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Samburu girls paint each others faces with abstract designs in readiness for a dance. Already,their necks and beaded necklaces have been coated with red ochre. Only girls and warriors decorate their faces; the orange powder they use is called blue.
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Kenya, Samburu District. Young Samburu girl in traditional beaded necklaces.
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A Samburu woman resplendent in her beaded necklaces and numerous bracelets makes best use of a large rainwater pond to wash herself. Water is scarce in much of Samburuland.
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During Samburu wedding celebrations,warriors resplendent with long Ochred braids dance with young girls who have put on all their finery for the occasion. Both warriors and girls smear their faces,necks and shoulders with red ochre mixed with animal fat to enhance their appearance. Two spears are tipped with ostrich-feather pompoms.
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Samburu girls are given strings of beads by their fathers when they are still young. As soon as they are old enough to have lovers from the warrior age-set,they regularly receive gifts from them. Over a period of years,their necklaces can smother them up to their necks. The metal cross-like ornament hanging from the girl's headband has no religious significance.
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A young Samburu girl dances during a wedding celebration. By arching her back and thrusting out her chest,she flicks her beaded necklaces up and down while dancing silently to the songs of the warriors. Her body and necklace have been smeared with red ochre,and her eyebrows blackened with charcoal dust mixed with animal fat.
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Samburu girls are given strings of beads by their fathers when they are still young. As soon as they are old enough to have lovers from the warrior age set, they regularly receive gifts from them.Over a period of years, their necklaces can smother them up to their necks.
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A Samburu woman wearing a mporro necklace, which denotes her married status. These necklaces were once made of hair from giraffe tails but nowadays, the fibres of doum palm fronds, Hyphaene coriacea, are used instead.The red beads after which the necklace is named are wound glass beads made in Venice c.1850.
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Young Samburu girls dance during a wedding celebration. By arching their backs and thrusting out their chests,they flick their beaded necklaces up and down while dancing silently to the songs of the warriors. Their bodies and necklaces have been smeared with red ochre.
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Samburu girls are given strings of beads by their fathers when they are still young. As soon as they are old enough to have lovers from the warrior age-set,they regularly receive gifts from them. Over a period of years,their necklaces can smother them up to their necks. The metal cross-like ornament hanging from the girl's headband has no religious significance.
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During Samburu wedding celebrations,married women congregate apart from the warriors and young girls to sing in praise of the couple and to dance.
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A Samburu woman wearing a mporro necklace,which signifies her married status.These necklaces,once made of hair from giraffe tails,are now made from fibres of doum palm fronds (Hyphaene coriacea). The beads are mid-19th century Venetian glass beads,which were introduced to Samburuland by early hunters and traders.
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During Samburu wedding celebrations,married women congregate apart from the warriors and young girls to sing in praise of the couple and to dance.
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In the early morning,a young Samburu girl takes a kid to its mother. She will then milk the nanny goat leaving half the milk for the kid. Only women and children milk goats although every member of the family will drink the milk.
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A Samburu woman wearing a mporro necklace, which denotes her married status. These necklaces were once made of hair from giraffe tails but nowadays, the fibres of doum palm fronds, Hyphaene coriacea, are used instead.The red beads after which the necklace is named are wound glass beads made in Venice c.1850.
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A Samburu woman wearing a mporro necklace, which denotes her married status. These necklaces were once made of hair from giraffe tails but nowadays, the fibres of doum palm fronds, Hyphaene coriacea, are used instead.The red beads after which the necklace is named are wound glass beads made in Venice c.1850.
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In the early morning,young Samburu girls take kids to their mothers. They will then milk the nanny goats leaving half the milk for the kids. Only women and children milk goats although every member of the family will drink the milk.
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The invited guests at a Samburu wedding gather together to sing in praise of the couple and to dance. Celebrations will go on late into the night.
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A Samburu Warrior drives his goats along the wide,sandy seasonal watercourse of the Milgis where waterholes dug by the Samburu in the dry season are a lifeline for pastoralists in this semi-arid region of their district.
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A Samburu woman singing. The strings of black and white beads hanging from her ears signify that she has two grown-up sons who are warriors of the tribe. Note: the traditional horn snuff container hanging from her neck.
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A Samburu woman milks a camel at her homestead in the early morning. The proximity of the calf helps to stimulate the flow of milk. Baby camels have a wool-like texture to their coats,which they lose after six month.
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A Samburu bride waits pensively outside her new home until she is enticed in with promises of cattle.Her wedding gown is made of three goatskins, which are well oiled and covered in red ochre.She carries on her back a gourd full of milk and a small wooden jar containing butter.She now wears the mporro necklace of married women.
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A Samburu woman sews a leather cloak for her younger brother. For several weeks before a boy is circumcised,he must wear a charcoal-blackened cloak,which is made from three goatskins.
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