Nasekon displays a piece of wood cut from an edweite tree (Commiphora boviniana), which will eventually become an elepit milk container, on a journey into the hills to collect commiphora woods for the construction of elepit, akurum and apangach milk container.
Funding
Endangered Material Knowledge Programme
History
Session
C002
Rights owner
Samuel Frederick Derbyshire
Cultural group
Turkana
Participants
Nasekon Ekaale Louren, Margaret Nakiru Lopwenya , Alice Akure
Country
Kenya
Place
Morusipo, Turkana
Item/object
Fresh milk container (elepit)
Techniques of production
Cut-cut
Materials
Wood-commiphora (Commiphora boviniana)
Materials alt
edweite
Cultural context/event
Resource collection
Social group setting
Craftspeople working together
Location
Bush
Temporality
To reach the location of the woods required it is necessary to leave the women's homesteads early and trek for several hours. On the way up, the group stop once at a natural spring (roughly 10 am), to drink and bathe. The wood is collected between midday and 1.30 pm. On the way back down, the group stop twice, once in the early afternoon (roughly 2. 30 pm) and once in the mid afternoon (roughly 3-4 pm). On both stops they sit and begin crafting shapes out of the pieces of wood that have been collected. Having left home (at the foot of the hills) shortly after dawn, the group returns again at dusk.