Honey and Heifer, Grasses Milk and Water: A Heritage of Diversity in Reconciliation

This publication evolved from Mennonite Central Committee's years of involvement among pastoralist groups who inhabit arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya. Some of the groups such as the Maasai and Borana live and move across territorial borders of Kenya and into Tanzania and Ethiopia. Other groups such as the Turkana have common cultural ties with pastoralists of Uganda. The Somali culture reaches from Kenya to the Horn of Africa. Hence an understanding of these people though appearing very specific reflects on the broader heritage of eastern Africa.

This collection of writings on indigenous modes of conflict resolution is by authors from pastoral communities. Their writings reflect diversities of knowledge about how conflicts are thought of and how their resolutions are approached. Each description is different. In the descriptions there are references to material culture, stories, instructions, proverbs and prayers that reveal the writers attempts to describe events within a culture and language of negotiation explained in metaphors and symbolism. The East African peace heritage can be described as a mosaic that combines the mountains, the sky, the trees and grasses, the animals and milk, the people and their relationships, all intertwined in a highly visual and ceremonial experience.