Turot: The Ogiek Hunting Practices

Dancan Nonosa and John Samorai

For many years, members of the Ogiek Peoples community have been known to be a forest-dependent community, depending on game and wild edibles. The Ogiek Peoples took advantage of the provisions of nature, which they in turn took care of.

The Ogiek Peoples highly depend on the forest for survival. It is the place where they get food for themselves. Hunting and gathering was and still is minimally practiced as an economic activity.

The Ogiek Peoples historically hunted animals such as gazelles, warthogs, buffaloes and hyrax. Hunting was done in two ways:

1. Hunting with dogs and attacking with arrows.

2. Use of traps.

Hunting with dogs: This was the main method of hunting. This form of hunting was organized so that the people involved were divided into specialised groups. Mostly, there were three groups of hunters. The first group was known as the Tuurig. Their work was to search for and spot the game to be targeted for hunting. They would traverse forest landscapes, valleys, highlands, and savannahs, just looking for game. The group, upon spotting the animal, would try to kill it first. If the animal fled, then they would set their dogs to charge and chase to help catch the animal.

Among the Ogiek Peoples, it was taboo to kill female, pregnant mammals or their young ones. This, therefore, calls for careful analysis of the animal to determine that it is in the correct category for hunting. The hunters relied on good skill and mental judgment before executing a kill.

If the Tuurig group was not able to kill the animal, it was the turn of the second group to take charge. The second group was the attacking group. This group would get notified that the animal had escaped, and they would run after it while attacking it with arrows. As they chased it, they would direct it to the third group. The third group would be waiting for the animal chased by the second group. In the event that the animal was injured it would be easily caught by the chasing dogs.

When the hunted animal was finally killed, it is hidden by placing it over a tree. Then the groups would go hunting for other animals. If the day was good, they could end up getting three animals.

After the hunting, the killed animals were slaughtered and divided among the three groups. The kidneys and the livers were eaten raw. The one who killed the animal did not usually participate in the skinning and slaughtering of the animal, but was rather treated specially and given the best portion of the game, mostly steak and breast meat (Chatit and Garit).

Use of traps: In an area where animals like antelope were suspected to stay, a trap could be set. The animals could then be trapped easily. This was done when the number of hunters is low. After the animals have been trapped, the traps are then removed. The traps might be dangerous in a way that they can trap other dangerous animals, such as leopards, that may later be harmful to the hunters.

Other ways of hunting:

In addition to the two main ways of hunting, there are minor ways of hunting. For instance, animals such as hyrax are hunted in tree canopies, trees, and rock cavities. Well-trained dogs are used to attack and catch the animals when they fall off the trees. The tools for hunting include bows and arrows, spears, and swords. After hunting, the Ogiek Peoples use the skins and hides of animals to make dressings like shoes, belts, and skin cloths known as njoruboit and sambut. The skin of hyrax, for example, is used to make a garment that signifies the Ogiek Peoples’ identity.

In the story One Day, a group of youths went hunting. It was not a successful day, though. It took them a long time to search for the animal. They chased animals but were not successful in catching and it was becoming late. Every antelope they came across ran faster and they could not catch it. It was such a bad day. The hunters divided themselves into two groups. The first group was to gather wild edible fruits such as minjoori and nuguug together with edible roots like norio so that the community could survive if they did catch anything. The second group continued with hunting.

Soon, an antelope was traced. but the hunters had used all their arrows, called ingeruusiek. One of the hunters carefully marked and aimed at the antelope to ensure he did not miss it or hunt the wrong game. He removed one lepelo (a knife-like arrow) and shot at the antelope, killing it. The hunters ran towards the shot antelope and got it at its hind limb. Another hunter got it at its chest. The antelope was still strong and could even escape, but the dogs helped chase it and catch it.

The young people slaughtered the antelope using a knife referred to as a wiisa, divided the meat among themselves, and headed to the fire place, where they cooked some meat by roasting and some meat by boiling, adding herbs to make a tasty soup. On their way back, they met another group of women who had gathered plenty of juicy fruits and returned home happily. In their life in the forest, they had plenty. They never lacked or suffered diseases since they ate food given to them by nature, which they took care of.