The Somali Role in Organized Poaching in Northeastern Kenya, c. 1909-1939

Abstract

For centuries the peoples of the Horn of Africa have supplied foreign consumers with game products and trophies. Due to the introduction of colonial governments, however, these peoples, such as the Somali of Kenya, faced restrictions on such activities Although some scholars have written about this trade in the area tc the south of the Tana River, very little is known about what occurred to the north. Organized poaching1 played an important part in the economic life of the Somali of the Northern Frontier District (NFD) of Kenya. From the earliest days of the establishment of administration until the eve of World War II, Somali pastoralists, livestock traders, and shopkeepers were major participants in a network which operated north of the Tana River. Cooperating with many other ethnic groups, they dealt in game trophies such as ivory and rhino horn, and game products such as leopard skins, giraffe and oryx hides, hippo teeth, and ostrich feathers. This activity led them into direct conflict with British colonial interests. The Somali arrived in what became northern Kenya before the British. They entered the area as a result of a centuries-long movement in the Horn. By mid-nineteenth century, they successfully challenged Galla-speaking nomads such as the Orma and the Boran for leadership in the vast semi-desert area between the Juba and Tana rivers.2 Although primarily interested in seeking pasturage and