Women and things: Pokot motherhood as political destiny

Abstract

Among the cattle‐keeping Pokot of northwestern Kenya, women use cowhide belts to support and to undermine the clans for which they bear children. By analyzing the design, symbolic associations, and uses of these commonplace but extraordinarily powerful items of adornment, this article shows how one East African patrilineal society deals with the problematic nature of maternal nurture. More generally, it suggests that by attending to the wide variety of things that women make and wear, we may achieve a better understanding of the political ramifications of motherhood. [gender, adornment, the body, patrilineal descent, East Africa]