The life of an Il Torobo hunter-gatherer

letter that is descended from the ill to robo a tribe of hunter-gatherers and a group without cattle who lived alongside the Masai fashioning the weapons of the hunt they were blacksmiths circumcised and traditional healers and were invaluable to their Masai cousins let in its mother is a Masai but he learned all the skills of a hunter from his father although he now lives the life of a sedentary pastoralist he understands the ways of his forefathers he knows how to keep his weapons sharp and how to flex the skin from a carcass using small flakes of City and stones hunters used arrows with flights made from vulture feathers and sometimes tipped with poison to take game like zebra Buffalo and gazelle for their food to show off their prowess they would also hunted lion letlet knows how to utilize as many as 300 plants for his needs the soft leaves of the old Alicia were used as an underarm deodorant and still are today whilst the cotton like seedpods gave him a soft bedding at night the espalier with bright yellow Daisy flowers was used to treat ringworm by mixing spittle with the crushed leaves and placing it over the infected area the orange berries of the hell sake coarse sandpaper tree were a symbol of peace the branches were laid down to settle disputes the rough leaves were also used to sand down bows arrows and Spears whilst the bark could be used to start fires rapid turning of a harder wood in the soft L sake based creates the heat to start his fire once his fire is started he splits up in his meat in this case the shoulder of a goat which could once have been a Thomson gazelle as his meat cooks he might take time to make a string from the fibers of the Sun severe relieves [Music] and when the meat is cooked there are always friends like Koya and Kaka to join him and enjoy the food are we buying drink has an important place in daily and ceremonial life in special ceremonies like circumcision or you know toe a brew can be made from a combination of many different plants including the stems of an aloe and the seed pods from the sausage tree mixed together with sugar and honey Lettie listened his friend collect honey by enlisting the help of a special bird called the honey guide first they summon the burp by mimicking its coin any serious again get there's my mantra forget your mother well the bird knows very well where the bees are and it also knows that man will reward him for finding the hive on this occasion the hive is in a hollow tree they smoke out most of the bees and then reach inside to dry out the dripping honeycomb this they dutifully share with the honeyguide before they return to camp due to tough anti-poaching laws Letty let is no longer able to live as a hunter-gatherer he now lives the life of his Masai cousins the Maasai are a semi-nomadic people who move in order to find fresh grazing for their livestock they pack their worldly possessions onto donkeys starting with a skin over the animals back then sales or and their Etha are tied on either side of the donkey to hold the blankets skins cooking utensils and goods which make up the necessities of a nomadic life these are secured with string made from wild sisal and strips of leather from young Buffalo or Eiland hide [Music] with the advent of schools and boreholes the Masai move less now than they used to new laws on land tenure have also affected their ability to move at will in the old way the Masai traditionally burned their old camps purging them of pests and leaving only Ash and cow dung behind so that the land can recover over time here Lettie lets friend William allows his wife Shinya to reenact the Masai wedding ceremony Flora's wearing the beaded headband of her new post circumcision status and her soft calf skin wrap Sonia is blessed by the elders of her home before being escorted to her new home she is taunted and teased by the girls in the village but with each taunt and refusal of food and drink she earns herself a new head of cattle as a reward [Laughter] the traditional copper ear pendant on window represents a small two legged stool and was given to Lettie less at the time of his circumcision lettle its prized bracelet or Qatar given to him after his father's death was worked with intricate designs by a fellow ultra Robo blacksmith the bracelet is said to ward off evil spirits and it will be handed down to his eldest son after his own death letter that makes his living now as a freelance game guide in the camps of the Masai Mara he spends his spare time building up his small herd of domestic animals in Tanzania you all the wisdom and skills of the bush which he learned from his father give us a unique window into our shared past his songs may die with him but the plants will remain to share their secrets with us if we are wise enough to learn from them [Music] [Music] you

Channel: M Kenworthy

Views: 6,833,943

Rating: 4.4111514 out of 5

Keywords: life, Il Torobo, hunter-gatherer, letilet

Id: 8Ul5uIpJWbQ

Length: 17min 47sec (1067 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 25 2012