Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte. Academiejaar 2010-2011. Changing Concepts of Nature and Conservation Regarding Eastern Mau Forest. A Case Study of the Mariashoni Ogiek. “When you speak about forest, you have touched the Ogiek.” A master‟s dissertation presented by: Charline Spruyt 00603040 [email protected] In partial fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of MASTERS OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES. AX00001A Promoter: Prof. Dr. Koen Stroeken Local Promoter: Dr. Sylvester Elikana Anami Acknowledgements. It is a pleasure for me to thank those who made this assessment possible. I would like to take a moment to show my gratitude to those special people whom I could not have done this project without. First off, I would like to thank my promoter Prof. Dr. Koen Stroeken for believing in my subject and for having the faith I was capable of completing a three month research in Kenya. I am also grateful for his patience, good advice and guidance that have encouraged me throughout. His ideas and insights have helped me to put my research and experiences down in writing. I would also like to express gratitude to VLIR/UOS, which saw enough potential in my project to offer me a scholarship and gave me the opportunity to carry out this research. All my thanks go out to my local promoter, Dr. Sylvester Elikana Anami. Without him, this undertaking would not have been possible. He was there from the very beginning, giving me feedback on different possible research subjects and eventually presenting me the idea of working around Mau Forest. He offered me his professional support, his friendship and admirable generosity for which I will always be grateful. Dr. Anami opened his home to me in Lakisama, Nairobi and showed me what it meant to carry through. When times get rough I can still hear him say “But you know, Charline, you have to sacrifice!”, putting me back in my place and pushing me to keep on going. He taught me how to keep an open mind and stay flexible. New things will always come our way, especially in the field, do not panic and just deal with it. I will never forget his valuable lessons and I will always be indebted to him and his amazing family. They opened their home and hearts to me, and made me feel part of the family. I thank Christina for her hospitality, her warm spirit and listening ear; baby Stephanie for always making me laugh, and Jennifer for teaching me how to make delicious chapatti, showing me around the neighbourhood and being a good friend. I hope we will all one day sit in front of the house again, and watch the sun go down. I am grateful to Ms. Valentine Ochanda, friend and colleague to Dr. Anami, for her time and effort during this project. She stood by me during my first exciting introduction in the field and supported me by getting in contact with ProMara. I would also like to thank ProMara, the Chief of Party Mr. Ian Deshmukh for providing me a working place in their office in Nakuru and his staff for explaining me their experiences in Mau. I would especially like to show my appreciation towards Mr. Lazarus Kubasu Nolasaco whom I could turn to whenever I had any questions or doubts, during the research and when I was back in Belgium. Mr. Ian Deshmukh also introduced me to Mr. Cosmas Kipkemoi Saibala, who assisted me when taking interviews, translated for me and introduced me to Mariashoni and the Ogiek community. He was an amazing guide and a good friend, someone I could trust and depend on, for which I am tremendously thankful for. I would also like to thank the Ogiek community I worked with, for their kindness and welcoming personality. I thank all the 2 people who have helped me to enter their life world and who were willing to share their stories with me. I thank my friends and family for supporting this enterprise and believing in me. My mum and dad for letting me go in the first place, for their assistance and blessing. Furthermore, my sister Laurence for enduring my sometimes crazy demeanour whilst writing, taking the time to read my work and helping me clear out some basic grammatical mistakes. And finally, a special thought goes out to Helder, who made it so hard for me to leave, but, that much easier for me to come back home. Accomplishing this project without my love and confident beside me was not a simple task. I thank him for always pushing me to the fullest and giving me enough confidence to carry out this journey. I can only hope he is proud of what his girl has achieved. This work is dedicated to two special people. Fabien Delsaux, for being my guardian angel. Merci de veiller sur moi, comme je t‟ai toujours connu. Ta présence m‟a donné la force de continuer. Désiré Delsaux, for stimulating my interest in Africa and for exhilarating me at the onset of this expedition. On n‟a pas eu assez de temps de parler de mes aventures. J‟avais encore tant de choses à te dire. Voici ma façon de te raconter mon expérience, et de te dire merci pour ton encouragement et ton enthousiasme. Charline „Tiepkoros‟ Spruyt. Gent, 2011. 3 Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................................... 4 List of abbreviations............................................................................................................................. 6 Glossary. ............................................................................................................................................... 7 List of Figures. ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction. ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Methodology. ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Part I: Literature review, the Forest and the People. .......................................................................... 18 1 Mau Forest. ................................................................................................................................ 18 1.1 Ecological introduction. ...................................................................................................... 18 1.2 Ecological and economic importance of Mau Forest. ......................................................... 20 1.3 Environmental challenges. .................................................................................................. 22 1.4 Mau Forest Rehabilitation Programme. .............................................................................. 24 2 The Ogiek. .................................................................................................................................. 27 2.1 Let‟s get acquainted; Who are the Ogiek? A history. .......................................................... 27 2.2 Social and political organisation. ........................................................................................ 31 2.3 The dispossession and (re)settlement of the Ogiek; an overview. ...................................... 35 3 An introduction to the field; Mariashoni.................................................................................... 39 Part II: Nature..................................................................................................................................... 42 1 The „Then‟ and the „Now‟. ......................................................................................................... 42 2 Ogiek perceptions of nature – human relationships. .................................................................. 44 2.1 The forest is our home. ........................................................................................................ 44 3 Changing environment, changing lifestyles. .............................................................................. 48 3.1 Ogiek landscape and land tenure. ........................................................................................ 48 3.2 Hunting and gathering to farming. ...................................................................................... 56 3.3 “Culture and honey rhyme together.” .................................................................................. 63 3.4 Traditional medicine. ........................................................................................................... 68 4 Tradition and Ogiek identity. ..................................................................................................... 71 5 Conclusion Part I. ....................................................................................................................... 72 Part III: Conservation. ........................................................................................................................ 75 1 Indigenous people. ..................................................................................................................... 75 1.1 The concept of an „indigenous people‟. .............................................................................. 75 1.1.1 The Ogiek as an indigenous people in Kenya. ............................................................. 77 1.2 Indigenous people and conservation. .................................................................................. 80 2 The Ogiek and conservation. ....................................................................................................