Epaya Rayo continues carving the stool for several hours, and it begins to take shape, but then disaster strikes and a crack appears in one of the legs, so it must be abandoned. The fragility of this earlier form of stool is also evident in many examples in museum collections, including those at the British Museum, which are often repaired with small pieces of wire and metal.
Funding
Endangered Material Knowledge Programme
History
Session
C011
Rights owner
Samuel Frederick Derbyshire
Cultural group
Turkana
Participants
Aman Loolio, Loura Echuman Ekaale
Country
Kenya
Place
Kayapat, Turkana
Item/object
Very old form of ekichielong stool/headrest referred to by many as 'aporokocho'
Techniques of production
Cut-chip-cut
Materials
Wood-commiphora (Commiphora schimperi), Akimet a ekal, Animal-camel fat
Materials alt
ekwangorom
Social group setting
Craftsperson at work alone
Location
Home
Temporality
This form of stool/headrest is no longer made or used in Turkana. Photographs and objects in museums around the world attest to the fact that during the late 19th and early 20th century, most men used thin, two legged stools like this. During a group discussion session in Moru Sipo, the history of this object was discussed in depth (2019LG-02-G002-0001). Some have argued that, following the early years of the 20th century, the emakuk form took over and became ubiquitous across the male population, causing women to adopt the so-called older 'aporokocho' form (the form made by Epaya Rayo here). Photographs from around the time of independence (1963) show men using a variety of emakuks and more recent forms, but none holding this older, thin, two-legged stool. No examples remain in contemporary use, and very few people remember seeing them.