Normal View Dyslexic View
Thematic Article
Relational landscapes: environmental discourse and identity of the Sengwer community in Kenya
Abstract
This article explores the intersection between landscape, worldview, African spiritualities and human-environment relations among the Sengwer ethnic community in Kenya. Documenting a range of indigenous knowledge expressions, the article examines narratives of landscape within the broader spectrum of environmental discourses and identity claims. It shows that among the Sengwer, cosmology and lifeworld are deeply intertwined, which recognises a multiplicity of sentient beings, only some of which are perceptible. The central figure bridging the seen and unseen worlds is the thunder deity Iilat, who shapes the moral code for the community. The Sengwer landscape not only provides them with food, medicine, water, honey, and shelter but also embodies their identity, history, memory, cultural and religious significance. Overall, the Sengwer identity is conceptualised as based on a relational knowledge that is a socially constructed process centring around the spiritual attachment to the landscape. This article therefore argues that the consideration of indigenous religious and spiritual knowledge sheds critical theoretical and practical light on African ecologies and human-environment relations. (This article is published in the thematic collection ‘African ecologies: the value and politics of indigenous knowledges’ edited by Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda, Damaris Parsitau and Abel Ugba .)
Keywords
relational landscapeenvironmentrelational ecologiesSengweridentityAfrican spiritualityLandscape narratives
There has been a rise in scholarly attention on landscape as a key cultural construction of human-environment relations. Landscapes combine scenery and as well as history and culture (Bubenzer & Bollig 2009: v). Through landscape, human nature relationships are produced and reproduced based on changing local worldviews. Thus, different people can view the same landscape differently, often simultaneously. Michael Bollig has argued for the consideration of landscapes as ‘bearing the memory of past generations, reflecting the depth of kinship relations and witness the legitimacy of occupation of contemporary generation’ (Bollig 2009: 329) Meanwhile, Neil Adger et al. (2011) emphasise the intrinsic and experiential values of natural resources and their cultural meanings to inhabitants within a landscape. Building on this scholarship, this article focuses on landscape, worldview and human-environment relations among the Sengwer community in Kenya. The article argues that Sengwer environmental knowledge is inscribed in landscape and spiritual narratives. Drawing on this area of research, the article seeks to make an original contribution to the multidisciplinary fields of human-environment relations, African ecologies and religions.
The Sengwer are a marginalised and indigenous community, who have a strong attachment to the forest and a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The Sengwer are scattered across the Cherangany ranges in the northwestern part of Kenya. Over the last few decades, the forests and landscape of the Cherangany Hills have been subject to unprecedented environmental degradation. In addition, the plains and forests of the Cherangany hills have been the subject of a protracted contest over ownership between the Kenyan government, the Sengwer, and other communities. This article explores the articulation of environmental knowledge through landscape narratives and claims of belonging. Drawing on participant observation and qualitative interviews with key Sengwer informants, the Sengwer elders, (the custodians of the Sengwer indigenious religion), regarding the landscape and culture in Cherangany. Research fieldwork for this article was carried out between december 2021 and July 2022. The article presents narratives about local landscapes and ecologies and highlights their potential implications for environmental conservation and climate change mitigation.
The Sengwer term Kōōr, which means a country, land or region. Similarly, Kōōkwo, means a village, and is also closely related to the land. This term could also mean gathering, an assembly, courtroom, or a sitting place for men in the homestead. The Sengwer terms Kōōr and Kōōkwo encompass a broader intertwined relationship between the community and their surrounding environment, which gives rise to a deep sense of the Sengwer history (Focus group discussion, 15 April 2022). For the Sengwer, the landscape is a place for generating livelihoods, encompassing not only the places of habitation such as the homestead but also certain sites set aside for particular communal ceremonies or rituals. The landscape involves the forest, which forms an integral part of their identity through their continued interactions. The relationship with the landscape is experienced in situ through practice, engagement and kinship affiliation with both the human and the non-human entities (Ingold 2011a: 55). The active engagement with the landscape has been defined by Tim Ingold as taskscape, that is ‘the pattern of dwelling activities’ (Ingold 1993: 153). Among the Sengwer, elderly people hold the repertoire of communal knowledges and practices that guide their engagement within the landscape. These include spiritual deities, plants, animals, insects and water bodies, which form part of their local knowledge and meaning of landscape. To the Sengwer, no indigenous word exists in the idea of ‘nature,’ or ‘environment,’ as such, although the noun Kōōr is used to refer to their surroundings or the landscape. The term Kōōr, which translates as ‘landscape,’ carries a deeper meaning. The landscape is an inherent social and cultural identity and a source of livelihood to the community, underpinned by their indigenous worldview. In the subsequent sections, I will first explore the holistic conceptualisation of landscape beyond the Western dichotomy of sacred and profane; secondly, I will explore the relational aspect rooted in the indigenous worldview of landscape; thirdly, I will explore how identity is rooted in landscape; and finally, I will conclude that the forest, which is an integral part of the landscape, is also presented as a pedagogical space for the Sengwer community and provide a summary of the article.
Beyond the Western dichotomy of sacred and profane
The Sengwer indigenous worldview is an essential component of human encounter with the non-human environment. The Sengwer worldview unravels the invisible dimension of indigenous knowledge incorporated into the daily activities of Sengwer people. From a religious point of view, John Mbiti discusses the distinct characteristics of the African worldview based on diverse cultures in the continent. He observed that, ‘for African peoples, this is a religious universe. Nature in the broadest sense of the word is not an empty impersonal object or phenomena … God is seen in and behind these objects and phenomena. The invisible world is symbolized or manifested by these visible and concrete phenomena and objects of nature … and is one of the most fundamental religious heritages of African peoples’ (Mbiti 1990: 56). Harold Turner, in his exploration of the indigenous worldview, which he termed the primal worldview, outlines six fundamental principles that form its foundation. Firstly, there is a deep sense of kinship with nature, recognising that animals, plants, and humans all possess spiritual existence and are interdependent parts of a unified whole. Secondly, humans are seen as finite and weak, reliant on supernatural powers. Thirdly, there is a belief in a spiritual realm inhabited by beings more ultimate than humans. Fourthly, humans are thought capable of forming relationships with benevolent spiritual entities. Fifthly, there is a strong belief in an afterlife, often manifesting in reverence for ancestors, known as the ‘living dead.’ Lastly, the primal worldview holds that the physical and spiritual realms are inseparably linked, with the physical world acting as a conduit for spiritual experiences (Turner 2022: 30–32). Multiple terms have been used, albeit inflated, to emphasise the intense nature of African religiosity. For instance, Mbiti asserted that ‘Africans are notoriously religious, African traditional religion permeates all the aspects of a traditional African man and woman to the extent that it is not possible to separate life from religion, or religion from life’ (Mbiti 1971: 72). Historically, people have placed a certain attachment to different places, which they viewed as a symbolic and living expression of a deity. Thus, the African worldview did not distinguish between the sacred and the profane, as was common in the work of early anthropologists and sociologists. Émile Durkheim, for instance, famously considered the distinction between the sacred and the profane as the main characteristic of religion. Durkheim et al. asserted that the sacred thing is par excellence that which the profane should not touch, and cannot touch with impunity’ (2008: 62). Later, Mircea Eliade explored this further in his book, The Sacred and the Profane, arguing that ‘sacred and profane are two modes of being in the world, two existential situations assumed by man in the course of his history’ (Eliade 1968: 14). These are only two, but influential, examples of how the dichotomy of the sacred versus the profane is deeply engrained in Western scholarship, which is inadequate to understand African lifeworlds, such as among the Sengwer.
The Sengwer cultural framework is based on a religious or spiritual conceptualisation of the world, which forms part of the spiritual and material realities of their lives. The Sengwer worldview, which is rooted in religious thought systems, provides precepts and guidelines for human interaction with non-human entities. In this way, the manner of engaging with the world has been described by Tim Ingold as an ‘active, practical and perceptual engagement with constituents of the dwelt-in-world with its constituents, human and non-human, animate and inanimate’ (Ingold 2011b: 55). Sengwer cosmology is characterised by a complex tripartite relationship between the supernatural, the physical world, and humans. These entities, though distinct, are profoundly interconnected and exert a significant influence on one another. Central to traditional Sengwer life and their relationship with the environment is a belief in God (Asiis), Iilat, the ancestors (Ooy), elders, and community specialists, all of whom compel every individual to adhere to communal norms (Mamati 2018; Mamati & Maseno 2021). God, known as Asiis and commonly associated with the sun, is considered a representative of Cheptoilel, a powerful entity believed to reside in the skies. Asiis is also referred to as Chebet Chemataw, meaning ‘the unseen one,’ and can take a feminine form as implied by the name Chebet chebo Chemataw, or ‘Chebet, the daughter of Chemataw.’ Each morning, prayers for blessings are directed towards the sunrise (Kipkorir 2010: 14–15).
Iilat is another significant deity in Sengwer cosmology, associated with lightning or thunder. The deity plays a crucial moral role in the community, revered for his wrath in punishing those who violate communal norms and taboos. Iilat is the messenger as well as an active agent of the most remote deity Asiis. Iilat is the most potent spiritual entity governing the spiritual realm on earth, with his family of spirits typically residing in places like dense forests, waterfalls, and rivers (Mamati & Maseno 2021: 4). Deities like Iilat exhibit characteristics akin to living beings, including moods and the capacity for positive or negative emotions, influencing weather patterns based on their disposition. Their dynamic nature means they respond to human actions, and when angered, the Sengwer community, through its elders, conducts rituals to restore harmony. For instance, rituals were historically performed to appease Iilat for rain during droughts or to combat pestilence (Interview with Kipkorir, January 15, 2022, Tangul). Due to his association with rain, Iilat is perceived as the god of rain or the god of thunder as these were some of the forms of his manifestation (Kipkorir & Welbourn 2008).
In Sengwer homesteads, tradition dictates offering libations to ancestors, a practice still upheld by the elderly. Ancestors are seen as guardians of family affairs, traditions, ethics, and activities, infusing the entire landscape with their sacred presence. While the Sengwer language lacks a specific term for ‘ancestors,’ it does have terms for ‘ancestral spirits’: Ooy in singular and Ooyin in plural. Ancestors in the Sengwer community are those remembered for positive deeds and from whom lineages have descended. Terms used to refer to ancestors include ‘our elders,’ ‘our grandfathers,’ ‘forefathers,’ ‘forbears,’ and the Swahili expressions wazee wetu and mababu zetu. Lineages are patrilineal in nature, meaning that a clan consists of all patrilineal descendants of a common ancestor who do not marry. However, ancestor veneration may also include matrilineal relations from whom a particular individual descended.
It is believed that the elders hold the wisdom and knowledge to understand how to coexist peacefully with spiritual entities as well as environment. As such, their role is to pass this knowledge from generation to generation among community members. The elders are also tasked with resolving conflicts among members of the community. They reconcile individuals or the community with the spiritual world through rituals and restabilises cordial relationships between the material and spiritual world (Paul Kibet, Interview, 2 May 2022). Kibet further noted that a fundamental aspect of the traditional worldview is respect to other life forms, failure to which amounts to transgression. Humans are part of the interconnected and divine natural world, and as such, they are expected to treat nature with respect and reverence, rather than attempting to control it and dominate.
A relational landscape
In Sengwer narratives, various aspects of the landscape are perceived as part of a life-giving force. Viewed from this perspective, the Sengwer express their connection to an animate and personified landscape in terms of kinship. They often relate to the landscape by connecting with the land, forests, hills, animals, birds, insects, the sun, stars, and rivers. Water sources like waterfalls, rivers, hills, and dense forests are considered to have great spiritual power, as they are inhabited by the thunder deity, Iilat.
The land is the root of all cultural norms and social connections in the Sengwer lifeworld. The landscape is the backbone of their existence, source of life and all they need for survival. It is the basis of sustenance, family and community structure, and the bond with the divine. Through ceremonies and practices associated aspects of life, the social, economic, spiritual, and cosmological worlds of the Sengwer people are all intertwined. The Sengwer’s connection to the landscape is not only resource-based but also holds immense symbolic significance. The kind of intertwined relationship between the environment and spirituality in African traditional religions is part of what has been termed ‘ecologies of religion’ in Africa (Olupona 2009).
In Cherangany hills, the main water sources are the various rivers and rivulets that flow from the watershed. Other than the locals, these rivers are depended upon by so many other people making the water shed a vital ecological zone in North and Western parts of Kenya. On the Eastern side of the Embobut forest, along Embobut river, various clans of the Marakwet community have diverted the water into furrows which are communal owned based on the clans. Some of these furrows are estimated to be around 200 and 300 years old and are attributed to the ingenuity of the Sirikwa people whom the Sengwer claim to be part of them (Davies et al. 2014: 514). These furrows mainly provide drinking water for humans and livestock as well as for irrigation purposes in the arid Kerio Valley.
When discussing the importance of the landscape, a 70-year-old man stated: ‘The landscape is a vital source of water. Inside the forest there are various streams and rivers that flow from it. Without these forests, people in Egypt would die. Without the forest, there would be no life for us and the animals. Our forest are sources of the following big rivers, Nzoia, Kerio and Embobut rivers. The wester side has River Nzoia which feeds into Lake Victoria and on the Eastern side Embobut River feeds into the Kerio River going upto Turkana’ (Cherop, personal communication, May 12, 2022). In his opinion, the forest provides essential needs for human life, without it, life would not be possible.
In Kakimiti, an elderly female shared that the hills and the forest were of high ritual significance. She described the dense forested places as holy place and mentioned that the elders go there to pray on top of hills or along the riverbanks whenever there was no rain. Similar, narratives were replicated in various conversation I had with different members of the Sengwer community.
All waterfalls and river confluences within the Sengwer landscape are treated with great reverence. These locations are believed to be imbued with the dreaded Iilat and his family. There exist specific prohibitions that forbid people from interfering with these places that are invested with the powerful non-human agency. Elders have mentioned several instances when people have interfered with Iilat’s abode. In the 1980s, along the Embobut river, Rev Father Reinhardt Bottner, a German catholic missionary, constructed a bridge that was subsequently destroyed by floods. The locals interpreted this occurrence as an expression of anger from Iilat for disrupting his habitation. Dense thick forests, referred to as Uumbē, are believed to be a habitat for Iilat and his family. People were not allowed to interfere with these forests. It is believed that intrusion into Iilat’s residence brings forth calamities and disasters, as evidenced by the recent landslides that occurred in the Kaben and Liter regions in 2020 (Jacob Chepsiya, Interview, April 11, 2022).
During the course of my fieldwork in May 2022 along the Kerio Valley, I encountered an elderly woman, Kabon Chelanga Chebet (alias Ma Chetum), reputed to have prophesied about the landslide. According to her account, she received a premonition in a dream, forewarning of the imminent landslide, which she attributed to human activities disturbing a dense forest in proximity to Kamolokong. This particularly thick forest is perceived to be the abode of Iilat. She lamented that her cautionary message went unheeded by many, resulting in tragic consequences when the landslide occurred in April 2020 where several people lost their lives, properties such as schools, homes and hospitals destroyed (Kabon Chelang Chebet, May 12, 2022).
During my field visit to Kamoi, my first destination was a waterfall. Accessing the waterfall required traversing a maize field until reaching a designated viewpoint. The elderly gentleman accompanying me mentioned that in the past, these areas were covered in forests instead of maize fields. He specifically pointed out that the residence of Iilat and his family occupies the site in the deep gigantic water pool. I received a cautionary warning against photographing Iilat’s house, as such an act was believed to incur his displeasure. Out of respect for their beliefs, I refrained from attempting to photograph the specific Illat House located within the cascading waterfall. My informant expressed sorrow over the gradual transformation of the area due to deforestation to establish maize fields, which exposed Iilat’s dwelling over time.
The Sengwer people acknowledged the significance of taboos attached to rivers, mountains, trees, animals, and a variety of other biodiversity in safeguarding ecosystems. Prior to the incursion of settlers, the Sengwer landscape was teeming with a wide variety of wild animals, which were part of their economic, social, and cultural lives. These animals were treated with high reverence, with some regarded as totems to the various clans. Taboos on totemic kins guided and formed the basis of their interaction with animals, birds, insects, and reptiles such as snakes and frogs (Mamati 2020). Women, mothers are never called by their actual names, but they are referred to using their totemic names as a sign of respect. For example, a son would refer to his mother as Kobilo, her totemic animal. Totems are an emblem that formed a basis of an intricate relationship. Each clan identifies with a particular object or animal which it treated as a sacred animal or bird due to the various roles it played in the life and experience of that particular clan. The totemic objects, animals or birds were cherished and respected by members of that clan. Societal mores prohibited the killing and hunting of an individual’s totem.
The Sengwer as ‘forest peoples’
The Sengwer attached high value to the native forests referred to as Tim found within their territories. The Sengwer attachment is reflected in how they refer to themselves as forest people and how local neighbouring communities refer to them in similar terms. For instance, in my travels to the forest, the bodaboda (motorbike taxi) operators who ferried me would equally refer to the Sengwer as forest people.
The forest is integral to the life of the Sengwer as a source of alimentation. Their livelihood revolves around living with the forest and wholly depended on it. There is a wide variety of wild fruits, vegetables and barks in the forest, which are gathered mainly by women, but occasionally by men and children. The adoption of other livelihood activities such as cultivation of maize, potatoes, pyrethrum was an alternative way of coping with the drastic human environmental vicissitudes in the landscapes.
The Sengwer landscape had a wide range of medicinal trees and plants. The harvesting of medicinal plants and trees was restricted to experienced herbalists who could procure the necessary components without damaging the trees and plants. As an example, Cherop, a herbalist in the eastern side of Embobut, observed that the acquisition of a large quantity of herbs from a single tree was implausible. Additionally, there existed a method for extracting medicinal bark from trees that posed no threat to their survival. I was informed that, after removing some bark, the herbalist applies cow dung to the spot where the bark has been taken to accelerate the tree’s healing process. Furthermore, the herbalist leaves noticeable markings on harvested trees to indicate to other herbalists that the tree is recovering and not to be harvested again until healed. Mbuni et al. (2020) have documented an annotated checklist of vascular plants found in this region, revealing a great diversity of medicinal plants.
Forays in the forest and the landscape with the locals evoked deep histories and memories of their pasts inscribed on different natural resources such water bodies, trees, caves, thick forest, waterfalls spread across the ranges. One example is the Kiptaberr hill, a key site in the lives of the Sengwer people. A legend is told of how the place is of importance in the Sengwer Lore. The Falling Rock Legend tells the story of a significant day called Kibuno Day, when young initiates returned from the forest after undergoing seclusion and circumcision (Kassagam 1993: 55–57). The village was bustling with activity as boys were anointed with oil, adorned with necklaces, and prepared for festivities. Honey and goats were gathered, porridge was cooked, and elders guarded the sacred honey beer for blessing the initiates. Amidst the celebration, a raven appeared, seeking attention but initially ignored. The raven then demanded the elders shave its head, warning of a great rock that would fall from the sky. After some hesitation, the bird’s warning was heeded by a few villagers who ventured into the forest. As predicted, a massive rock fell, destroying the village, its inhabitants, and animals. Survivors, grateful for the raven’s warning, established new villages, adopting the raven as their totem, forming the Kukai and Cherelkat clans responsible for protecting the birds. The legend of Kiptaberr, illustrating the profound connection of the Sengwer people to their landscape, persists, highlighting the community’s rich oral history (Mamati & Maseno 2021: 8). Most elderly individuals expressed concern that the greatest threat to the landscape is the disregard of customs and traditions by the youth, endangering the preservation of their culture.
Initially, the community practiced subsistence farming of millet along the plains of Cherangany, but later they transitioned to agribusiness due to the influence of the money-based economy. In the early 1980s, pyrethrum was the main cash crop, especially in the western side of Cherangany, from Kapyiego to Kapcherop and the surrounding areas. Pyrethrum has since been replaced by potatoes, which is arguably the mainstay economic activity for both the Sengwer and other local communities living in Cherangany. The introduction of these new crops through both colonial and postcolonial government initiatives has had a devastating impact on apiculture, as the chemicals used to spray pyrethrum and potatoes have led to the death of bees, which play a significant role in pollination. Furthermore, the introduction of these new cash crops demands large spaces for agricultural farming, which has led to the clearing of forests to establish farmlands (Joseph Kimutai, interview, February 26, 2022).
Apiculture is an indispensable part of their lives due to the cultural significance of bees. Elderly Sengwer noted that the forest is one integral part of their identity. He said, ‘we are the people of the forest; we are also the people of the bees. Bees are as important to us as cattle are to the Pokot’ (Kimaiyo, interview, February 26, 2022). To him the trees, bees and their lives co-exist. The bees collected their honey from the flowering trees that were native to the forest and from other trees in the lowlands. The rivers present within the landscape provided water for the bees, wild animals and human beings. The Sengwer people mounted beehives on trees. In his presentation to the Kenya land commission, Huntingford, who had carried out research among the Dorobo or Akiek in Nandi, noted that the Dorobo or Akiek ‘were forest dwellers, not forest destroyers, people do not destroy that on which their life depends and a journey through the forest reveals that their presence is not a menace to the trees’ (Kenya Land Commission 1934: 2040). Similary, Corinne Kratz has emphatically noted that the forest and the life of the forest run through Okiek life symbolically, ceremonially and economically (Kratz 1980: 360). The Sengwer just like the Ogiek (Akiek) group have high affinity to the forests. An old man candidly explained that all trees were their kins and that their elders never allowed them to harvest the whole tree: ‘When I see these trees, I see them as my relative, a tree is like my brother. We were not allowed to harm them. Our elders believed that our ancestors live through the trees. We the Sengwer are historically known as the people of the forest.’ He further noted that, ‘All the trees were treated as sacred. It is only branches that were allowed to be harvested for a particular function with permission from the elders’ (Kiprop, Interview, 29 January 2022).
Several people who grew up here were nostalgic of how the forest was huge. Elias Kimaiyo melancholically said: ‘When I was young, the forest was very big, dense and thick, with huge trees. There were a large variety of trees species. Sadly, most of the trees have been fell with the introduction of power saws and chainsaw.’ He was quick to absolve the Sengwer from the massive deforestation as he noted that these power saws are brought in by other people who are politically connected. He continued, ‘Over the years, even bamboo trees are diminishing.’ I was interested in understanding the reason behind the diminishing of bamboo species. Kimaiyo noted that there is over harvesting of bamboo as people are using them to reconstruct their houses. ‘A large number of bamboos were harvested when people were rebuilding their houses after being burned during the repeated eviction and violence’ (Kimaiyo, interview 6 May 2022). The Sengwer are not entirely absolved from deforestation as Kimaiyo noted that, they also began to cut trees when they realised that the forest no longer belongs to them. Thus, lack of the communal owner of the forest has contributed to a non-cooperative attitude from some members of the Sengwer Community.
Identity inscribed in the landscape
The Sengwer protected and conserved their environment for their socio-cultural, religious, and economic well-being, relying on the forest for their survival. They possessed knowledge of how to live without making permanent changes to the landscape. From childhood, every member of the society was taught communal customs of respecting and relating to the landscape. Their identity and livelihood were intricately bound to the forest and the landscape, as evidenced by their embodied belief systems and repository of environmental knowledge (Mamati & Maseno 2021). However, in recent years, their ancestral rights to manage the forest were forcibly transferred and rescinded by the Kenyan state through various laws enacted by both colonial and post-colonial regimes. Despite the recognition of their rights in various articles of the Kenyan constitution, the Sengwer people have been denied access to their ancestral lands by the Kenyan government (Mamati 2018). The access and control of forests and natural resources have been a persistent source of conflict between the Kenyan government and the Sengwer community in Embobut.
Traditionally, before colonialism, the Sengwer community had exclusive rights and jurisdiction over their territories and resources. Their land, collectively owned by the clans, was endowed with sacrosanct significance, transcending its treatment as a mere commodity. The land and forest are not only essential for the Sengwer community’s existence but also hold great spiritual and cultural significance. They see themselves as an intrinsic part of nature, not separate from it, thus avoiding human dominance. The constant violent evictions from the forest by the Kenyan government, carried out by the Kenya Forest Service, continue up to now, with the latest evictions taking place in April 2024. These kinds of evictions represent conservation violence linked to fortress conservation, which is a nature conservation approach that displaces indigenous peoples and other land-dependent communities from their lands to establish strictly protected, state-managed protected areas (Brockington 2002; Luoma 2023: 91).
Most Sengwer expressed the importance of keeping their identity linked with the landscape. Over the years, the assimilation of the Sengwer into the populace of neighbouring communities presents a threat to their existence. The loss of their identity as forest people signals the destruction of their landscape and their relation to it referred as ‘Genocide–Ecocide’ which is a threat to a social group’s cultural and/or physical existence (Crook & Short 2020). As per Kibet’s personal communication (12 May 2022), the government attempted to facilitate resettlement by offering financial support for the acquisition of new land, but a majority of the community chose to remain within the forest. The entire landscape is held in profound reverence due to its status as a realm inhabited by ancestral spirits. Within this ancestral expanse, specific locations hold an elevated significance for ritualistic purposes. The staunch reluctance of the community to relocate from these regions is rooted in the fact that certain elements integral to their traditional worldview such as Iilat cannot be replicated elsewhere. Notably, some individuals who received compensation to depart from the forest returned, contending that life felt unbearable when distanced from the presence of their ancestral spirits. To them, this compensation symbolised redress for the enduring injustices they had faced over the years. Many elderly people I met in the forest expressed a profound sense of belonging and contentment within this environment, wishing to be interred in this sacred land upon passing. They argued that their existence in the forest imbues them with vitality, enabling them to tend to their livestock within the forest’s glade. Arap Mosop noted: ‘Personally, I feel at home here. Here I feel better. When I die, I want to be buried here. Living in the forest makes me move around and be alive. I look after my cattle here in the glade. I have my beehives. I have everything I need for a good life.’
The forest as pedagogical space
The initiation rite, locally known as Kibuno, is one of the most important ceremonies and rituals in the Sengwer community and takes place at specific sites of ritual significance, usually in the forest with a nearby river or stream. It is a rite of passage that used to be observed by all members of the community and lasts for varying periods of time. A few years ago, women also underwent initiation rites, where they were taught important life skills. Due to the risks and human rights violations associated with female circumcision, the practice has declined massively. Both males and females had distinct ages based on when they were circumcised. In the past, the initiation of male lasted up to two years, during which time the initiates were taken to a designated secluded spot in the forest, where they remained for the duration of the ceremony. Luka Kiraton, a circa-70-year-old community elder, noted that he and his age mates stayed in the forest for up to two years during their initiation year. Other elders noted a decrease in the number of years spent in the forest, which they attributed to current education systems that do not take into account local cultures. Conversion to Christianity has also led to a decline in initiation rites. Other factors, such as the safety of initiates, the threat of sexually transmitted diseases, and the lower age of initiation, had resulted in many parents choosing to take their children to hospital. Other elders noted that due to contemporary challenges, they had taken necessary measures to protect the lives and health of the initiates. They claimed that in most cases, health complications rarely arise during this period. They also argued that converts to Christianity and the educated are trying to misrepresent these rites of passage in order to win converts. An elder in the interior of the Embobut forest lamented the way the rites of passage are now being conducted. He noted that ‘in recent times, initiates from the community have been taken to Eldoret (the fifth largest city in Kenya) and stayed in the homes of certain politicians to be taught life skills. This is totally wrong because there was a reason why the rites of passage took place in the forests in secluded places. The forest is the identity of the Sengwer, you can only teach the Sengwer in the forest.’
The initiation rites of passage serve to instil environmental consciousness in the younger generation. The secluded sites function as a pedagogical space for imparting crucial environmental knowledge to the graduating age cohort. The sites for initiation rites of passage hold significant ritual importance. Only the participating individuals are allowed access to these sites. The youths are reminded of environmental knowledge pertaining to animals, birds, hills, caves, snakes, birds, trees, taboos, and totems. Social, religious, cultural, economic, and environmental responsibilities are officially bestowed upon this age cohort (Mamati & Maseno 2021: 6). The graduating youth are equipped with the requisite knowledge to be mindful of their conduct and interactions with the environment. They disseminate information about their age sets, the community’s expectations, and various natural resources, including the flora and fauna found in the forest, and the sustainable utilisation of these resources. A plant locally named Setio is important during the rites of passage, especially for initiation. A Setio takes seven years to flower. At the end of the seven years, a new Age Set is inaugurated (Kibet, personal communication, 4th May 2022).
The initiation rites of passage at the excluded sites bind the initiates with the ancestors. This connection establishes a link between the initiates and the spiritual realm of the ancestors. The research participants asserted that the blood that falls to the ground during the circumcision of young men serves as a covenant between the initiates and the ancestors. The initiates are obliged to live and abide by the expectations of the community based on their customs, ancestors, and the council of elders (Mamati & Maseno 2021: 6). Failure to observe the community rules and regulations results in the ancestors’ wrath. In most cases, such a person would be struck by lightning through Iilat or banished from the community by the elders.
Conclusion
The overall objective of this study was to elucidate narratives of landscape and ecologies in environmental discourses among the Sengwer. Based on the above discussion, we can conclude that the landscape to the Sengwer is a source of life, providence, and identity. It bequeaths all things that they needed for living. Food, medicine, shelter, clothing and tools were also derived from the landscape. The Sengwer depended on their landscape for survival, this recognition was a conceptual and practical aspect of their lifeworld. The Sengwer believe that the Cherangany Hills are a living landscape inhibited by their ancestors. Elderly people have a vast attachment to their past that they believe determines the present and the future. For countless millennia, these practices of attaching kinship to almost everything within their landscape ensured the preservation of various biodiversity. By considering the whole landscape as sacred and ancestral domain, the Sengwer assert their claims over the lands. Thus, claims of the whole landscape being an ancestral domain and spiritual infused could also be viewed as political tool for recognition and sovereignty over their lands. Adopting a contextualised relational perspective, this article has demonstrated the interconnection of the integration of relational ontologies and epistemologies. This is vital as it contributes to alternative ways of conceptualising and addressing the ecological crisis in Africa and in advancing the discourse of relational coexistence with the non-human world.
Acknowledgements
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Cite
DOI: 10.5871/jba/012.a29
Published on: 4 September 2024
Volume: 12
Issue: Issue 3
Article view count: 115
Article download count: 8
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© The author(s) 2024. This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International LicenseCite this article
Mamati, K. (2024), ‘Relational landscapes: environmental discourse and identity of the Sengwer community in Kenya’, Journal of the British Academy, 12(3): a29 https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/012.a29Crossref
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Received
October 2022
Accepted
May 2023
Published
July 2023
Revisiting African indigenous eco-spirituality and eco-solidarity: an autobiographical case of totemism among the Kipsigis Fancy Cheronoh
African indigenous knowledge systems and ecologies have often been marginalised in global environmental discourses due to their ‘unscientific’ and non-empirical nature. There is, however, a growing appreciation that African cosmology and ecologies are spiritual, theistic, and ordered where one mode of existence presupposes all the others and that a balance must be maintained among the different forms of life for harmonious coexistence. One way of maintaining balance among the different forms of existence was through totemic taboos. Using the Kipsigis community of Kenya, particularly the belief and practice of totemism, this article examines through oral history and storytelling, how totems created physical and spiritual bonds between the community and environment through taboos. Acknowledging that these invaluable indigenous ecological knowledge systems have eroded due to urbanisation, modernisation, and Christianisation, this article makes an autobiographical case for how young people can revisit such knowledges to inspire an eco-spirituality that, combined with scientific and technological efforts, will enhance environmental conservation. (This article is published in the thematic collection ‘African ecologies: the value and politics of indigenous knowledges’, edited by Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda, Damaris Parsitau and Abel Ugba.)
3 September 2024
African ecologies: the value and politics of indigenous knowledges—introduction Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda, Damaris Parsitau, Abel Ugba
This article offers an introduction to the special section about the theme of ‘African ecologies and indigenous knowledges’. It explores the interest of scholars, policy makers and activists in indigenous knowledges as a resource for addressing global challenges, particularly the challenges in relation to the environment and climate change in contemporary Africa. Reviewing current literature and discourse on the subject, this Introduction foregrounds the considerable political, epistemological and methodological significance of indigenous knowledges, especially in the light of ongoing debates about decolonisation, and it highlights their relevance for understanding African ecologies. It further introduces the three articles included in this special section, embedding them in broader fields of scholarship. (This article is published in the thematic collection ‘African ecologies: the value and politics of indigenous knowledges’, edited by Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda, Damaris Parsitau and Abel Ugba.)
4 September 2024
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