Samburu people

The Samburu are a Nilotic people of north-central Kenya. Traditionally, they are semi-nomadic pastoralists who primarily herd cattle but also keep sheep, goats and camels. They refer to themselves as Lokop or Loikop, a term with varied interpretations among the Samburu. Some believe it means "owners of the land" ("lo" meaning ownership and "nkop" meaning land) while others have different interpretations.

The Samburu speak the Samburu dialect of the Maa language, a Nilotic language which is also spoken by 22 other sub tribes of the Maa community commonly known as the Maasai. Some suggest that the Samburu are a distinct tribe separate from the Maasai, but this is not accepted by most Samburu as many refer to themselves and the Maasai collectively as Maa and celebrate their general shared culture and achievements.

Samburu National Reserve is one of the well known wildlife conservation areas in Kenya. Within the Maa community of Kenya and Tanzania, the Samburu sub-tribe is the third largest, following the Kisonko (Isikirari) of Tanzania and Purko of Kenya and Tanzania.

History

Woto (sometimes Otto, *Do, To and Do) is a location which Samburu consider to be their homeland. Woto means north in Samburu. The exact location is unknown. It has generally been identified as being north of Lake Turkana and has been postulated to be somewhere in southern Ethiopia.

Cultural connections

The Nandi have a tradition that the first man who practiced circumcision in Nandi is said to have been one Kipkenyo who came from a country called Do (in other accounts To, indicating the intervocalic Kalenjin *d sound – closest pronunciation Tto).