Silale Kuom, a direct descendant of the famous diviner/seer (emuron) Lokerio (who led the Turkana's ethno-territorial expansion in the middle of the 19th century) discusses the construction of emakuk stools/headrests. Silale, being widely known as one of the last, and most skilled, individuals to construct ekichielongs (stools/headrests) in the emakuk form, outlines his understanding of the key elements to remember when collecting raw materials and crafting these objects. Following this interview, Silale bequeathed on the Apprehending Asapan team the last emakuk he had made, so that they would show it to another participant who might be able to construct one.
Session
I007Rights owner
Samuel Frederick DerbyshireCultural group
TurkanaParticipants
Silale Ekai Kuom, Lucas Ekamais Lowasa, Samuel Frederick Derbyshire, Loura Echuman EkaaleCountry
KenyaPlace
Kangaberei, TurkanaSocial 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).Date of creation
2020-06-06Unique ID
2019LG02-I007-0562
