Imuget le nkarna, Samburu, northern Kenya
David Chancellor
Prior to attending Imuget le nkarna (celebration of 10 years as a warrior) Samburu moran (warriors) wash by the edge of a dam before applying red ochre to their bodies. The Samburu are know as the ‘butterfly people’ by other warrior tribes, because of the bright colours they dress in and their flamboyant body adornments. They live in the northern highlands of Kenya. The Samburu have an ancient connection to elephant, they require elephant dung to marry and consider them sacred. Any Samburu that kills an elephant brings ‘alanna’ a curse upon his family. Across Africa growing populations and deepening poverty have intensified the battle between man and animals for the same land and environmental resources. Increasingly, animals are pushed into smaller pockets of wilderness, their migration routes closed off, and their water supplies damned and irrigated for crops. Illegal poaching and hunting has decimated their numbers. At the same time, rural farmers have learned to mistrust wildlife, killing those animals who have encroached further onto their land. If wildlife conservation is to succeed, it is imperative to find a way for man and animal to coexist in suitable harmony. From work and projects documenting community conservation, living ‘with butterflies and warriors’.
The Print
Limited edition hand c-type prints by master printer Brian O’Leary, are printed to order in the following sizes and editions.
Each print is signed, dated and numbered by David on the front. Certificates of authenticity are provided and come affixed to the back of the frame, or included with the print if shipped unframed.