Samburu lmala naililiori, Wamba, Kenya

Noun
Pronunciation: XXX
Ceremonial name used for a medium- to large-sized lmala nklip when it is carried by the best man in a wedding procession. It is usually used to store sheep fat.

The naililiori its carried by the best man at a wedding, with one strap wrapped around his wrist and his fingers over the lid. On the second day of the wedding ceremony, the husband, best man, and bride (in this order) walk out of the bride’s manyatta through her father’s gate. They step over a band of grass her father has strewn across the doorway to mark the transition. Traditionally, the procession moves with slow, stately steps until they reach the husband’s manyatta. (See lmala enkoriong for a description of how lmalasin are used in a wedding ceremony.) After the wedding, the lmala naililiori is once again used as an nklip.

Made from a gourd, the naililiori has colored bands ending in small triangles woven in at its neck. This holds in place a leather lip that fits the conical cup. The lmala nkirau is identical to the naililiori except it has only a single side band running up from the base to the waist belt. 

Description

Capacity: XXX liters

Cylindrical vessel made from a gourd, with a conical cup-shaped leather lid. The vessel’s long, straight sides swell outward gently below its neck to a swollen, rounded base. The vessel’s exterior is often stained red with ochre and decorated with skirai (cowry shells). Decorative leather stitching at its neck secures a leather collar. The removable leather cup is slightly wider and bulbous at its base, and flat on the top.

A wide vertical leather strap runs up the from the center bottom of the vessel and is held in place by two wide leather straps along the waist. It is not uncommon for the straps to retain some animal hair or to be decorated with cowry shells. The detached lid is roughly cup-shaped, with sides that slope outward below a rounded top to a low, rounded waist, then taper sharply at the bottom to fit over the vessel’s neck. The lid also can be painted black or ochre-stained, but is otherwise undecorated. 

Return to Types of Milk Containers.

This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel. 

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Published by William Rubel

I am an author who writes about traditional food and foodways. My book, The Magic of Fire (2002) is about hearth cooking. I have written an introductory history of bread, Bread, a global history (2011) and am currently writing a history of bread for the University of California Press. Other areas of interest include wild mushrooms, and specifically the treatment of Amanita muscaria in the historic record. I also write about Early Modern British Gardens, and for a more general audience, I write for Mother Earth News on bread, gardening, and more. I have an ongoing research project into the smoke-cured fermented milk of the Kenyan Samburu tribe. I am a co-director of the Samburu Lowlands Research Station, Lengusaka. I am the founding editor (1972) of Stone Soup, the magazine of writing and art by young people.

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