Laibon: An Anthropologist’s Journey with Samburu Diviners in Kenya
Laibon: An Anthropologist’s Journey with Samburu Diviners in Kenya

Author: Elliot Fratkin

Publisher: Rowman Altamira

Published: 2011-10-16

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 0759120692

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Elliot Fratkin shares the story of his early anthropological fieldwork in Kenya in the 1970s. Using his fieldnotes and letters home to bring to life the voices of those he met, Fratkin invites the reader to experience his cross-cultural friendships with the enigmatic laibon (a diviner and healer of the Samburu and Maasai peoples) Lonyoki, his family, and the people of the nomadic community of Lukumai. Fratkin participated in the daily lives of the Ariaal livestock herders and accompanied the laibon as he performed divination and healing rituals throughout Marsabit and Samburu Districts. After Fratkin reunited Lonyoki with his son and wife, Lonyoki adopted Fratkin into his family, and Fratkin continues his close friendship with Lonyoki’s son Lembalen today. Black-and-white photographs, a guide to the characters, words, and places, and a list of suggested readings supplement the engaging narrative. Laibon is more than a memoir; it delves into nitty-gritty details of fieldwork, speaks to larger questions about ethnographic research, and provides unparalleled insight into the world of the laibon.

Driving the Samburu Bride
Driving the Samburu Bride

Author: Diane C. Perlov

Publisher: Waveland Press

Published: 2020-11-11

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1478646764

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Driving the Samburu Bride is a vivid account of a young anthropologist working in northern Kenya, revealing insights into the Samburu culture and the culture of doing anthropology. With engaging irony and a storyteller’s gift, the author takes the reader through the frustrating, productive, and occasionally euphoric stages of fieldwork. Along the way, Perlov connects theory and practice, and recounts the evolution of her Samburu friendships, forged over decades, including the discovery of her unwitting impact on Samburu girls.

My Freshman Year
My Freshman Year

Author: Rebekah Nathan

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2006-07-25

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1101042508

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After fifteen years of teaching anthropology at a large university, Rebekah Nathan had become baffled by her own students. Their strange behavior—eating meals at their desks, not completing reading assignments, remaining silent through class discussions—made her feel as if she were dealing with a completely foreign culture. So Nathan decided to do what anthropologists do when confused by a different culture: Go live with them. She enrolled as a freshman, moved into the dorm, ate in the dining hall, and took a full load of courses. And she came to understand that being a student is a pretty difficult job, too. Her discoveries about contemporary undergraduate culture are surprising and her observations are invaluable, making My Freshman Year essential reading for students, parents, faculty, and anyone interested in educational policy.

As Pastoralists Settle
As Pastoralists Settle

Author: Elliot Fratkin

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-03-30

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 0306485958

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Throughout the world's arid regions, and particularly in northern and eastern Africa, formerly nomadic pastoralists are undergoing a transition to settled life. This reference shows that although pastoral settlement is often encouraged by international development agencies and national governments, the social, economic and health consequences of sedentism are not inevitably beneficial.

Maasai
Maasai

Author: Elliot M. Fratkin

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 9781569026830

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This novel is based on true events of the 19th century, a period of widespread warfare between pastorialist groups fighting for grazing lands and cattle. The fiercest of these groups were the Laikipiak Maasai who dominated Kenya's Great Rift Valley until their defeat in the 1870s. The novel focuses on two lovers, Maron and Endelepin and their son Kitoip, as they endure the tribulations of warfare, smallpox, slave traders and the coming of European colonialism.

The Secret Lives of Anthropologists
The Secret Lives of Anthropologists

Author: Bonnie L. Hewlett

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-11-26

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 1351385259

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This book addresses the difficult conditions researchers may face in the field and provides lessons in how to navigate the various social, political, economic, health, and environmental challenges involved in fieldwork. It also sheds important light on aspects often considered "secret" or taboo. From anthropologists just starting out to those with over forty years in the field, these researchers offer the benefit of their experience conducting research in diverse cultures around the world. The contributions combine engaging personal narrative with consideration of theory and methods. The volume emphasizes how being adaptable, and aware, of the many risks and rewards of ethnographic research can help foster success in quantitative and qualitative data collection. This is a valuable resource for students of anthropological methods and those about to embark on fieldwork for the first time.

African Religions
African Religions

Author: Jacob K. Olupona

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0199790582

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This book connects traditional religions to the thriving religious activity in Africa today.

The East Africa Protectorate
The East Africa Protectorate

Author: Charles Eliot

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 1966

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 9780714616612

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First Published in 1966. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya
Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya

Author: Elliot M. Fratkin

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13:

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Based on over twenty-five years of research and fieldwork, the Second Edition of Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya: Studying Pastoralism, Drought, and Development in Africa's Arid Lands, offers a highly readable and often humorous ethnographic description of the Maasai-speaking society of East Africa. This unique text details the story of how one society of livestock herders in northern Kenya has adapted to and survived both natural and human-induced disasters of recent times, including drought and famine, inter-pastoralist warfare, and the wide-scale intervention of international development and relief organizations. The Ariaal's determination to maintain their pastoral lifestyle while taking advantage of new health, employment, marketing, and education opportunities offered in the growing Kenyan towns provides a fascinating study of the dynamics of cultural change and the threat to cultural survival among East African pastoralists. This small, accessible ethnography offers a detailed look at pastoral ecology, life in an Ariaal community, the trials and tribulations of anthropological fieldwork, and problems of development and social change for Ariaal people.