The Aweer (also known as the Waboni, Boni and Sanye) are a

Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...

ethnic group inhabiting the

Coast Province The Coast Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Pwani) of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It comprises the Indian Ocean coastal strip with the capital city at Mombasa and was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili, among oth ...

in southeastern

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Some members are also found in southern

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. They are indigenous foragers, traditionally subsisting on hunting, gathering, and collecting honey.

Overview

Evidence suggests that the Aweer/Boni, along with the related Dahalo and Wata, are remnants of the early Bushman hunter-gatherer inhabitants of Eastern Africa. According to linguistic, anthropological and other data, these groups later came under the influence and adopted the

Afro-Asiatic languages The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

of the

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and Southern Cushitic peoples who moved into the area.

Dahalo Dahalo is an endangered Cushitic language spoken by at most 400 Dahalo people on the coast of Kenya, near the mouth of the Tana River. Dahalo is unusual among the world's languages in using all four airstream mechanisms found in human language ...

has consequently retained some of the characteristic click sounds of the

Khoisan Khoisan , or (), according to the contemporary Khoekhoegowab orthography, is a catch-all term for those indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who do not speak one of the Bantu languages, combining the (formerly "Khoikhoi") and the or ( in t ...

languages. The Aweer have historically been known in the literature as ''Boni'' or ''Sanye'', both of which are derogatory terms for low-caste groups. Their lives were drastically changed when the Kenyan government curtailed their traditional way of life in the 1960s, forcing them to settle in villages along the Hindi-Kiunga Road, between the

Boni National Reserve The Boni National Reserve is a national reserve for conservation and lies in the Garissa County, Kenya. The reserve covers an area of and is managed by Kenya Wildlife Service. It was gazetted in 1976 as a dry season sanctuary for elephants in the ...

and the

Dodori National Reserve Dodori National Reserve is a protected area located in Lamu East District of Coast Province in Kenya. It was documented in 1976 and its 877 km² encompasses an important woodland and forest area that historically supported large populations of wildl ...

. Although the majority of the Aweer settled in villages located in this corridor between the two reserves, some established themselves in nearby Bajuni villages. Today, the Aweer in Kenya have been encouraged to adopt farming as their main livelihood. However, they also continue to engage in many of their traditional hunter-gatherer practices, utilizing the nearby forests for the collection of wild honey, plants for traditional medicine and building materials, and bush meat to supplement their diets. With laws banning the hunting of all wildlife in Kenya, the Aweer's traditional way of life is in danger. Although Aweer overwhelmingly reside in the East African nation of Kenya, due to the Aweer's traditional dwellings along the protuberant coastline, the Aweer, as well as other inhabitants of Lamu County are sometimes referred to as '' Horners''.Amin, Rajan, et al. "Africa's forgotten forests: the conservation value of Kenya's northern coastal forests for large mammals." Journal of East African Natural History 107.2 (2019): 41-61.

Demographics

According to the 2019 Kenyan population census, around 20,103 Aweer live in Kenya, where they are an officially recognized group. They have traditionally been concentrated in forests in the

, particularly the

Lamu Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. ...

and Tana River districts. Some Aweer also inhabit southern Somalia's Badhade district.A.H.J. Prins. 1960 Notes on the Boni, a Tribe of Hunters in Northern Kenya. ''Bulletin of the International Committee on Urgent Anthropological and Ethnological Research.'' Vol. 1 (3): 25-27; 1963 The Didemic Diarchic Boni. ''The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.'' Vol. 93 (2): 174-85.

Language

The Aweer speak the

Aweer language Aweer (''Aweera''), also known as Boni (''Bon, Bonta''), is a Cushitic language of Eastern Kenya. The Aweer people, known by the arguably derogatory Exonym and endonym, exonym "''Boni,''" are historically a hunter-gatherer people, traditionally s ...

, also known as Boni. It belongs to the

branch of the

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

family. According to ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

'', there are around 8,000 speakers of Aweer/Boni. Most are bilingual and speak the languages of their immediate neighbors, with about 20% speaking only Aweer. Aweer linguistically resembles

Garre The Garre (also Gurreh, Karre, "Binukaaf") ( Somali: ''Reer Garre'', Arabic: بنو كاف, romanized: ''Banī kāf'' ) is a major Somali clan whose origins trace back to Samaale who traces the lineage from the Arabian Peninsula through Aqiil ...

, but the speakers are physically and culturally unalike. The language is believed to be threatened by extinction.

Religion

The Aweer historically practised traditional faiths such as

Waaqism Waaq (also Waq or Waaqa) is the ancient name for God in the Cushitic languages of both the Oromo people and Somali people in the Horn of Africa.Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, ''Culture and Customs of Somalia'', (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2001), p.65 ...

, though most have today adopted

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Notes

References

* * Antipa, R. S, Ali, M. H. and Hussein, A. A. (2007
Preservation and Maintenance of Biological Diversity Related Knowledge of Indigenous Diversity and Local Communities with Traditional Lifestyles Boni Forest, Ijara District
National Environmental Management Authority of Kenya. * International Labour Office. "Part I: Traditional Economies." Traditional Occupations of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples: Emerging Trends. International Labour Organization, 2000. 318. Print. *"THE AWEER PEOPLE." AFRICAN FIRST PEOPLES: THE AWEER PEOPLE. ECOTERRA Intl. Web. 19 Feb. 2012
The Aweer People

External links

AWEER
{{authority control Ethnic groups in Kenya Indigenous peoples of East Africa Cushitic-speaking peoples Coast Province Ethnic groups in Somalia