Dorobo (or ''Ndorobo'', ''Wadorobo'', ''dorobo'', ''Torobo'') is a derogatory

umbrella term Hypernymy and hyponymy are the wikt:Wiktionary:Semantic relations, semantic relations between a generic term (''hypernym'') and a more specific term (''hyponym''). The hypernym is also called a ''supertype'', ''umbrella term'', or ''blanket term ...

for several unrelated

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

groups of

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. They comprised client groups to the

Maasai Maasai may refer to: *Maasai people *Maasai language *Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) Masai may refer to: *Masai, Johor, a town in Malaysia * Masai Plateau, a plateau in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India *Maasai peopl ...

and did not practice cattle

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anim ...

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya * Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...

tradition says that intermarriage with the Gumba produced the Ndorobo people, who were of a stature in between the Gumba and Kikuyu.

Etymology

The term 'Dorobo' derives from the Maa expression ''il-tóróbò'' (singular ''ol-torróbònì'') 'hunters; the ones without cattle'. Living from hunting wild animals implies being primitive, and being without

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

implies being very poor in the pastoralist Maa culture.

Classifications

In the past it has been assumed that all Dorobo were of Southern

Nilotic The Nilotic peoples are peoples Indigenous people of Africa, indigenous to South Sudan and the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan and the Gambela Region of Ethiopia, while also being a large minority in Kenya, Uga ...

origin; accordingly, the term ''Dorobo'' was thought to denote several closely related ethnic groups. Groups that have been referred to as Dorobo include: *Kaplelach Okiek and Kipchornwonek Okiek (Nilotic;

Rift Valley Province, Kenya Rift Valley Province () of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the 2013 Kenyan general election. Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces in Kenya. It was dominated ...

) * Sengwer *Mukogodo-Maasai (the former Yaaku, sometimes Aramanik) (

Yaaku language Yaaku (also known as Mukogodo, Mogogodo, Mukoquodo, Siegu, Yaakua, Ndorobo) is a moribund Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language of the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch, spoken in Kenya. Speakers are all older adults. The classification ...

;

Laikipia District Laikipia District was a district of Kenya, located on the Equator in the Rift Valley Province of the country. The district had two major urban centres: Nanyuki to the southeast, and Nyahururu to the southwest. Its capital was Nanyuki. After being ...

, Rift Valley Province, Kenya) *

Aasax The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax (also rendered as Aasá, Aasáx, Aramanik, Asak, Asax, Assa, Asá), is an Afroasiatic language formerly spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanz ...

(

Aasa language The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax (also rendered as Aasá, Aasáx, Aramanik, Asak, Asax, Assa, Asá), is an Afroasiatic language formerly spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanz ...

; northern Tanzania) * Akie (sometimes Mosíro, which is an Akie clan name) (Nilotic, northern Tanzania) *

Mediak Ogiek (also Okiek and Akiek) is a Southern Nilotic language of the Kalenjin family spoken or once spoken by the Ogiek peoples, scattered groups of hunter-gatherers in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Most Ogiek speakers have assimilated t ...

(

Kalenjin Kalenjin may refer to: * Kalenjin people of Kenya ** Elgeyo people (Keiyo people) ** Kipsigis people ** Marakwet people ** Nandi people ** Pokot people ** Terik people ** Tugen people ** Sebei people * Kalenjin language Kalenjin may refer t ...

, northern Tanzania) *

Kisankasa The Kisankasa are an ethnic and linguistic group based in Arusha Region's Ngorongoro District and Mara Region in northern Tanzania. In 1987 the Kisankasa population was estimated to number 4,670. The Kisankasa are distinct from other groups often ...

(Kalenjin, northern Tanzania) *

Aramanik The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax (also rendered as Aasá, Aasáx, Aramanik, Asak, Asax, Assa, Asá), is an Afroasiatic language formerly spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanz ...

(Kalenjin, Tanzania) * Mosiro (Kalenjin, Tanzania) *

Omotik Omotik (Sawas) is a moribund Nilotic language of Kenya. It is spoken by the hunter-gatherer Omotik people of the Great Rift Valley among the Maasai; most of the Omotik population has shifted to the Maasai language Maasai (previously spel ...

Relations with neighbours

A historical survey of 17 Dorobo groups in northern Kenya found that they each maintained a close rapport with their surrounding territory through their foraging. Speaking the same language as their nomadic pastoralist neighbours, they would maintain peaceful relations with them and accepted a lower status. Occasional intermigration and intermarriage between the two groups was even possible. If the political landscape shifted and new pastoralists entered the area, then the local Dorobo would switch to the new language and build up new relations, while clinging to their territorial niche.Spencer, Paul, 1973, ''Nomads in Alliance: Symbiosis and Growth among the Rendille and Samburu of Kenya'', Oxford University Press, London. (pp. 199-219, “The Dorobo and Elmolo of Northern Kenya.”)

Notes

References

*Distefano, John A. (1990) 'Hunters or hunted? Towards a history of the Okiek of Kenya', ''History in Africa'', 17, 47–57. *Hobley, C.W. (1903) 'Notes concerning the Eldorobo of Mau, British East Africa', ''Man'', 3, 33-34 (with a 100-item vocabulary on page 35). *Hobley, C.W. (1905) 'Further Notes on the El Dorobo or Oggiek', ''Man'', 5, 39–44. *Hobley, C.W. (1906) 'Notes on the Dorobo People and other Tribes; gathered from Chief Karuri and others', ''Man'', 6, 119–120. *Huntingford, G.W.B. (1931) 'The Taturu, Mosiro, and Aramanik dialect of Dorobo', ''Man'', 31, 226–228. *Kenny, Michael G. (1981) 'Mirror in the forest: the Dorobo hunter-gatherers as an image of the other', ''Africa'', 51, 1, 477–495. *Maguire, R.A.J. (1948) 'Il-Torbo', ''Tanganyika Notes & Records'', 25, 1–27. '' eprint of a 1928 article published in the Royal African Society's Journal' *Rottland, Franz & Vossen, Rainer (1977) 'Grundlagen für eine Klärung des Dorobo-Problems', in Möhlig & Rottland & Heine (eds.) ''Zur Sprachgeschichte und Ethnohistorie in Afrika''. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 213–238. {{Authority control *