Murder Investigation

So, I haven't posted in a few days because:

1. Nothing too interesting has happened 
2. Something really interesting happened, but I was waiting for the entire process to be completed so I could post on it all at once. Unfortunately, there has been a development that has hung up the completion of the process, so I might as well make an installment on the story to keep all ya'll interested in this here blog. 

So. This past Thursday, Michael disappeared for the entire afternoon and evening. On Friday, while we were having morning chai, he told me that he had been at a Pokot elder meeting. (Michael is not a Pokot elder, but is seen as a leader in his community, so the elders value his input.) Michael told me that the elders have been meeting all week about a very serious issue: a murder case! Michael asked one of the elders if I could attend the meeting on Friday afternoon, and they agreed! 

This is an amazing opportunity for my research!

Me with the elders and other respected community members.

On Friday afternoon, Michael, Peter and I went to a restaurant in Kapenguria where the elders were meeting in one of the upper rooms. When I entered, there were about 70 Pokot men between the ages of about 35 and 80 squeezed in a space that would comfortably seat 40 people. A few people greeted and acknowledged the three of us when we entered, but otherwise, my presence did not create a disturbance. How refreshing!!!

Michael sat next to me and whispered the English translation of the discussion at hand. All elders are considered equal, and all are welcome to speak freely. Although, sometimes a leader is nominated for a meeting in order to keep order and the discussion going. As elders feel they have something to say or contribute, one will start talking as he stands to address his fellow elders. Then is seated when he has said his piece.

The murder case the elders had been discussing all week involves a number of people:

1. The man who pulled the trigger 
2. His 5 accomplices 
3. The man who owns the gun that was used 
4. A man who provided refuge to the murderer and his accomplices 
5. A man who provided information to the murderer about where the murder victim lived 

Where's Rachel? Me with some of the elders.
Check out the guy's hat on the far left!

Friday's discussion pertained only to #4, the man who provided refuge to the murderer and his accomplices. By the end of the afternoon, the elders eventually ruled that the man's bull should be slaughtered, and determined the date for that ceremony would be Monday (yesterday). 

Michael explained to me that every pastoral Pokot man owns one bull which contributes to the man's status and is considered synonymous with the man...meaning the bull, to an extent, represents the man himself. Slaughtering a man's bull is only one step down from corporal punishment. By slaughtering this man's bull, it is almost as if the elders are "slaughtering" the man, and are sending a clear message to the man that he has greatly offended them; not to mention that reproduction among his cattle will, at the very least, be interrupted. Keep in mind that for a pastoral Pokot, cattle is his livelihood. 

At the end of the Friday meeting, four elders were sent to have the man removed from prison. (The relationship between the Pokot elders and local police is another aspect of this case I will need to learn more about.) And Michael and I were invited up front to address all of the elders about the research I am doing in Kenya. They were very pleased that someone would be recording what, for centuries (and in some cases, even millennia), has been an oral tradition. The leader for that day's meeting assigned an elder to fill me in on the rest of the case, and the secretary of elders extended the invitation for me and Michael to attend the slaughtering of the bull (in regards to that day's ruling) on Monday.

So, anyway, Monday came, and Michael contacted one of the elders to confirm the time and place of the slaughter. He learned that the police were refusing to release the man to the elders. Again, the relationship between the police and the elders is something I'd like to pursue and learn more about. The slaughter has not been called off completely, but for now, has been postponed until further notice.

Me at the Kapenguria Museum before going
to the elder meeting.

Michael and I were planning to leave for Ombolion today, a rural village where I can do more observation and interviews with people who are more closely following Pokot traditions and traditional way of life than those living in the Kapenguria area, but have decided to stick around one more day to see if there is any word about the bull slaughter. If nothing changes today regarding the slaughter, then we will leave tomorrow morning for Ombolion and return, most probably, on Saturday.

So, stay tuned!

Fun fact: I have yet to see a mosquito. Unfortunately, this is most likely due to the draught Kenya is currently experiencing. I certainly have a new appreciation for water as a precious resource!