ABSTRACT
Maasai associate cuts in an ornament with natural and cultural phenomena like slashes in a piece of roasting meat, breaks in a line of cattle or people, or the short interruption when a Maasai woman fills a cup by pouring a little milk, stopping, and then pouring again to fill it up. A general cultural attitude unites these different ‘cuts’: nothing should be continuous and unbroken. The Samburu inhabit northern Kenya’s semi-arid lands, raising cattle, some camels, and goats and sheep. A dominant feature of Samburu social organization is the age-set system, whereby a group of young men is set apart from the rest of society, forming a collective for warfare and defence. The British presence in Kenya coincided with the availability of beads on an unprecedented scale. As the British established themselves in northern Kenya, colonial officers used beads and other imported goods to incorporate the Samburu into the cash economy.
