Throughout history, the Turkana pastoralists of northern Kenya have always followed the water. These families used to relocate about 15 times a year in search of watering holes for their livestock, including cows, donkeys, camels, goats, and sheep.
The exchange of livestock has also been the foundation of friendships within these communities. However, this support system breaks down when no one has any animals. During an interview, a Turkana woman asked anthropologist Ivy Pike, who has been working in the region for 25 years, “How can we help one another when no one has any animals?”
According to Pike, from the University of Arizona in Tucson, the suffering experienced by these communities is profound. Women struggle to fulfill their nurturing role because they can’t safely explore the landscape for medicinal plants, such as herbs for postpartum bleeding or fevers in children. On the other hand, men’s identities are closely tied to owning livestock. In fact, the Turkana language even has a word, “ekebotonit,” to describe a man without animals.
“The loneliness of having no animals holds a particular place of distress that transcends the food and livelihood that livestock offer,” wrote Pike and a colleague in 2020 in Transcultural Psychiatry. “An ekebotonit not only loses his sense of purpose and the companionship herds offer, but according to the Turkana, becomes erased — a man with no say in society.”
2023-11-07 09:00:00
Article from www.sciencenews.org
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