The Turkana of northwestern Kenya developed a distinctive social and military culture long before encountering European colonizers. In The Scattering Time: Turkana Responses to Colonial Rule, John Lamphear (1992) draws on oral traditions and archival records to reconstruct how the Turkana navigated shifting power dynamics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By juxtaposing Turkana accounts of leadership, divination, and warfare with British archival sources, Lamphear offers a nuanced portrayal of indigenous agency, adaptive strategies, and the eventual imposition of colonial authority.
Precolonial Turkana Society and the Role of Diviners
Prior to colonial intrusion, the Turkana inhabited a semi‐arid region they referred to as Eturkan. Their livelihood depended on pastoralism, raiding, and an intricate system of age sets that organized military mobilization. Warfare, however, did not resemble large‐scale annihilations. Instead, Lamphear (1992) emphasizes that Turkana conflicts aimed at capturing cattle, enhancing prestige, or punishing specific communities. These skirmishes featured limited lethality relative to some contemporaneous conflicts in East Africa (Lamphear, 1992, p. 23).
Central to precolonial Turkana political organization were diviners, known locally as lobalol. Diviners mediated between sacred and earthly realms, advised elders, and could bestow legitimacy on emerging war leaders. Lamphear (1992) recounts how legendary diviners such as Lokorijam and Loolel Kokoi became focal points of authority. Their patronage determined which military leaders could muster warriors, reinforcing a balance between ritual influence and martial prowess. A successful war leader required endorsement from a respected diviner in order to gain followers from multiple clans (Lamphear, 1992, pp. 45–47).
Ebei and the Consolidation of Military Leadership
One of Lamphear’s most detailed case studies is the rise of the war leader Ebei. Through Turkana oral narratives, Lamphear (1992) illustrates how Ebei leveraged alliances with diviners to expand his influence. Under divinatory counsel, Ebei mobilized age‐set cohorts to defend grazing areas, secure trade routes, and assert dominance over neighboring communities (Lamphear, 1992, pp. 60–62). By framing his campaigns as divinely sanctioned tasks, Ebei maintained cohesion among diverse Turkana groups, thus creating a proto‐state structure that later confronted colonial encroachment.
Despite his martial reputation, Ebei’s tactics remained consistent with broader Turkana patterns of raiding rather than conquest. Lamphear (1992) notes that Turkana raids often targeted specific herds rather than entire villages, preserving social webs that could be reestablished through cattle restitution and marriage alliances (Lamphear, 1992, p. 68).
Encounters with Ethiopian and British Authorities
During the late nineteenth century, both Ethiopian and British administrations cast covetous eyes upon Eturkan. Lamphear (1992) illustrates how the Abyssinian Emperor Menelik II’s southern expansion led to sporadic demands for tribute in cattle. Turkana oral sources, however, suggest that Ethiopian tax collectors were viewed no differently from later British tax agents. Both demanded resources without understanding local protocols for cattle exchange, leading to resentment (Lamphear, 1992, pp. 95–97).
British interest in the region increased after the establishment of the Uganda Railway. Colonial officers described Turkana land as the “wildest and most worthless district in Kenya,” thereby justifying punitive expeditions (Lamphear, 1992, p. 100). From the Turkana perspective, however, the land was their ancestral inheritance (Lamphear, 1992, p. 3). Lamphear (1992) emphasizes that British colonial officers often misunderstood Turkana leadership structures by expecting a centralized authority akin to that found in other parts of East Africa. In reality, leadership was fluid and tied to ritual legitimacy, which often clashed with the British reliance on appointed chiefs.
Punitive Raids and Patterns of Resistance
By the early 1900s, British authorities undertook a series of punitive raids designed to subdue Turkana resistance. These expeditions sought to confiscate cattle, destroy food stores, and punish communities for alleged cattle theft. Lamphear (1992) catalogs several major operations between 1908 and 1915, highlighting the use of Maxim guns and Stokes mortars to overawe Turkana defenders (Lamphear, 1992, p. 185). Colonial reports boast that thousands of head of cattle were seized, though Turkana oral traditions suggest that actual numbers may have been exaggerated to justify further incursions (Lamphear, 1992, p. 190).
Although deprived of vital resources during these raids, the Turkana displayed adaptive resistance. Small bands dispersed into the eastern escarpments, a strategy Lamphear (1992) dubs “the scattering time.” By evading large‐scale confrontations, they preserved core livestock and reemerged once British forces withdrew (Lamphear, 1992, p. 200). This fragmented resistance frustrated colonial officers, who struggled to pacify a population that lacked fixed villages and employed mobile defense.
Impact on Turkana Social Structure
The British objective of dismantling Turkana military capacity inadvertently disrupted long‐standing mechanisms of leadership and social cohesion. As colonial authorities appointed headmen to collect hut taxes, they undermined the authority of diviners and war leaders alike. Lamphear (1992) observes that many Turkana chiefs, who relied on cattle‐based bridewealth exchanges to reinforce their status, found their influence eroded when colonial administrators confiscated livestock (Lamphear, 1992, pp. 223–225). Some erstwhile leaders became impoverished, unable to maintain the patronage networks that once sustained them.
Despite these setbacks, Turkana communal structures proved resilient. Diviners retained spiritual significance, often serving as interlocutors in land negotiations and water rights disputes under indirect rule. Lamphear (1992) argues that by adapting divinatory roles to new economic realities—such as advising on drought management—traditional authorities reinvented themselves within the colonial framework (Lamphear, 1992, p. 236).
Reconfiguring Identity and Memory
Colonial pressures forced the Turkana to reimagine their collective identity. Lamphear (1992) traces how oral histories during “the scattering time” underwent reinterpretation. Narratives celebrating heroic resistance against British incursions became central to communal cohesion. Through anecdotes of survival in inhospitable terrain and defiance in the face of Maxim firepower, subsequent generations internalized a resilient identity rooted in pastoral mobility (Lamphear, 1992, pp. 255–258).
Moreover, Lamphear (1992) underscores the role of diviners in preserving communal memory. Despite colonial attempts to suppress indigenous ritual, diviners continued to transmit genealogies and heroic exploits, thereby ensuring that Turkana youth recognized their heritage of resistance and ecological mastery (Lamphear, 1992, p. 265).
Conclusions and Continuing Legacies
By integrating oral testimonies with colonial archives, Lamphear (1992) offers a textured account of how the Turkana confronted colonial rule. Far from passive victims, they actively negotiated, adapted, and resisted impositions. Although colonial administrations eventually established indirect rule and extracted taxes, they never fully subdued Turkana social structures or eradicated pastoral mobility.
Today, as Turkana communities navigate challenges such as climate variability, land pressures, and political marginalization, Lamphear’s (1992) study remains relevant. It reminds scholars and policymakers that pastoral societies possess dynamic institutions capable of both resisting external control and adapting ritual frameworks to new realities. As contemporary debates unfold regarding land rights and resource management, acknowledging the historical resilience of Turkana governance may inform more equitable and sustainable policies.
References
Lamphear, J. (1992). The scattering time: Turkana responses to colonial rule. Oxford University Press.