Dorobo peoples

Dorobo (or Ndorobo, Wadorobo, Torobo) is a derogatory umbrella term for several unrelated hunter-gatherer groups of Kenya and Tanzania.

In the past 150 years, many of these peoples have assimilated to the pastoralist economy of neighbouring peoples (mostly Maasai and Samburu), and have, in the process, abandoned their own languages.

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Etymology

The term 'Dorobo' derives from the Maa expression il-tóróbò (singular ol-torróbònì) 'hunters; the ones without cattle'. Living from hunting wild animals implies being primitive, and being without cattle implies being very poor in the pastoralist Maa culture.

Classifications

In the past it has been assumed that all Dorobo were of Southern Nilotic origin; accordingly, the term Dorobo was thought to denote several closely related ethnic groups.[1]

Although many of them happen to be Nilotic, Dorobo as used by the Maa simply refers to neighbouring hunter-gatherers regardless of their origin — the Yaaku for example (present-day Mukogodo-Maasai) are an Eastern Cushitic people, the Aasax are of Southern Cushitic origin, while the Akie (Mosiro) are Eastern Nilotes. Some of the people described in early accounts of the 'El Dorobo' are imaginary, or fictional accounts of 20th century savages such as "races of bearded men" as described by Charles Hobley.[2]

Groups that have been referred to as Dorobo include:

Relations with neighbours

A historical survey of 17 Dorobo groups in northern Kenya found that they each maintained a close rapport with their surrounding territory through their foraging. Speaking the same language as their nomadic pastoralist neighbours, they would maintain peaceful relations with them and accepted a lower status. Occasional intermigration and intermarriage between the two groups was even possible. If the political landscape shifted and new pastoralists entered the area, then the local Dorobo would switch to the new language and build up new relations, while clinging to their territorial niche.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Huntingford for example writes (1931:228): "...all the Dorobo dialects, as now spoken, are based on Nandi—this was first shown by Hobley, who was a pioneer in this field, and whose vocabularies are fairly reliable—..." (for Hobley, see Hobley 1903, 1905, 1906).
  2. ^ Hobley says (1905:39-40): "The author in 1891 visited Mount Kenia, and while encambed on the lower slopes encountered a few specimens of a bearded race of man who were said to live in the depths of the forests on that mountain."
  3. ^ Spencer 1973: 199-219, “The Dorobo and Elmolo of Northern Kenya.”

References