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Kenya, Samburu County, Serolevi. A Samburu woman stands on a hill to make a phone call from her mobile phone. Kenya' s mobile phone network has revolutionised communications among rural communities.
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Kenya, Samburu County, Bawa. A Samburu schoolgirl from Ler Primary School dresses in typical tribal finery while competing in a schools' cultural display.
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Kenya, Marsabit County, Lasien. A Samburu girl in all her finery. She has neat body scarification as a sign of beauty.
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Kenya, Marsabit County, Lasien. Samburu women and girls leave Lasien wells after watering their family' s livestock. The donkeys carry water to their homesteads, which may be many miles away.
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Kenya, Marsabit County, Lasien. A young Samburu girl sits on a log at Lasien wells after her family' s livestock has been watered. Her sandals are made from old rubber tyres.
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Kenya, Marsabit County, Lasien. A Samburu girl in all her finery at the entrance to her familys well at Lasien after watering their goats. The wooden stockade has been erected to prevent elephants destroying the wells.
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Kenya, Marsabit County, Lechet. Samburu women and girls water their family' s goats at the deep wells at Lechet in the foothills of the Ndoto Mountains.
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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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Kenya, Samburu County, Bawa. A Samburu schoolboy from Ler Primary School dressed in typical tribal finery while competing in a schools cultural display.
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Kenya, Samburu County, Serolevi. A Samburu girl' s brightly-coloured beaded rings and bracelets.
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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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Kenya. A man in Lamu makes a call from an attractive archway during the procession to mark Maulidi.
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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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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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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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Kenya, Samburu District. Young Samburu girl in traditional beaded necklaces.
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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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Elaborate headdress and body adornments worn by Samburu moran (warrior).
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A proud Samburu mother of two recently circumcised boys wears briefly their bird skin headdresses round her neck after they discard them during the lmuget loolbaa ceremony a month after their circumcision. She in turn will throw them away the same evening and ensure the familys cattle trample them under foot so that they will never be used or seen in public again.
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Kenya, South Horr, Kurungu.A Samburu youth after his circumcision. The day after he has been circumcised, the initiate must hang in his pierced earlobes copper ear ornaments that are normally worn by married women. His sponsors make him a new headdress of ostrich feathers fastened to a narrow band of plaited fibre, which fits tightly round his forehead like a sweatband.
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A Samburu warrior drinks blood straight from the fold of skin cut in a goat's neck.During every Samburu ceremony,livestock is slaughtered and meat is roasted over wood fires. Warriors will never eat meat in the presence of married women.
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The proud father of a Samburu boy who has recently been circumcised. For each son who has been initiated into the warrior age-set,a father will tie a strip of lion skin below his knees,hang two copper ornaments normally worn by women in his pierced earlobes and places a string of pale green beads round his forehead. A ceremonial leather cape is slung over his shoulder.
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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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Up to a year before his circumcision,a Samburu boy will style his hair in a distinctive 'pudding bowl' shape and often rub charcoal and fat into it.Uncircumcised boys are considered children whatever their age. They have no standing in the tribe and do not belong to an age-set.
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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 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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A Samburu warrior has his Ochred hair braided by a friend. A mixture of cow's urine and ashes is often rubbed into the hair first to help straighten it. The wooden headrest is used as a pillow at night. Long braids of Ochred hair distinguish warriors from other members of their society. The warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance.
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Two Samburu warriors dress the braids of a colleague. Long braids of Ochred hair distinguish warriors from other members of their society. The warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance. Round ornaments,often made of ivory,adorn the pierced and extended earlobes of warriors.
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Two Samburu warriors converse,their long braids of Ochred hair distinguishing them from other members of their society. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance. An ostrich feather pompom decorates the top of a spear.
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A Samburu warrior resplendent with long braids of Ochred hair. His round ear ornaments are made of ivory. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance. They use ochre extensively; it is a natural earth containing ferric oxide which is mixed with animal fat to the consistency of greasepaint. By tradition,warriors always used to carry two spears.
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A Samburu warrior resplendent with his long braids of Ochred hair. His round ear ornaments are made of ivory. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance. They use ochre extensively; it is a natural earth containing ferric oxide which is mixed with animal fat to the consistency of greasepaint.
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A Samburu warrior resplendent with long,braided,Ochred hair. The braids at the front have been fashioned in a protruding fringe rather like a sunshade. The cloth on top keeps the braids in place. The round ear ornaments of the warriors are made of ivory. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance.
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A Samburu warrior resplendent with long,braided,Ochred hair. The round ear ornaments of the warriors are fashioned from ivory. Samburu warriors are vain and proud,taking great trouble over their appearance. Ochre is a natural earth containing ferric oxide which is mixed with animal fat to the consistency of greasepaint.
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A young Samburu man leads a donkey carrying the basic structure of a temporary home. The curved sticks will be tied together in a dome and covered with hides and woven mats to form a temporary shelter in a stock camp. Donkeys are widely used by the Samburu as beasts of burden.
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Service in the bush - kerosene lanterns light the pathway to your tent on a mobile safari.
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Samburu moran (warrior) tries the feel of a shotgun at the end of a bird shooting safari.
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Kenya, Marsabit County, Kalacha. An El Molo girl enjoys a dance at the annual Kalacha Festival. The El Molo live on the shores of Lake Turkana and are the smallest tribe in Kenya.
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Kenya, Marsabit County, Kalacha. Turkana men and women sing and dance at the annual Kalacha Festival. The women' s leather skirts are made of goatskins.
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Kenya, Marsabit County, Kalacha. Turkana men and girls jump high in the air as they sing and dance at the annual Kalacha Festival. Ostrich feathers are a prized possession of the men.
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Kenya, Samburu County, Serolevi. A Samburu youth waters his family' s herds from a deep well at Kisima Hamsini.
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Kenya, Samburu County, Serolevi. A fine Zebu bull in a herd of cattle owned by Samburu pastoralists.
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Kenya, Samburu County, Serolevi. A Samburu boy waters his family' s herds at Kisima Hamsini wells.
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Kenya, Samburu County, Serolevi. A Samburu boy waters his family' s herds at Kisima Hamsini wells.
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Kenya, Samburu District. A tourist attempting to jump as high as a Samburu warrior, in the dry river bed of the Ewaso Nyiro.
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Kenya, Samburu District. Samburu warriors and young girls sing and dance in the dry river bed of the Ewaso Nyiro River.
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Kenya, Samburu District. A Samburu woman, wearing intricate beaded necklaces, leans against her mud hut towards the end of the day.
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Detail of a Maasai warrior's ear ornaments and other beaded or metal adornments. The Maasai practice of piercing ears in adolescence and gradually elongating the lobes is gradually dying out. This warrior's body and his long braids have been smeared with red ochre mixed with animal fat.
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Kenya, Samburu District, Wamba.Immediately an initiate completes his lmuget loolbaa ceremony a month after his circumcision, he becomes a junior warrior of the Samburu tribe. From wearing a drab black cloak and carrying a bow and arrows, he proudly dons the ochred finery of a warrior, spear in hand. Overnight, he is transformed from a boy into a man, confident of his new role in tribal affairs.
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Samburu initiates sing during the month after their circumcision. As their wounds heal, their dances become more energetic. Before long, they imitate the dances of the warriors which, hitherto, they have been forbidden to perform.They spend much of their time wandering in the countryside attempting to kill as many birds as they can with a club and four blunt arrows. When a bird is killed, it is sk
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Samburu initiates skin a bird without the use of a knife.While their wounds heal for a month after circumcision, initiates spend their time wandering in the countryside attempting to kill as many birds as they can with a club and four blunt arrows. When a bird is killed, it is skinned, stuffed with dry grass and attached to the boy's headband by means of its beak.
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A Samburu initiate takes aim at a bird with a blunt arrow.While their wounds heal for a month after circumcision, initiates spend their time wandering in the countryside attempting to kill as many birds as they can with a club and four blunt arrows. When a bird is killed, it is skinned without a knife, stuffed with dry grass and attached to the boys headband by means of its beak.
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A Samburu mother shaves her sons head outside her home the day before he is circumcised.Round her neck hangs his nchipi, the distinctive decoration of every boy who participates in the circumcision ritual. The strings of blue beads terminate in large bronze coloured wings of a torpedo shaped beetle, Sterocera hildebrandti.
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A Samburu boy the day before his circumcision.He has daubed the right side of his face and body with white clay while drawing water from a source that never dries up. Each boy will carry for this purpose a new gourd shaped container made by his mother from hollowed out wood.
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Mothers rub animal fat into their sons cloaks to make them supple. This task is performed shortly before the boys set out on an arduous journey to collect sticks, staves and gum to make bows, blunt arrows and clubs after their circumcision.
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A Maasai warrior speaks on his mobile phone from the saddle of his camel near Lake Magadi in Kenyas Rift Valley Province.Mobile phones are a popular method of communicating with family and friends in remote areas of Kenya.
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A Samburu boy in reflective mood after his circumcision.A day after the ordeal, he will hang in his pierced earlobes copper earrings normally worn by married women and put on a new headdress of ostrich feathers fastened to a narrow band of plaited fibre, which fits tightly round his forehead.
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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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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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The ritual sponsors and friends of a Samburu initiate make him a bow,blunt arrows and a club from the sticks,staves and gum he collected before he was circumcised. He will use these weapons to kill birds for a month following his circumcision. Initiates are forbidden to carry knives during this time.
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A Samburu youth is carried by his sponsors into his mother's house to rest just after he has been circumcised in the early morning. Boys are not allowed to show any sign of fear or pain. Even the blink of an eyelid is frowned upon. It takes a good circumciser a minute to finish the operation and move quickly on to his next customer.
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A young Samburu warrior. In the days leading up to a circumcision ceremony,everyone becomes distinctly nervous of the conduct of the family members' undergoing the operation. Should a boy show signs of fear or cry out,he brings terrible shame to his entire family.
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Kenya, Samburu District, South Horr, Samburu District, Kenya. The ritual helpers of two Samburu boys slaughter and skin rams the day before the boys are circumcised. The boys will sit on the skins while they are being circumcised.
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Kenya, Samburu District, South Horr, Samburu District, Kenya. A ritual helper of a Samburu boy makes him new sandals the day before he is circumcised which he will wear for a month and then discard.
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The evening before a Samburu boy is circumcised,he must lean over his mother under a special ochred goatskin cape as she milks a cow that has not given birth more than twice. This milk will be kept overnight in a traditional wooden gourd-like container and will be poured over the boy's head just before he is circumcised early the next morning.
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A Samburu mother wears an ochred goatskin cape ready for milking a cow the evening before her son is circumcised. This distinctive cape is worn only at circumcision ceremonies. The milk must be drawn from a cow that has not given birth more than twice and will be poured over her son's head just before he is circumcised early the next morning.
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The day before Samburu boys are circumcised in their lorora,(a purpose-built circumcision encampment),senior elders will bless the sharp instruments of every household,such as pangas and axes,by pouring a little milk over them as they intone a blessing. The instruments must be laid out on the oxhide upon which the boy of each household will be circumcised.
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Dressed in his black goatskin cloak,a Samburu boy puts his bundle of sticks,staves and gum on the roof of his mother's house. He has collected these with other boys from a special type of Commiphora tree during an arduous journey on foot of up to 200 miles. After his circumcision,he will make them into bows,blunt arrows and clubs.
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A close-up of a Pokot woman's earrings,hairstyle and beaded ornaments. Only married women wear brass earrings and glass-beaded collars. The band over her head supports the weight of her heavy earrings.
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A young married woman of the Pokot tribe. Her married status is denoted by her large brass earrings and broad beaded collars and necklaces that are smeared with animal fat to glisten in the sun.
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A young Pokot girl in traditional attire. Girls wear leather skirts and capes made from home-tanned goatskins. Her broad necklaces are made from small segments of sedge grass. Her ears have already been pierced in four places,ready to insert the large brass earrings she will acquire after marriage.
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Maasai warriors draw water from a deep well. The depth of wells is measured by the number of men required to bring water to the cattle troughs at the top of them. A three-man well will be about 24 feet deep since the buckets are thrown between the men in a rhythmic chant.
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A Maasai warrior resplendent with long ochred braids tied in a pigtail at the back,puts red ochre on his friend's plaits. Red ochre is anatural earth,which is mixed with animal fat to the consistency of greasepaint.
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Kenya,Trans-Mara,Lolgorien. The Maasai do not eat game meat or birds. Consequently,the wildlife in their vast grazing areas has been left relatively undisturbed. The warriors do hunt lions,however,when their cattle are killed. The warrior who spears a lion to death will make a busby-style headdress from its mane.
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A back view of a Maasai warrior resplendent with long ochred braids tied in a pigtail. This singular hairstyle sets him apart from other members of his society. His beaded belt is of a style only worn by warriors. The little copper bell-shaped ear ornament hanging from his elongated and decorated earlobe is also peculiar to the Maasai.
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A Maasai warrior with his long braids and body coated with red ochre mixed with animal fat. He has put ochre dust round his eyes to enhance his appearance ready for a dance. The singular hairstyles of Maasai warriors sets them apart from other members of their society.
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A Maasai warrior has daubed himself with red ochre mixed with animal fat to participate in a dance. His long ochred braids have been drawn forward from the crown of the head and tied in three places. This singular hairstyle sets warriors apart from the rest of their society.
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A Maasai warrior resplendent with long ochred braids. His body has been smeared with red ochre mixed with animal fat while parts of his face have been covered with ochre powder.
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Kenya,Kajiado,Maparasha. A Maasai warrior resplendent with long,ochred braids. This singular form of hairstyle distinguishes warriors from the rest of their society. This man has looped his elongated and decorated earlobes over his ears - a common practice when walking through thorn scrub country to prevent the loops being snagged by thorns.
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A Maasai warrior in full regalia. He has stuck a porcupine quill in his beaded headband to add to his other decorations. His long,Ochred plaits have been drawn forward from the crown of his head and tied in three bunches.
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The adornments of Samburu warriors change from generation to generation. In the 1990's cheap plastic flowers from China became fashionable to decorate their Ochred braids. This warrior has had his hair styled in the 'sunshade' look by having his braids at the front combed forward.
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The adornments of Samburu warriors change from generation to generation. In the 1990's cheap plastic flowers from China became fashionable. This warrior is wearing several bracelets,which bear the Kenyan coat of arms.
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The adornments of Samburu warriors change from generation to generation. In the 1990's cheap plastic flowers from China became fashionable.
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