'Hunting is a way of life'
2007-07-16 15:17
Kiangwe - The marginalisation of Kenya's Boni tribe, known for their unique tradition of whistling to birds that guide them to honey, has raised fears that their mellifluous song will soon be silenced.
With little or no access to health care and other resources, the Boni's ranks had steadily dwindled and the tribe was now on the verge of extinction.
According to the Organisation for the Development of Lamu Communities (ODLC), the semi-nomadic Hamitic tribe nestled between the Indian Ocean and the Somali border in northeastern Kenya's Lamu district numbered barely 4 000, compared to 25 000 half a century ago.
Nur Mohamed, a Boni, said: "We depend entirely on nature for food and medicine."
The central ingredient in the Boni's diet was honey, which they tracked down with the help of birds - known by locals as "Mirsi" and commonly described as honey guides - who fed on wax and bee larvae.
Antelopes, buffalos, giraffes
The peculiar species had been scientifically proved to lead animals and humans to bee nests. Mohamed explained: "But sometimes, the birds don't co-operate when they are not hungry."
On a good day, the Mirsi would noisily alert Boni by landing on a tree concealing honey. The Boni later hacked at the tree trunk and smoked it up to numb the bees before retrieving the bounty.
Members of the hunter-gatherer tribe also ate wild fruits, roots and a variety of game - which they said had put them at odds with wildlife officials.
Mohamed Ali Baddi, who heads a local development organisation, said: "They hunt antelopes, buffalos, even giraffes."
Sadi Jumaa said: "Nowadays, I hunt secretly and I eat secretly. Otherwise, the Kenya Wildlife Service will beat us and arrest us."
Baddi said: "Hunting is a way of life. For them, it is not poaching. But for the KWS, they are poachers." Some of the Boni's other traditional practices were a far cry from modern life, for better or worse.
Mohamed said: "We know the herbs to treat malaria, stomach aches, snake bites. But, some of the herbs are too strong for children. Sometimes they die."
Lack of electricity
The nearest hospital to his village of Kiangwe was several hours' walk away.
While they were keen to preserve their ancestral way of life, the Boni felt ignored by the Kenyan government, as do other tribes of honey-hunters across the country.
Kiangwe is a small village of 360 inhabitants living in mud huts with no dispensary, no road, no running water and no shops. Residents said that travelling vendors passed through on average twice yearly.
Despite the lack of electricity, a handful of villagers owned mobile phones, which they charged with a homemade contraption of wires and batteries attached to a dismantled phone charger with pieces of cardboard.
Mohamed said: "To get some network, sometimes you have to climb a tree. You have to apply the modern and the traditional technologies."
The Boni's main grievance was a lack of access to education.
Kiangwe had only one kindergarten, a bare building equipped with a lone blackboard. Jumaa said: "The children sit on the floor."
The empty classroom's walls were decorated with schoolchildren's charcoal drawings of lions and balloons.
The nearest junior school was four hours away and offered education for the next grade up. Asman Mache, who, unlike many Boni, knew how to read and write, said: "Teachers don't want to come here. It is too far away from everything."
Jumaa said: "Government participation here is zero."
Omar Aliyoo, one of two Boni tribesmen to sit in the local municipal council, said: "Maybe the government should come up with a policy for a Boni reserve so that they can preserve their culture.
"Our way of life is disappearing. There is a danger that the Boni people will disappear."