PI: Samuel Derbyshire | Collaborators: Lucas Lowasa, Gregory Akall, Abdikadir Kurewa| Research Assistant: Joseph Ekidor Nami
Project ID: 2019LG02 | Location of Research: Turkana, Kenya | Host Institution: St John’s College, University of Oxford, UK
This project documented material knowledge associated with the asapan ceremony of the Turkana of northern Kenya, a rite of passage undergone by Turkana men and comprises a critical transition into elderhood. Asapan continues to be undertaken in the present era and continues to be both socially and politically consequential. Whilst changes have clearly taken place within the materiality of asapan over the course of its long and complex history, a stronger and more important sense of continuity is often emphasised by elders today and is certainly underlined in many of the interviews and group discussions encompassed in this archive.
Brief overview of the asapan ceremony
Asapan, the initiation ceremony of the pastoral-nomadic Turkana of northern Kenya, is a ceremony that draws together an extraordinary array of skills, knowledges, material histories and embodied performances. It is a social institution that reverberates through the entire population of the remote Turkana region, its ramifications emerging in ritual and domestic contexts alike. It is central to marriage, the management of territories (ngitela) and a wide range of other important practices, but it also compels the construction and implementation of a diminishingly rare array ritually-significant objects. Spears (ngakwara), wooden bowls (ngatubwae), clay pots (agulu), circular wrist knifes (ngabara), head ornaments (ngapukoto) and bundles of neck beads (ngakoroumwa) all take part in asapan, materialising the critical transition into adulthood. In their performances, these objects reach across diverse spatial and temporal scales, articulating complex histories, value systems and a landscape of other social institutions; they serve to make and re-make Turkana identities in the face of unprecedented socio-economic and environmental uncertainty.
Interview with Silale Kuom with subtitles (2019LG02-I007-0562)
Silale Kuom, a direct descendant of the famous diviner/seer (emuron) Lokerio (who led the Turkana’s ethno-territorial expansion in the middle of the 19th century) discusses the construction of emakuk stools/headrests. Silale, being widely known as one of the last, and most skilled, individuals to construct ekichielongs (stools/headrests) in the emakuk form, outlines his understanding of the key elements to remember when collecting raw materials and crafting these objects. Following this interview, Silale bequeathed on the Apprehending Asapan team the last emakuk he had made, so that they would show it to another participant who might be able to construct one.
Organisation of the dataset
The archive is organised in a manner that reflects patterns of research and documentation that were, for over two years, pursued by a team of three: Lucas Lowasa, Ekidor Nami and Samuel Derbyshire, in a range of locations across southern Turkana. Over the course of the work, Samuel Derbyshire led the project and undertook both audio-visual and photographic documentation. Lucas Lowasa led interviewing and group discussion activities, broader community engagement, and undertook some photography. Ekidor Nami led photographic documentation. All team members lived and worked together in a highly collaborative manner; this archive is a result of their combined efforts. Broadly speaking the archive is organised around 13 processes of construction, the assets that correspond to these processes are labelled C001 – C013 (the “C” standing for “crafting process”). Each of these processes comprises a series of audio-visual files and photographs (although a small number have only photographs, due to logistical limitations at the time of documentation). In each example, the construction process has been followed carefully and in its entirety, with documentation work usually beginning at the point when raw materials were being collected. Needless to say, without the patience and good humour of all the Turkana craftspeople who participated in this project, it would not have been possible. Living and working with these people for many months on end has left a very deep impression on all project members. The depth and complexity of material knowledge in Turkana is so fathomless as to be impossible to fully encompass in one lifetime, let alone a single two-year long project. Nevertheless, the team have endeavoured to do all research participants justice, and to represent their knowledge and skill as clearly as possible. Where possible, tree and plant species have been identified and included, in instances where this has not been possible to do with enough certainty, clear images of the trees are provided along with their names in the Turkana language.
Curated collection of assets by Samuel Derbyshire
A curated selection of assets from the collection has been provided below as a small sample of the type of assets that can be found in the repository, as well as their content, format, and the metadata provided. The documentation generated by the project has been published under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and can be consulted and downloaded freely including a guide to the dataset which explains the different formats, sizes, and the ID attribution process of the assets, and a metadata spreadsheet with all the metadata information which was collated following the Material Culture Ethnography Metadata Schema (MCEMS),
Having spent weeks carving and scraping their bodies, hollowing them out and smoothing their outer surfaces, Nakiru, Nasekon and Akure begin work constructing the hide components of several akurum and apangach milk container. They use cow hide, strips of palm and leather string.
Having spent weeks crafting and then decorating akurum and apangach milk container, Nasekon, Nakiru and Akure construct the hide components of the vessels, working together to cut and weave strips of goat hide around them.
Having finsihed crafting and fitting the wooden shaft, and several weeks after work initially commenced on this spear, Loura begins working on a spearhead cover (akuroru). At first he is assisted by his wife Nakiru, and later by a passing friend, Ekale. They remove a piece of cow hide that had been buried the evening before to make it moist and supple, cut strips from it and begin bending, shaping and beating it. A piece of metal wire is bound tightly around the tip. This bound wire section serves as a place to grip between the owner’s toes, for quick removal of the cover as and when necessary. When almost complete, the akuroru is painted with red ochre, to give it a red sheen.
Having purchased metal in the form of an abarait circular wrist knife from Lodwar, Loura works on preparing a cover for its external and internal edges using a piece of cow hide. He buries the cow hide in the evening and, after uncovering it the next morning, cuts it into strips with help from his wife Nakiru. Having done this, he bends, squeezes and hammers the hide into shape, trimming it with his knife regularly. When ready, he grinds ochre on a course stone and applies it to the hide with animal oil to give it a red colour.
Having finsihed crafting and fitting the wooden shaft, and several weeks after work initially commenced on this spear, Loura begins working on a spearhead cover (akuroru). At first he is assisted by his wife Nakiru, and later by a passing friend, Ekale. They remove a piece of cow hide that had been buried the evening before to make it moist and supple, cut strips from it and begin bending, shaping and beating it. A piece of metal wire is bound tightly around the tip. This bound wire section serves as a place to grip between the owner’s toes, for quick removal of the cover as and when necessary. When almost complete, the akuroru is painted with red ochre, to give it a red sheen.
Referencing the emakuk of Silale Kuom, which was given to the Apprehending Asapan team in order to show other craftsmen, Esuruon continues fashioning his own emakuk. After uncovering it from its burial place, he continues chipping away at it, hewing out the shape of a broad emakuk. He then begins cutting and scoring a length of goat skin, which he will use to construct the handle. When ready, he makes a fire and places his spear into it to heat up the lower metal segment. He then uses this hot metal to burn holes into the legs at an appropriate height to thread through the hide handle. When complete, he threads the hide through and ties it. He then scrapes the surface of the headrest/stool to make it smooth and applies a layer of animal oil to finish.
Project Team
Acknowledgements
The team would like to record their sincere thanks and appreciation to all participants in this project, many of whom have abided their presence for months on end with wonderful hospitality and patience. It is only through their insight, guidance, and constant input that this work has been possible. Loura Ekaale and his wider family deserve a special note of thanks for participating so enthusiastically in this work and forming it into the success that it is. This archive is a product of expansive collaboration, drawing together the skills and historical knowledge of numerous different places and people. It is not a complete picture of asapan, or indeed the broader socio-material domains with which it connects, past or present. Nevertheless, it is an honest and detailed picture, and we are sure it will be of great value to future generations.