Having constructed an emakuk headrest/stool for the first time in his life (using Silale's example for inspiration), Esuruon discusses the history of the emakuk and broader issues pertaining to Turkana material culture, asapan and identity, drawing on personal experiences.
Session
I008Rights owner
Samuel Frederick DerbyshireCultural group
TurkanaParticipants
Esuruon Komolo Lomosia , Lucas Ekamais Lowasa, Samuel Frederick DerbyshireCountry
KenyaPlace
Kayapat, TurkanaItem/object
two legged ekichielong stool referred to in the present day by many as 'aporokocho' in the Africa object collectionsSocial group setting
Interviewer-intervieweeLocation
HomeTemporality
The emakuk form was once fairly common throughout the Turkana region, this is clear from numerous historical photographs in UK collections and the accounts of elders who remember their construction and use. However, at some point in the middle of the 20th century, this form of headrest/stool gradually began to diminish in popularity. It is clear, for example, in photographs taken by Sir Wilfred Thesiger in the early 1960s, that emakuk stools/headrests were very uncommon by that time (although still owned by some). In the present day, the emakuk form has all but disappeared. The predominant style of ekichielong (headrest/stool) is now a single footed, round based and wide seated stool (this form is indeed common across both Pokot and Turkana communities in the north of Kenya). It remains unclear as to why the emakuk went out of use (it was not for lack of materials) and what relationship it had to another much older form of ekichielong often referred to in the present day as ‘aporokocho’ (this was a two legged stool/headrest, whose legs were tightly bound together with hide and whose seat was much smaller than that of contemporary ekichielong stools/headrests). Prior to this occasion, Esuruon Lomosia had never made an emakuk, but he had witnessed their construction on numerous occasions in his youth.Date of creation
2020-06-11Unique ID
2019LG02-I008-0643
