Kenyan tribe 'facing' imminent extinction

September 13 2007 at 12:20PM

An ancient Kenyan tribe with only 40 members who live near the site of major fossil finds of early man could face imminent extinction if urgent measures are not taken, researchers have warned.

The tiny El Molo tribe, concentrated near Lake Turkana in central Kenya, is one of the least known in this country with dozens of tribes whose structure continues to play a critical role in modern social and political life.

Its members have been slowly decimated by years of neglect and attacks by belligerent neighbouring groups, according to Kenyan researchers who are urging government action to save the country's smallest group.

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"We risk losing the biological and generic pool of the El Molo tribe because they face imminent extinction," said Emma Mbua, chief palaeontologist at the government-run National Museums of Kenya, which acts as custodian of the country's national and cultural heritage.
'We risk losing the biological and generic pool of the El Molo tribe'

"This is a very urgent case that the government should look into to ensure that what remains of this tribe is conserved. It is a shame to watch this tribe disappear," she said.

The tribe is among Kenya's last remaining true hunter gatherers, according to the Kenyan Tourism Board. They live on lava rock in igloo-type structures on the south-eastern tip of Lake Turkana, 480 kilometres north of the capital and are considered gifted weavers of baskets and nets.

Senior archaeologist Purity Kiura said there now exist only 40 "pure El Molos" and about 400 mixed-tribe members after decades of intermarriage with neighbouring communities.

"This tribe has a unique heritage and the problem is their culture has not been documented by anybody," said Kiura, who heads research on the El Molo.

Human rights groups have charged Nairobi with neglecting the El Molo, but the government denies this, saying it launched projects to boost the quality of life for all of Kenya's 42 tribes, including the El Molo.
'None of the pure El Molo can speak their original dialect anymore'

"The government has a comprehensive programme of development for all communities in the country," government spokesperson Alfred Mutua told AFP.

"In Turkana areas, we have built new dispensaries and sank bore holes for the El Moro and other communities in order to improve the quality of life and increase life expectancy."

In the past, the El Molo subsisted on crocodiles, hippopotamuses and fish but their lifestyle changed dramatically when the government banned hunting for all but fish.

"It is very unique that they have lived on aquatic fauna only... although they no longer depend on the crocodiles and hippos, they are still highly dependent on fish," Kiura told AFP in an interview.

Disease and frequent limb deformities hamper the tribe and help keep it mired in poverty, researchers said.

Though the cause of the deformities is unclear, doctors believe it is due to calcium and vitamin D deficiencies and malnutrition. The El Molos themselves blame the lake's salty water heavy in fluoride, which can be toxic in large doses, said the archaeologists.

"But we are planning to take blood and urine samples as well as take X-rays in order to determine the real cause so as to seek medical help for them," Kiura explained.

Along with the health issues, recent attacks by the neighbouring pastoralists Gabra tribe sharpened fears the tribe could be wiped out altogether.

Kiura called on the government to urgently intervene and "provide them with clean drinkable water" and preserve the group's sacred shrines, four of which are on one of the lake's islands.

Researchers have also discovered that none of the "pure El Molo" can speak their original "Cushitic" dialect anymore. Many know only a few of its words.

"There are maybe one or two who might be speaking the original dialect, but it has been diluted mostly by the neighbouring Samburu language owing to intermarriage," Kiura added.

The tribe's plight has drawn some notice abroad. In August, the United States gave a $26 000 grant to Kenya's National Museums to preserve the region's heritage and communities, citing El Molo among others.

The endangered tribe lives near the area where in 2004 a team of Kenyan and US archaeologists and palaeontologists discovered a major cache of more than 200 dinosaur specimens, including three from large carnivorous theropods thought to be related to the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex.

North of the area is the famous World Heritage site of Koobi Fora, where Kenyan paleontologist Richard Leakey and his team uncovered early hominid fossils in the 1960s and 1970s that excited the scientific world and helped chart human evolution. - AFP