THE BEADED ORNAMENTS REPRESENT MAASAI CULTURAL VALUES AND TRADITIONS. The practice is done specifically by women, and it’s considered their duty to learn beadwork. These products are for both men and women, and they’re used in cultural practices such as weddings, rituals, and community events.
The Samburu are a gerontocracy. The power of elders is linked to the belief in their curse, underpinning their monopoly over arranging marriages and taking on further wives. This is at the expense of unmarried younger men, whose development up to the age of thirty is in a state of social suspension, prolonging their adolescent status. The paradox of Samburu gerontocracy is that popular attention focuses on the glamour and deviant activities of these footloose bachelors, which extend to a form of gang feuding between clans, widespread suspicions of covert adultery with the wives of older men, and theft of their stock.
The man in the picture is wearing a shuka, “traditional” catch-all piece of clothing, a universal accessory and an item of home decor. The origins of shuka are not 100% known. The best explanation is that it was brought in by Scottish missionaries during the colonial era. The Africa Inland Mission was established in 1895, and until 1909 Kenya was its only operation. This sounds like a logical explanation — after all, shuka cloth does resemble the Scottish plaid or tartan patterns.
