Noun
Alt.: seenderi elpayan
Pronunciation: XXX
Medium- to large-sized wooden lmala that is used to store milk for the elpayan (husband, or man of the household), who receives the seenderi from his wife’s mother when he is married. He then uses the seenderi for the rest of his life.

Seenderi, Samburu, Kenya
The seenderi (with green lid) on the left has a skin bottom, while the nkerai (with orange lid) on the right is carved of wood.

The seenderi is carved of wood. It has a lid that also serves as a cup, and its bottom is covered with skin. It shares these characteristics with the lmala nkodoos. The seenderi‘s exterior may be decorated with red ochre or painted black (animal blood mixed with ash). The cap [Made of beads and wire, or merely decorated with beads? Comment below], which also functions as a cup, is painted with ochre and decorated with beads.

Typically, when a man comes home, he looks for the seenderi, and thus does not have to ask for food. It is always kept full by his wife. As is the general consumption practice (except, of course, amongst children), a little milk is always left in the bottom, which can then be used by anyone after pouring into their appropriately designated lmala. [This seems to contradict the preceding sentence that the seenderi is “always left full.” Comments?]

A murran (warrior) will never drink from this lmala.

Description

Container capacity: XXX

Cylindrical wooden vessel with a leather base and a cylindrical cup-shaped lid. The vessel’s straight sides swell outward gently below its rim to a slightly swollen, rounded base with a flat bottom. The vessel’s exterior is often painted black using animal blood mixed with ash. Leather carrying straps of varying widths encircle its sides at the waist and support the base. The detachable lid can be made of leather or a plastic cup. The lid also can be painted black or ochre-stained, but is usually otherwise undecorated.

Return to Types of Milk Containers.

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

Unknown's avatar

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.

Leave a comment