African Warriors: The Samburu ANNOTATION
In the tradition of the acclaimed Nomads of Niger, here is an intimate portrait of one of the last surviving warrior peoples of Africa, the Samburu of northern Kenya. Thomasin Magor, who lived with the Samburu for six years, provides extraordinary photographs and an eloquent text offering unprecedented insight into the Samburu way of life.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In the arid, rugged terrain of northern Kenya, virtually isolated from civilization, lives one of the last surviving warrior peoples of Africa, the Samburu. Renowned for their exceptional physical beauty and grace as well as for their independence and pride, the seminomadic Samburu live as they have for centuries, herding cattle and maintaining an intricate social system shaped over time by strongly held beliefs, intertribal rivalry, and the never-ending search for pastures and water. Thomasin Magor, who lived among the Samburu for six years and built up a strong bond of trust with them, has created one of the most intimate portraits of an African people ever attempted. In recognition of her independence - her Samburu name is Sala, meaning "she who walks alone" - she gained the acceptance of the men and took part in councils and ceremonies that would normally be barred to a woman; and by reason of her gender she was permitted by the women to witness a number of important rites at which men are not allowed. Her book is, remarkable not only for its evocative images of the lives of Imurran (the warrior herdsmen), women, children, and elders - and their rituals, hairstyles, body-painting, dances, and feast days - but also for its cohesive picture of a culture. At the heart of the book is an extraordinary sequence of photographs of the most important of all Samburu rituals - E-muratare, or days of circumcision. At this ceremony, which takes place approximately once every fourteen years, the new generation of Imurran is initiated into warriorhood as the former warriors move on to junior elderhood and marriage. Thomasin Magor witnessed the 1990 circumcision ceremonies and the changeover and renewal of roles at all levels of Samburu society. In her telling photographs we see boys becoming warriors, warriors becoming elders, girls becoming wives, and mothers lamenting the passing of their sons' time of warriorhood. With more than 200 color photographs and a direct, info
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
If Magor's book is any indication, the fawningly romantic view of the pastoralists of East Africa promulgated since the 19th century is still alive and well. In one caption to a photo of a slumbering herdsman, we are told how much grace and poise the Samuru have even while asleep. It is indeed fortunate, however, that the 200-plus excellent color photos coupled with the ethnographically detailed text manage to make this book a useful resource on the Samburu people of northern Kenya. Less well known than the Masai (who live further south), with whom they share many social and material cultural features-especially the importance of a military-based age grade system and the aesthetic emphasis given to the body arts-the Samburu are nonetheless a distinct culture that Magor documents in word and image. Well recommended for public and academic libraries with an interest in Africa.-Eugene C. Burt, Art Inst. of Seattle Lib.
BookList - Ray Olson
It seems that every so-called primitive tribe in the world has been documented repeatedly. But when a people are presented in prose as clear and in photos as intimate and affectionate as Magor's, it behooves libraries to add one more work of popular ethnography to their shelves. Magor is a native white Kenyan who, returning from education and a successful modeling career in England, overcame the reserve of the seminomadic Samburu (previously treated in Pavitt's "Samburu" [1992]), who are so xenophobic that, Magor says, they call themselves hard-hearted. She records their ways, especially their men's warriorhood, during which they are young, "at the peak of their physical prowess," and "the guardians of the community and its cattle."
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