart.

The Maa people, A community on transition.

Everybody knows how the Maasai and Sambur generate extensive solid foreign income to Kenya through tourism and Meat, skins and hide products. If you were to be truly honest, do you think that Kenya wants the Maasai and Samburu to shed off their indigenous culture and embrace another lifestyle that may not include all that attracts tourism to Kenya today?

Also, I know that the new constitution contains a very powerful Bill of Rights that essentially provides a dynamic foundation for all Kenyans to accept positive change and development. To come out of poverty. That the government shall build proper modern infrastructure so that such contents found in our homegrown constitution could be spread from the inner-city of Nairobi to every little village down the forgotten valleys, hills and sand dunes, plains and river banks of our mighty land.

But what about the tourism industry? Will the 2 million western tourists ever visit Kenya again? To see what? The new blocks and architecture imported from the West or China?

Personally, I have understood that very many actors (not all), wants to have the Maasai and the Sambur in the same degrading life’s situation as they’re living today. They’d tell us to maintain our “ culture and traditions”. This is one indirect way of telling us, “we can not provide you with all what the constitution entitles you because you conduct a lifestyle incompatible to such modern facilities. They tell us, we can not build schools because you keep on moving with your cows. The government can not provide proper houses because you’ll move and live them behind. You have not reason to ask for safe drinking water because you’ll move away from it with your cattle anyway, when the rain drops on the other side of the hill. Your children can not enjoy quality education. You choose to have them take care of your many cows which you don’t realize they’ll die off or we’ll buy them at a throw away price at the beginning of every dry season if you don’t open up your mind.

Many actors pretentiously display a helping hand while their true ambitions are indeed to contain these society. The government would rather feed you with relief maize to keep you a life, enough to be usable as a tourist attraction object than formulating long lasting political policies to help the pastoral communities through their natural cultural transition phase. But we continue to walk blind and deaf as if we don’t care. That is why you realize we get confused when a news channel reports the bad part of our culture Instead of taking up the challenge and reform, we play victim putting sentiments to lead us instead of widely opening our minds for new perspectives and dimension and be self critical! Self critical for our own survival.

We are destined to extinction like the dinosaurs who were too big to change, if we continue protecting that rotten part of our perceived culture.We would go on supporting some of the insiders who are intelligently working to contain us, keep us in primitivity for the sake of tourism and their sickening luxury. We will continue to be systematically exploited by our own state as other proud themselves with the solid foreign income generated at yours and my peril. In the end, we will die off with heads full of ignorance and an identity we thought we build it ourselves alone. We are who we’re because of others around us.

The Swahili puts it this way, Ki-kulasho Kinguoni mwako! Roughly translated: What itches you is what is in your clothes. Take it or drop it like its hot.

The “ CNN MacKenzi’s “Rape beads”

To answer Teriano’s last question, on what the reporter McKenzie called “Rape beads”, The type of beading that is done by a adult man to a child are according to McKenzie’s definition, “The Rape beads”. McKenzie held the beads about a Kilo or two in his right hand showing the cameraman before he defined them as Rape beads. In my description above, I have clarified to some extent, the different categories of beadings among the Maasai and Samburu people. All other beadings are OK. It’s the category five beading which are dangerous to our survival, they legalize pedophilia and child abuse. They legalize forced crude abortion by squeezing the foetus out of the baby (12 year old Josephine) The category five beads allow child mishandle by men who may be much older than them. They encourage dowry, or if you like, the selling of girls to husbands they’ve not known before, or the “beadsman”

The rape beading in the McKenzie’s CNN story, is that type that evokes the Samburu culture to be the agent that provides the legality for child abuse. The one in the CNN story that is the basis for 12 years’ Josephine’s pregnancy. For me, those are the “Rape beads” In fact, in the reporter had put it mild, they should be “Incest Rape Beads”

Once again, we are not talking about the well documented systemic armed forces torture, the state sponsored killing of Sambur, especially in Lerata and Kanampiu which I personally opposed with all I could. We can have that forum anytime soon.

Support Kulea Rescue Mission

I will get in touch with Kulea. I will do what I can to support her in that mission. I know she’s right. Regardless of whatever cultural cost it may demand. I take this opportunity to congratulate her for her heroic rescue. By protecting one or two girls, Kulea has done more to safeguard our cultural dignity and identity for future generations better than all of us combined.

I was taken aback to hear someone whom I thought all along to be a friend of ours even suggesting that FGM is not a crime. That is is even conducted in a serial TV show called Nip-Tack, a very liberal and vulgar (to some) late night show in the West.

I am still shocked to learn this from such a person I thought to be a friend. This is why we must be careful.. who we entrust our destiny to. I wish this was just a mis-talk when the individual suggested that those media houses reporting on FGM are doing it for cultural bashing… FGM is criminal in Kenya.

Suggesting that it is even done in the West for beautification and that it shouldn’t be ANYTHING TO CAUSE ALERM IS SINCERELY dangerously ignorant towards the effects of FGM. So many Maasai/Samburu boys and girls are traumatized by the effects related to female genital mutilation.

Suggesting to promote such a torture disqualifies anybody from any moral authority to defend this society. However, I realize it could be difficult to understand FGM if you’re not personally directly affected by it.

Male domination in our society is directly related to FGM. Girls are cut to give men authority to own them. To deny them education, equal opportunities as the boy. FGM is not conducted in Maa communities for beauty…. Samburu or Maasai’s FGM is not Nip-Tuck. There are no plastic surgery Drs. McNamara and Troy. This is an old practice to contain society/woman and controlling her sexuality while men moved with their cattle.

Today, Maasai don’t’ have land for such pastoral practices, they have no cows due to repeated droughts and famine and a poor governance. The Maasai and Samburu are on transition towards a better world, whether we like it or not.

The best we can do now, is to help us select the best of all cultures and maintain our dignity, seek for justice for the historical injustices done on us and above all, ensure that the new constitution provides to us with equal opportunities as to other ethnic groups in the country.

Saidimu Ole Ngais.

Reacting on the facebook forum on the CNN article by McKenzie. See article here

 

CS: Background Information on Human Rights Violations of the Samburu People of Kenya

The report below is lifted from cultural Survival.org

Background Information on Human Rights Violations of the Samburu People of Kenya

• Country:
  • Kenya
• Issues:
  • Human Rights

Date: 11/19/2009(Cultural Survival submitted this information to the United Nations Human Rights Council)On February 21, 2009, Borana tribal members and Somali raiders (Somalis regularly cross the border to steal cattle, and the Borana are related to the Somali Oromo peoples) stole 300 cows from a Samburu community  in the eastern part of Samburu District. They also kidnapped two children. The Samburu moran (warriors) went in pursuit of their cattle and the children, and when they could not be recovered, impounded 200 Borana cattle in retaliation, to use as a negotiating tool. They then contacted the police and the Borana tribe to notify them that they would release the cattle when their stolen children and cattle were returned, and demanded police help to look for these children. There was no response. The Samburu reported the incident immediately to their Member of Parliament, Raphael Letimelo, who made a statement on a local news station pleading to have the children returned immediately.  The police, however, made no investigation or attempt to find them.

On February 22, a police officer and two Samburu security officers from the nearby village of Archer’s Post used the Kalama Wildlife Conservancy vehicle to search for the cattle and the missing children. (The conservancies, which are run by the Samburu, provide the region’s only security patrols for poaching, but also are used to investigate cattle rustling or other disturbances). The vehicle was ambushed by Borana bandits and the Borana shot the two conservancy officers. The Borana notified a Nairobi official (there is a Borana cabinet minister and a Borana senior civil servant in Meru) that the Samburu had confiscated 200 cows, but did not report why.

Fourteen hours later, the Kenya Government deployed a Special Security Force to Samburu. They did not pursue the Borana or Somali who initiated the first raid or search for the missing children. Instead, they deployed thousands of police from the Regular Police Force, District Administrative Police Force, and General Service Unit, and troops from the Kenyan Army in a well-orchestrated surprise attack on the villages of Kalama and Lerata villages and communities, including Lerata and Kalama, where they opened fire on innocent villagers in bomas (homesteads with enclosures for cattle), schools, clinics, and water holes, and on children herding goats and cattle. The attack included helicopters that strafed unarmed villagers, at least seven bombs dropped on villagers, and aerial discharge of some kind of caustic liquid that severely burned several children.

“At first, the community thought the police were here to help us find our lost children and we ran out to greet them,” stated Sammy Lepurdati. “When they initially started shooting, everyone tried to convince them they were making a mistake, but instead the police kept circling the bomas, firing deliberately at innocent people. It was a nightmare. People were screaming, running in every direction. Those who survived fled to the bush and nearby mountains.”

Ground forces then moved in, beating people with clubs. Police beat over 30 women, children, and elderly people with clubs, according to one witness, who asked to remain anonymous. “My mother was walking to the bore hole with my four-year-old sister and ten-month-old brother who was wrapped on her back, to water our goats and calves,” the 15 year-old reported. “She turned around to take my sister’s hand when police approached her, told her to give over the calves and goats to him and, when she pleaded with him that it was our only source of food, he began beating her with his club. When the baby started crying, he pushed my mother to the ground and began hitting her over and over again on her back until the baby stopped crying. My sister screamed and then he began beating her, too.” All three sustained life-threatening injuries according to the rural dispensary’s nurse practitioner, Edward Letalama.

The police then used their helicopters to round up the Samburus’ cattle. Forty trucks arrived to transport the cattle; others were herded by foot and helicopter to Archer’s post and impounded. They were later sold in Nairobi. The profits were kept by the police officers who had confiscated them. More than 2,000 cattle were confiscated in the initial attacks.

The two children, 7 and 8, were found, dead and hanging from a tree with their throats cut and their bodies skinned.

In the two days after the initial attacks, as the assault spread to other villages, the police refused to conduct a proper investigation, take statements from witnesses, negotiate a cease-fire, or come to any agreements with local officers, who included Member of Parliament Raphael Letimelo, 16 regional councilors, two local councilors, and County Council officers. All local wildlife conservancy communication and anti-poaching equipment was seized from Namunyak, Westgate, Sera Lipi, and Kalama Wildlife Conservancies, all in the same region. Altogether in these attacks more than 6,000 head of cattle were confiscated, removed, and sold, with a value of more than US$5 million.

The MP Raphael Letimelo was twice told in front of witnesses that he would be shot and executed immediately if he continued to speak against the attacks. He then returned to Nairobi to seek assistance from the president’s office. President Kibaki closed his telephone, refused to discuss the situation, or to allow an appointment to be arranged with MP Letimelo, and when Letimelo tried to see the President without an appointment, he was twice told that the president had left through a side door. Letimelo also spoke with the Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Human Rights Watch, the US Embassy, and many others, with little result.

Government officials claimed that the operation was in response to the Samburu cattle raid, a claim that would seem unlikely given the scale and organization of the response, as well as its timing. Military documents provided by an army lieutenant indicate instead that the attacks had been planned months ahead of time and that the aim was to drive the Samburu off their land and end their way of life. The helicopters were requisitioned weeks in advance.

On March 7, two human rights workers, Oscar Kamau Kingara and John Paul Oulu, who had recently returned from an investigation into the attacks, were executed in Nairobi hours before they were to make public announcements about the Samburu situation.

On March 11, in response to a request for a hearing by MP Letimelo, a Nairobi court ordered a ceasefire. The police remained in the area, honoring the ceasefire only insofar as they used clubs to beat people instead of using firearms. They also looted local businesses and raped village women.

On June 6, Borana and Somali bandits approached Samburu herdsmen from the village of Kipsing and tried to take their cattle. When the Samburu resisted, the bandits contacted the police in Isiolo to assist them. The Somali, Borana, and police then attacked the village. In the fighting that ensued, the Samburu moran shot and killed 5 raiders, 6 police, and seriously wounded 19 other police. Following this incident, Raphael Letimelo said he received threats from government officials of possible mass executions and removal of Indigenous Peoples from their traditional homelands throughout the Samburu District. Neither of those things happened, however.

On June 15, 400 Kenyan National Police were permanently stationed in Archer’s Post and began Operation Walk and Shoot, in which they harassed community members and randomly shot into the community from a distance.

Through the month of July there were a series of attacks by Borana and Somali bandits on Samburu and Turkana villages. (The bandits said they were attacking the Turkana because they supported the Samburu.) The attacks included beheadings, shooting people in their sleep, and, on July 13, the kidnapping of two more children, 8 and 9, who were again found hanging from a tree with their throats cut and their bodies skinned. The extreme nature of these attacks (and the repetition of the murdered children) suggests that they were intended to provoke the Samburu into an equally extreme response that could, in turn, be used to justify an extreme government response.

The Samburu did not respond in kind, but instead sent a petition for redress to the Internal Security Minister. They received no response.

On August 15, three hundred uniformed troops attacked Samburu communities, killing two and injuring several others and confiscating more cattle. It is not clear whether these were Kenyan military, police, or others. On August 20 mercenary troops from Somalia and the Oromo Liberation Front entered Kenya to attack Samburu communities and those of any other pastoralist groups that supported the Samburu. Through the month of September there were multiple attacks by these forces, against both Samburu and the related Pokot pastoralists, who also supported the Samburu.

On September 5, hired forces attacked the village of Losesia, killing two Samburu, injuring several others, and confiscating almost 4,000 head of cattle and 2,600 goats. On September 15, OLF forces killed 30 Pokot and injured 16 more near the village of Naibor. The Member of Parliament for the Isiolo District said that he had funded the OLF, and Prime Minister Odinga, referring to the ongoing attacks by Borana and Somalis,  admitted that the government had been supplying arms to Borana and Somalis along the border who were then killing Samburu.

The confiscation of cattle has robbed Samburu of their food source, and famine has set in, exacerbated by the drought. Hundreds of Samburu have died of starvation as a result. The government has taken no steps to alleviate the famine, nor has it offered the Samburu restitution. On the contrary, it seems bent on increasing the assault on Samburu communities.

On October 12, the Kenyan government announced that it had awarded a $26 million lease to a Chinese firm to drill for oil in the center of Samburu territory, suggesting a motivation for the all the aggression against the Samburu. It is the first of eighteen contracts the government is negotiating with Chinese firms for oil.

All of these acts violate provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

NOTE:  We are currently receiving reports of further air and land attacks on the Samburu by hundreds of Kenyan police troops during the week of November 16.

Please keep visiting www.culturalsurvival.org for updates and for more actions you can take.

Source: cultural Survival.org