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

umbrella term In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...

for several unrelated hunter-gatherer groups of

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

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. They comprised client groups to the

Maasai Maasai may refer to: * Maasai people *Maasai language * Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) * Massai Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...

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 a ...

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, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

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 people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-sp ...

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 Okiek or Ogiek may refer to: *the Okiek people The Okiek ( Ogiek: ), sometimes called the Ogiek or Akiek (although the term Akiek sometimes refers to a distinct subgroup), are a Southern Nilotic ethnic group native to Tanzania and Southern Kenya ...

and Kipchornwonek Okiek (Nilotic;

Rift Valley Province, Kenya Rift Valley Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Bonde la Ufa) of Kenya, bordering Uganda, was one of Kenya's eight provinces, before the Kenyan general election, 2013. Rift Valley Province was the largest and one of the most economically important provinces ...

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

Yaaku language Yaaku (also known as Mukogodo, Mogogodo, Mukoquodo, Siegu, Yaakua, Ndorobo) is an endangered Afroasiatic language spoken in Kenya. It is Cushitic, but its position within that family has been unclear. Bender 2020 008concluded it was Omo–T ...

;

Laikipia District Laikipia County is one of the 47 Counties of Kenya, located on the Equator in the former Rift Valley Province of the Country. Laikipia is a cosmopolitan County and is Listed as County number 31. The county has two major urban centres: Nanyuki t ...

, Rift Valley Province, Kenya) *

Aasax The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax (also rendered as Aasá, Aasáx, Aramanik, Asak, Asax, Assa, Asá), was spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanzania remember only a few words t ...

(

Aasa language The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax (also rendered as Aasá, Aasáx, Aramanik, Asak, Asax, Assa, Asá), was spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanzania remember only a few words t ...

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

Mediak Ogiek (also Okiek and Akiek)The initial vowel varies by dialect. The first consonant is , but is pronounced or between vowels. is a Southern Nilotic language of the Kalenjin family spoken or once spoken by the Ogiek peoples, scattered groups o ...

(

Kalenjin Kalenjin may refer to: * Kalenjin people The Kalenjin are a group of tribes designated as Highland Nilotes and are descended from Maliri people ''(thus related to Daasanach of Ethiopia.)'' The Kalenjin are cousins with Datooga people of Tan ...

, northern Tanzania) *

Kisankasa The Kisankasa are an ethnic and linguistic group based in Arusha Region 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 called Dorobo Dorobo ...

(Kalenjin, northern Tanzania) *

Aramanik The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax (also rendered as Aasá, Aasáx, Aramanik, Asak, Asax, Assa, Asá), was spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanzania remember only a few words t ...

(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 sp ...

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 *