Pokot Blog 1 – A meeting with the Pokot

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It took over 10 years to be able to organise my first visit to the Pokot. Everyone hated them for years. They had become violent and frankly I didn’t even dare say I wanted to meet these people.

Who are the Pokot ?

They used to be called the Suk or Chuk, an old name given by the Maasai for the short sword like implement that they wore.  In my second blog on the Pokot, I will show some of the old photos of my father, taken in the 1950s where one would think it was another ethnic group seeing how different they were.

An authentic Pokot dance
The Pokot dance lead by the old man, the much respected Chief

Today the Pokot live in Western Kenya in the West Pokot County which is bordered to the north by the Turkana County , to the east by Baringo County  to the southeast by Elgeyo-Marakwet County, to the south by Trans Nzoia County and to the west by Uganda. hey also live in the Baringo County in the Rift Valley Province, which is where we went to visit a hamlet of about five to ten families.

They belong to the Kalenjin ethnic group of Southern Nilotic peoples and speak the Pokot language, very similar to the related Marakwet, Nandi and Tuken Kalenjin.

Starting a fire by rubbing that hard wooded stick onto another hard wood until it heats up and a spark is lit

Instead it was a most enjoyable friendly visit. The men showed us how they make a fire and many of the ladies had dressed up in their traditional attire for our visit. All the adult people in the “hamlet” or village came out to greet us and danced for us. It was such a lively and happy visit and we are most grateful to these Pokot for having welcomed us and let us share some of their culture and traditions.

The spark finally caught in this ultra dry piece of feather light ambatch (balsa wood)
This is an exceptional old head decoration ‘leash’ made with slightly bigger beads.
It hangs down their back as above
We were invited inside a hut for explanations on where they sleep and the utensils used.
This is a “blood collecting gourd” pouring blood into a milk gourd.
One of my father’s photos taken in Masol in 1960. The Suk chief, now called Pokot chief, is drinking freshly drawn blood from a cow’s jugular vein, collected in the “blood gourd”

The respected old chief leading his dancers
Like the Nilotic Maa speaking people (Maasai, Samburu) the Pokot warriors also jump completely straight as high as they can, encouraged by his audience !
Another dance sung in Pokot to represent some celebration or event in their lives. Note that only the older women wear the traditional dress made from a goats skin

The chief’s wife is carrying a cow’s horn that would have been filled with animal fat and used at a circumcision or other celebration to anoint the foreheads of all the warriors. She would have anointed the warriors we were told.
Such a character he had, this old chief here with his wife and I would imagine, daughter. He seems to be wearing a head-band of lion skin to show that he is the chief but I did not ask. Indeed these Pokot no longer wear their “chignon” clay head-dresses where they fixed the ostrich feathers into the clay pockets. More on this in the Pokot Blog 2.

A Government paid for all-be-it-school has the merit to exist. And it has been paid for. In my opinion, this is a massive sign of peace. Kenya is giving these remote Pokot (there are no roads to this area) a chance for their children to receive an education. It could be the final step away from their traditional lives but the fact is, the world is changing. The Pokot cannot continue to aggressively steal livestock from their neighbors to survive. There has to be another solution and it will be education.

These very well behaved kids, under the kind orders of their school mistriss were allowed to follow us to our boat and bid us their farewell. A fantastic and interesting experience.

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