Amboseli Landscapes : Maasai Pastoralism, Wildlife Conservation

AMBOSELI LANDSCAPES: MAASAI PASTORALISM, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN KENYA, 1944-PRESENT By Amanda E. Lewis A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of History – Doctor of Philosophy 2015 ABSTRACT AMBOSELI LANDSCAPES: MAASAI PASTORALISM, WILDLIFE CONSERVATON, AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, KENYA, 1944-PRESENT By Amanda E. Lewis Images of East Africa in the Western mind are often composed of solitary acacia trees on an open plain in photographs or lions hunting zebra in a bloody primal encounter in nature documentaries. Rarely have people been present in the creation of meaning of these landscapes, but they have had a hand in the environmental composition of these images. This dissertation explores the meaning people attached to the Amboseli landscape through the ways they engaged with wildlife, livestock, natural resources, and each other. It is a history of a place, a landscape and all the layers of memory, identities, beliefs, and experiences associated with it. The Ilkisongo Maasai who live there are the primary group that created meaning in Amboseli, but there have been many others, including scientists and conservationists who spent decades in this savanna ecosystem and many others who spent little to no time there but were part of the process of conceptualizing what Amboseli was, is, and should be. Amboseli is a dry, dusty grassland at the northern foothills of Kilimanjaro. The Ilkisongo subgroup of the Maasai has lived on these plains for over 200 years. Their emergence there is evidence that, despite being persistent pastoralists, the Maasai have a dynamic history and are anything but the static representation of a timeless past as perpetuated by many in conservation, the colonial and independent governments of Kenya, and popular media images. During colonialism and after, the government managed wildlife within and beyond the boundaries of protected areas and many politicians argued this was necessary for Kenya’s economic development. Seemingly at odds with this assessment was the argument that Kenya needed to develop the land to its most productive capacity. The establishment of Amboseli National Park, hunting and poaching, scientific research, the creation of group ranches, and the development of livestock are important elements of understanding of different ways of conceptualizing a place and how this led to the present-day emphasis on community-based conservation. Conservation and natural resource management in Kenya has long been the domain of scientists and social scientists, and historians have overlooked the role of wildlife and peoples’ relationship with it. I also show how pastoralism was central to Kenya’s development, particularly in the post-colonial era, even if it was marginalized by a national emphasis on agriculture. In this history of Amboseli, I combine oral and written sources to examine how different approaches to conservation and natural resource management have evolved as Kenya changed, as the Maasai adapted to these changes, and as the international conservation and scientific interests engaged with the local politics and society in the region. The historiographical dynamics of this research blend African history with the history of science and the environment as well as with conservation social science to show that African involvement in wildlife and natural resource management shaped and was shaped by the integration of multiple perspectives in this landscape. Copyright by AMANDA E. LEWIS 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At one time in my life, my heart knew only one home – the Southern Appalachians – but by the time this project was finished, I found that who I was and am has been shaped by other communities as well. My natal home in East Tennessee is where I draw my identity as a person, the way I speak, and whence I found my moral and intellectual foundation. For this I thank generations of family that came to a foreign land, cultivated it, withstood hardship, and created a community closely connected with the land. I am grateful for this legacy. I am thankful for the intellectual community at Michigan State University. I am grateful to my advisor Georgina Montgomery who challenged me to push the borders of areas where I had little familiarity. I thank my other committee members, Walter Hawthorne and Laura Fair, for guiding me in African historiography, methodology, and analysis. Meredith Gore helped me expand the interdisciplinarity of my work and instilled the hope in me that even historians can be conservationists. I thank many others in the History Department who, over the years, shaped me into a better scholar, writer, and researcher. The African Studies Center supports a vibrant community of Africanist scholars, of which I was proud to be a part. Through the ASC, my language instruction was supported by FLAS and Fulbright-Hayes Group Projects Abroad for Swahili. I must thank my Swahili instructors, Deogratias Ngonyani and Jonathan Choti, as well as Dominic Nang’ea and Julius Kuya for tutoring me in Maa. My field research in Kenya was made possible by a Fulbright-Hayes Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Grant, a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, and pre-dissertation research funding from the History Department. This funding allowed me to go far beyond what I had hoped to do in Kenya, but I give much credit to David Wiley and Christine Root for my success in writing grant proposals. v Many opened their lives to me in Kenya. I am thankful to Benjamin Tuarare and Morompi Ole Ronkei for opening their homes to me as well as giving me insights into the Maasai mind. My research was greatly enhanced by many people at the African Conservation Centre, the Amboseli Ecosystem Trust, the Noomayianat Community Development Organization, and the African Wildlife Foundation. I am so very grateful to Richard Ambani in the Kenya National Archives for finding the unfindable. I also want to thank Joseph Leyian for giving me much of his time as my research assistant and Agnes Leyian for assisting me with many of the interviews with women in Amboseli. Without Shannon Harris, I would never have considered African history as a field to study. She was a constant source of encouragement from beginning to end and a quick phone call away for advice. Mel Page is responsible for suggesting I take my interest in African and environmental history to Kenya. It was a family effort too. Loren Carmichael, although not strictly family, provided sisterly care. I am eternally grateful to my parents, Richard and Vickie Lewis, who set me on a path of independent thinking and gave me a thirst for travel. And I must not forget that Phillip Lewis offered vital logistical and sibling support. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ix KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS x Introduction: Methods and Memory 1 Themes in the History of the Amboseli Landscape 6 Methods 8 Amboseli in Context 12 Place and Meaning in the Amboseli Landscape 20 Visions of Africa 23 The Tragedy of the Amboseli Commons 27 Maasai Historiography and the Ilkisongo of Amboseli 34 Moving the Maasai to the Southern Reserve 38 Chapter 1 Creating Amboseli National Park: Multi-Local Visions of the Landscape 42 Early Perspectives on the Amboseli Landscape 46 Colonial Governance of Amboseli 51 Amboseli at Independence – Kajiado and the Nation 59 Gazettement, Land Adjudication, and the Kajiado County Council 71 Like Water Poured in a Hand – Promises and Trickery 84 Conclusion 90 Chapter 2 Counting Cattle: Colonial Development Discourses in Amboseli 93 The Overstocking Debate 94 Governance and Development – Improving Herds, Empowering ‘Natives’ 100 Water Works 114 International Context of Managing Wildlife in Amboseli 125 Conclusion 131 Chapter 3 Amboseli as a Living Laboratory: The Reciprocity of Place and Science 133 Amboseli’s Living Laboratory 134 Borderlands and Scale in Amboseli Science 136 David Western and the Science and Politics of Conservation 141 Amboseli Conservation Program 147 Amboseli Primate Research 155 Amboseli Elephant Research Project 169 Legacy of Science in Amboseli 176 Chapter 4 Hunting and Poaching in Amboseli: Animal Meaning in Maasai Life, Kenyan Politics, and International Conservation 178 Hunting in Amboseli – Maasai Identity and Colonial Sport 180 Colonial Anti-Poaching 186 vii Amboseli Wildlife Hunted 189 African Hearts and Minds 197 Poaching at Uhuru 200 Amboseli Wildlife – Animal Death after Independence 204 Decline of the Pachyderms – CITES and Amboseli 216 Conclusion 221 Chapter 5 Beyond the Park: Range Management, Livestock Development, and Community Conservation in Amboseli 223 Maasai and their Cattle 226 Range Management 227 Land Adjudication (Group Ranches) Act 233 Subdivision of Group Ranches 245 Multi-Use Landscape 254 Parks Beyond Parks 265 Conclusion 270 Conclusion 272 APPENDIX 284 BIBLIOGRAPHY 286 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Fallen tree in Amboseli National Park 43 Figure 2. Map of Amboseli Ecosystem 54 Figure 3. Game Committee, East African Standard, July 22, 1964 70 Figure 4. Photograph of Collins and Mapes posing over Odinga 209 Figure 5. Group and Individual Ranches of Kajiado County 241 ix KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS African Land Development Board ALDEV African Livestock Marketing Organization ALMO African Conservation Centre ACC African Wildlife Foundation AWF Amboseli Baboon Project ABP Amboseli Conservation Program ACP Amboseli Elephant Research Project AERP Amboseli National Park ANP Common Pool

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