For the study of culture, the environment, and pastoralism.
Pronunciation: XXX
Botanical name: XXX
Description:
Uses: Preparation of calabash. Sweet, but not as much as masay or ingeriyoi. Bitter bark used to treat malaria.
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Pronunciation: XXX
Botanical name: Teclea simplicifolia
Description:
Uses: Preparation of calabash. More bitter; “orok” means black. Don’t use this.
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Pronunciation: XXX
Botanical name: XXX
Description: Llussen gap.
Uses: Preparation of calabash.
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Noun
Pronunciation: mah-nang
Colostrum.
This entry is in the process of revision.
Manang has a yellowish tone and is thick — thicker than milk. It is also called kule narusha.
Colostrum cannot be drunk fresh, directly from the cow. It must be allowed to ferment in a lmala for two or three days, until becomes sour. Manang can be fermented in any kind of lmala — nklip, ngoiti, seenderi. Many people, however, do not like to drink it as it gives them diarrhea.
The Samburu caution that if you drink manang in the morning, you must not eat or drink any food — not even water — until evening, or about six hours after drinking colostrum. While I have not personally consumed manang, I have drunk a mixture of milk and blood that I found delicious. However, not having been warned that adults must rest for some hours after drinking, I asked for a second cup and then walked a kilometer back to where I was staying, where I promptly vomited. I was then told that adults needed to rest after drinking. Based on this experience, my advice to you is to heed the Samburu: Colostrum is delicious, but rich, so don’t mix it with water or other foods.
I will pass on this further advice: Do not serve colostrum to young children because they drink water regularly. Only serve it to people who are in their teens or older.
“When the cow takes a [gives] birth, you can take [drink] this milk almost six days until it turns white. Good milk, very good milk, it will make you strong.” — Longhiro Lekudere in conversation with William Rubel, January 2025.
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Pronunciation: XXX
Botanical name: Zanthoxylum usambarence [But this doesn’t match the description online for Z. usambarence — see the entry for loisugi.]
Description:
Uses: Preparation calabash, sweet.
Source: Useful Trees and Shrubs for Kenya, https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/usefultrees/pdflib/Zanthoxylum_usambarense_KEN.pdf (accessed July 17, 2024).
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Pronunciation: XXX
Botanical name: XXX
Description: XXX
Uses: Wood for making calabash. Lowland.
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Pronunciation: XXX
Botanical name: XXX
Description: XXX
Uses: Preparation wood: not bitter; sweet; yellowish color.
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Noun
Pronunciation: lor’-ee-ehn
Lorien is a general term for the botanicals (sticks from trees or shrubs) used to clean the interior of the lmala. This term is typically modified by adding the specific type of botanical that has been used to clean the container, for example, lorien lngeriyioi.
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Pronunciation: XXX
Botanical name: Olea africana/europaea [Should this be listed as “Olea europaea ssp. africana”? Leave your remark in Comments below.]
Description: “a shrub or a small to medium sized tree 5-10 m in height, occasionally reaching 18 m. … O. europea ssp. africana is widely distributed in its native range of southern Africa occurring in a variety of habitats, usually near water, on stream banks, in riverine fringes, but also in open woodland, among rocks and in mountain ravines. It is resistant to both frost and drought. … The main olive products are olive oil and edible olives. The fleshy, oil-bearing mesocarp used in commercial olive growing is absent in the much smaller fruits of O. europaea ssp. africana. The plants are much browsed on by livestock.”
Uses: In the milk context, this is one of the most preferred lorien woods. [cover taste, and preservation qualities]
“Wood is hard and heavy, weighing approximately 1 140 kg/cubic m. Sapwood is light brown while the heartwood is red-brown to yellow, with dark figuring. The wood is fine-textured and finishes well, and is often used to make ornaments such as wall clocks and vases. Jewellery items such as beads, brooches and bangles are also made from wild olive wood. Although the tree does not produce sawable logs or branches, there are still several furniture-makers that, with great effort produce furniture from the limited quantities of timber.”
Source: Orwa C, Mutua A, Kindt R, Jamnadass R, Simons A. 2009. Agroforestree Database: a tree reference and selection guide version 4.0. World Agroforestry Centre, Kenya. https://www.worldagroforestry.org/output/agroforestree-database (accessed July 2024).
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This is the draft manuscript of the Samburu Milk Project, © 2024 William Rubel.
Samburu Research 