Monday, July 28, 2014

Inside the world of Kenya's nomadic Turkana people

Butter baths, 5kg necklaces and rituals that involve being smeared with DUNG: Inside the world of Kenya's nomadic Turkana people 

  • The 250,000 strong Turkana tribe live in remote northern Kenya in an area bordered by South Sudan and Ethiopia
  • The area in which they live is arid and dotted with volcanic rocks, so they depend on livestock to survive
  • Customs include using butter or animal fat to wash and using both - or dog poo - to stop their necklaces chafing
  • Men graduate from a child to a warrior via a ceremony that involves killing an animal and being smeared with dung
  • Their elaborate beaded necklaces reflect their social status and men will not look at women who don't wear them
By Ruth Styles
They live in one of the most hostile places on Earth, where the ground is littered with black volcanic rocks and daytime temperatures regularly soar to 45 degrees Celsius.
But for the people of the Turkana tribe, this lunar landscape is home. More than two days drive from Kenyan capital Nairobi and bordered by South Sudan to the north and Ethiopia to the east, 250,000 people eke out a living from their cattle on the shores of the mighty Lake Turkana.
Yet despite living in one of the remotest and most inhospitable places on the planet, photographer Eric Lafforgue, the man behind these incredible images, says the people are welcoming - and have a fascinating array of traditions, not least their habit of celebrating the passage to adulthood with a liberal application of dung.
Striking: A Turkana woman shows off her traditional beaded collar. The red colour of her skin comes from a mix of ochre, butter and perfume which is used instead of water to bath
Striking: A Turkana woman shows off her beaded collar. The red colour of her skin comes from a mix of ochre, butter and perfume which is used instead of water to bath


Beads: All women wear beads, with men refusing to look at them if they fail to do so. They never take them off unless they're ill or in mourning for a relative
Beads: All women wear beads, with men refusing to look at them if they fail to do so. They never take them off unless they're ill or in mourning for a relative

Elaborate: Men and women wear Nakaparaparal or ear ornaments
Craft: Nakaparaparal are made by men from aluminum
Beautiful: Both men and women wear the Turkana's trademark nakaparaparal or earrings, which are made exclusively by the men using aluminium

Important: For Turkana men, ostrich feathers are a sign of adulthood and are thus hugely expensive - two ostrich feathers are worth the same as a goat to the tribe
Important: For Turkana men, ostrich feathers are a sign of adulthood and are thus hugely expensive - two ostrich feathers are worth the same as a goat to the tribe

'To become a man, a Turkana teenager must go through a ceremony where he has to kill an animal with a spear in one throw,' explains Lafforgue. 'Once done, the elders will open the stomach of the animal and smear all the dung on his body - it's their way of blessing him.'

And the Turkana tribe's uses for poo aren't limited to initiation rites. With little wood to be found, most of the cooking is done over fires made from dried cow dung, while dog poo is used both as a medicine and as a lubricant to keep the tribe's elaborate bead necklaces from chafing the neck.
'Women put animal fat all around their neck and also on their huge necklaces to prevent skin irritation,' reveals Lafforgue. 'They also use dog poo as a medicine and as a lubricant for their necks.'
But it's animal fat that holds the most value for the Turkana, who along with using it as both food and medicine, also use it as a substitute for water when it comes to keeping clean.
Protection: Women use animal fat to protect their bodies from the sun
Uncomfortable: They also use animal fat (and dog poo) to stop their necklaces from chafing
Protective: Women of the Turkana tribe use animal fat mixed with ochre to protect their skin and use either animal fat or dog poo to stop their necklaces from chafing


Adults: Women are considered adults as soon as they hit puberty but boys have to go through an initiation ritual before they are considered men
Adults: Women are considered adults as soon as they hit puberty but boys have to go through an initiation ritual before they are considered men

Family affair: Fathers give children different jobs depending on their age with boys in charge of herding while girls do things like collecting firewood and water
Family affair: Fathers give children different jobs depending on their age with boys in charge of herding while girls do things like collecting firewood and water

Initiation rite: Boys of the Turkana tribe aren't considered men until they have killed an animal with a single spear throw, after which dung is smeared over their bodies
Initiation rite: Boys of the Turkana tribe aren't considered men until they have killed an animal with a single spear throw, after which dung is smeared over their bodies

'Since water is so rare, it’s used only for drinking and never for washing,' says Lafforgue. 'Instead, the Turkana clean themselves by rubbing fat or butter all over their skin.
'Turkana women follow it up with grease paint which they make by mixing animal fat with red ochre and fragrant leaves from one of the local trees. They say it's good for the skin and it protects them from the insects.'
Teeth, meanwhile, are cared for using twigs from the esekon tree. 'You see them using it all day long,' adds Lafforgue. 'The Turkana people have the cleanest bill of dental health in the country.'
Although the Turkana prize their esekon trees and impressively large herds of sheep and cattle, wealth is revealed via elaborate beaded jewellery which the tribe value above everything else.
'Turkana women love to adorn themselves with a lot of necklaces,' says Lafforgue. 'Beads can be made from glass, seeds, cowry shells or iron. They don't remove their necklaces unless they are ill or mourning a relative - they even sleep in them.
'Married women will also wear a plain metal ring around the neck, which has the same function as a wedding ring. So important are necklaces to the Turkana, a man will do all he can to make sure that his womenfolk are dressed in impressive beads.
Traditional: Older women wear labrets which pierce their lower lips
Elaborate: A man shows off his emedot hairdo
Striking: Older women still wear labrets that cut through their lower lips while all men wear the elaborate emedot hairstyle which is made using clay (bottom)


Elaborate: Turkana women all wear beaded necklaces - women who don't are shunned as 'being like animals' by the men of the tribe
Elaborate: Turkana women all wear beaded necklaces - women who don't are shunned as 'being like animals' by the men of the tribe

Painful: All Turkana people have their lower incisors removed in childhood - a practice thought to have begun as a way to make nursing people with TB easier
Painful: All Turkana people have their lower incisors removed in childhood - a practice thought to have begun as a way to make nursing people with TB easier
Toothbrush: A man uses an esekon stick to clean his teeth
Useful: The Turkana's corodat finger hook is used to knock out lower incisors - and as a weapon if needed
Clean teeth: The Turkana use the esekon stick to clean their teeth (top). Lower incisors, however, are removed in childhood using the corodat finger hook (bottom)


'Even if they can't afford to send their girls to school, they will still ensure that they have beads because the quantity and style of jewelry a woman wears reveals her social status. In particular, a woman without beads is bad and men will ignore her - they say "you look like an animal without beads".'
But jewellery isn't only for the women. Men too wear elaborate decorations, most famously, their nakaparaparaI or ear ornaments, which are made by the men of the tribe from aluminium.
'Men have elaborate mudpack hairdos called emedot which is a kind of chignon,' adds Lafforgue. 'It takes the shape of a large bun of hair at the back of the head and they decorate it with ostrich feathers to show they are elders or warriors.
'Tattoos are also common and usually have a special meaning,' he continues. 'Men are tattooed on the shoulders and upper arm each time they kill an enemy — the right shoulder for killing a man, the left for a woman.'
More gruesomely, the Turkana tribe still cling to their tradition of knocking out the lower incisors - a practice usually done in childhood using a fearsome-looking finger hook called a corogat.
'Originally, it was supposed to protect people against tetanus because they can feed people with milk through the hole when they're lock-jawed. It also means the lower teeth don't interfere with the labrets many put on the lower lip.'
Sadly, the Turkana, who have lived in their remote home for millennia, could be under threat after oil was discovered underneath their land. 'Many in Kenya are worried that the Turkana will lose their traditions,' says Lafforgue.
'I'm not sure they will though. The Turkana have succeeded in maintaining their way of life for centuries. Against all the odds, they manage to raise livestock in the desert. Their knowledge allows them to live where most humans could not.'
Threatened: Because oil has been discovered on Turkana land, many are worried that their way of life and traditions could come under threat
Threatened: Because oil has been discovered on Turkana land, many are worried that their way of life and traditions could come under threat
Man's best friend: Because of their many dogs, the Turkana have one of the highest incidences of echinoccocus in the world. According to them, the disease is caused by a spell cast by the Toposa tribe
Man's best friend: Because of their many dogs, echinoccocus is common among the Turkana. But they say the disease is caused by a spell cast by the Toposa tribe
Remote: The Turkana live in an inhospitable part of northern Kenya, bordered by South Sudan to the north and Ethiopia to the east
Remote: The Turkana live in an inhospitable part of northern Kenya, bordered by South Sudan to the north and Ethiopia to the east

Lunar landscape: The Turkana - and their neighbours, the El-Molo - live in an area dotted with volcanic rocks and where daytime temperatures regularly climb to 45 degrees
Lunar landscape: The Turkana - and their neighbours, the El-Molo - live in an area dotted with volcanic rocks and where daytime temperatures climb to 45 degrees

Home: Most Turkana live in small dwellings made from wood, animal skins and palm leaves that they call an 'awl'. Inside the homes live a man, his wives and children
Home: Most Turkana live in small dwellings made from wood, animal skins and palm leaves that they call an 'awl'. Inside the homes live a man, his wives and children

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WANT TO MEET THE TURKANA? HERE'S HOW YOU CAN:

Palm Shade Camp in Loyangalani sits in the heart of Turkana tribal lands between Lake Turkana and the Chalbi Desert. For more information, call +254 726 714768.
In Nairobi, MailOnline stayed at  House of Waine, where rooms start at $550 (£323) per night. The 11-bedroom luxury boutique hotel is set on 2.5 acres in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi. For more information, see houseofwaine.com
Flights to Nairobi with Kenya Airways start at £731.41 ($1,241) return. For more information, see kenya-airways.com.
For more information on visiting Kenya, contact the Kenya Tourism Board on 0207 367 0931 or visit magicalkenya.com

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