Ancient Maasai Stone Kraals in Uasin Gishu

By William Kiptoo. The description below follows the Scottish explorer Joseph Thomson, who crossed the Uasin Gishu plateau in 1883 and wrote about it in Through Masai Land (1885).

You may have seen the hollow, cave-like formations scattered across parts of Uasin Gishu County. Early European writers called them ancient Maasai stone kraals.

When Thomson passed through in 1883, the Uasin Gishu plateau was an expanse of grassland, serving as a grazing ground for the Wa-kwafi tribe until they were forcibly displaced by the Masai. Following their departure, the buffalo, eland, hartebeest, rhinoceros, and zebra thrived undisturbed, save for occasional encounters with passing caravans of European explorers or the Andorobo people.

Dotting the plateau were numerous Maasai kraals, circular enclosures constructed from earth with strategically placed openings. Due to the scarcity of wood, the houses within these kraals were built using stone and mud. These structures resembled mounds of stone and earth, with central openings that were covered with bullock hides during harsh weather. The inhabitants would then nestle inside, resembling birds in their nests. Today, these kraals are merely remnants of earthworks, forming circular outlines on the landscape. The abundance of game, particularly buffalo, was truly amazing.

Note: the early writers credited these enclosures to the Maasai. Archaeologists and Kalenjin oral tradition today generally know them as Sirikwa holes and link them to the Sirikwa people, whose homesteads were built around a sunken cattle enclosure, often lined with stone where the ground was rocky, as on the Uasin Gishu plateau. See Sirikwa culture, Sonnie Cloete’s account of the stone holes and The History of the Uasin Gishu Plateau on this blog.

Sources

  • Joseph Thomson, Through Masai Land (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1885). HathiTrust full view
  • “Sirikwa culture”, Wikipedia. Link
  • “Wie was hulle, waar vandaan, waarheen”, Habari, Friends of East Africa, 1983, pp. 14–15, on the “Maasai holes” near Sergoit lake. Habari guide on this blog

William Kiptoo writes about peace, land and memory at Journeys of a Peace Worker.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kibet of Tambach

Image
A summary of a KTN News feature, “Maisha ya Nathan Kibet aliyeokolewa mikononi mwa nyani” (24 December 2017). Watch the original on YouTube . Shared for the archive by William Kiptoo. Kibet, also known as Nathan Kibet or Kibet arap Chemarkach, is known in Tambach as the man who grew up with monkeys. As a child he lived among a troop of monkeys at Kocholwo, in Elgeyo Marakwet. He was found when the monkeys were raiding crops at Kocholwo. In 1963 he was caught and rescued from them by Eowoi Ekiru, who took him first to Chepkorio and later to Tambach Hospital. Tambach Hospital has been his home ever since, and he does not leave the facility. He is not comfortable sleeping inside houses or closed rooms and prefers to sleep in the open. He likes to walk in the rain, and he has unusual eating habits. Much about his early life is still unknown, including who his family are and how he came to be living with the monkeys. If you know more of Kibet’s story, please share it, so that it can be...
Read more

The History of the Reformed Church of East Africa (RCEA) and Its Ties with the South African Dutch Reformed Church (DRC)

Image
From the history of the Reformed Church of East Africa In the early 1900s, some people from the Boer republics in South Africa moved to Eastern Africa after the Anglo-Boer War. They didn't want to live under British rule, so they settled in Kenya. These migrant farmers were part of the Reformed Churches in South Africa. They formed their own congregation called Vergenoeg in Eldoret, Kenya. The land there was fertile and perfect for farming. At that time, Kenya was still a German colony called German East Africa, but it would soon become a British colony after World War I.  Rev. M. P. Loubser became the first minister of the congregation. He, along with other farmers, established a ministry among the farmworkers. In 1944, the congregation decided to call its first full-time missionary. Rev. Loubser had left money in his will specifically for mission work, which made this possible. They bought a school building called Broederstroom, which is now known as Plateau, to be used as a miss...
Read more

Ken-Knit (Kenya) Ltd.

Image
By William Kiptoo Ken-Knit (Kenya) Ltd. is a textile manufacturing company located in Eldoret, Kenya. It was founded in 1966 by three brothers - Gulabchand Shah, Somchand Shah, and Keshavlal Shah. With an initial capital of Sh50,000, the company started small with just one knitting machine producing hand-knitting yarn. However, over time, they expanded into spinning, blankets, knitwear, and other products. Initially focusing on hand-knitting yarn, Ken-Knit soon diversified into spinning units, blanket departments, and knitwear. They have grown into a major textile manufacturer in East Africa, known for their quality knitwear. In the late 1970s, they introduced a Composite spinning and dyeing plant for various types of yarn. Ken-Knit has kept up with modern technology, investing in machinery to ensure top quality and durability in their products. Ken-Knit offers a wide range of products, including sweaters, blankets, Maasai shukas, pillows, and kikois. They are also a leading manufactur...
Read more