Pokot identity formed in the Kerio Valley perhaps as early as the late 18th and certainly not later than the mid 19th century.[1] It emerged from the assimilation of the Sirkwa era Chok by the Pokotozek section of the Maliri.
Assimilation
Early 20th century accounts of the Pokot identify two distinct branches of the community with the caveat that much as two ways of life are detailed, they were one people.[2]
Beech (1911) identified significant differences between agricultural and pastoral sections of the Pokot in; oaths, punishment for murder and homicide, punishment for assault, punishment for witchcraft, punishment for theft and robbery, marriage & divorce, recourse in case of unpaid debt and land tenure.[3] He however notes that "it must be therefore borne in mind that, although written of here as two distinct sections, the hill and pastoral Suk are essentially the same".[4]
Social organisation
Even in the early stages of assimilation, there were no notable differences in matters of social organisation, initiation or governance between the two Pokot groupings. Socially, Pokot men were divided into three groupings; Karachna or boys, Muren or circumcised men and Poi or old men. Boys once circumcised would join an age-set.[5]
Inter-tribal relations
The Turkana, samburu and Pokot ethnic groups have organized cattle raids against each other. The two groups have been through numerous periods of war and peace.
Recent history
Demographics
The number of Pokot speakers in Kenya has been estimated at 783,000[6] (last Kenyan census carried out in 2009) while the number of Pokot speakers in Uganda is estimated at 130,000.[7]
Culture
Folklore
Verbal art is very important among the Pokot. Proverbs are used with versatility both to teach and to make a point. At a gathering of elders, a person may use proverbs to show what a good speaker he is. They are also used to teach younger people the consequences of straying from the moral path. A popular tale, that of the Louwialan clan, is told to warn against pride. Another common tale is that of the blind girl who returns from death[8]
. Riddles (Tyangoi) are mostly used as a way of sharpening children's wits and capturing their attention during story-telling time.[9]
The Pokot have various, descriptive terms for different classes of speech that man engages in. These are as follows;
Lökoi: News of other places
Chiran: News of going on's in the neighborhood
Kokwö: Serious conversations of a business-like nature
Kiruok: Conversations of legal nature (from this stems, kiruokot, a legal specialist)
Even with the introduction of Western education, the Pokot still use folklore as a means of teaching.[11]
Customs
In November 2014 there was public outrage abroad when pictures of circumcision of young Pokot girls were published in the West, despite Kenya's legal ban on the practice.[citation needed]
Beech, M. W. H. (1911). The Suk. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Bianco, Barbara 1992. The Historical Anthropology of a Mission Hospital in Northwestern Kenya. A Ph.D. dissertation New York University.
Bolling, Michael 1996. Bridewealth and Stockfriendship, the Accumulation of Security through Reciprocal Exchange." In Angewandte Sozialforschung, 1996–1997, Vol. 20: (1-2) 57-72.
Cox, P. S. V. 1972. The Disease Pattern of the Karapokot and its Relationship to Their Environment and Culture. A dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine. University of London.
Dietz, T. 1987. Pastoralists in Dire Straits; Survival Strategies and External Strategies, Interventions in a Semi-Arid Region at the Kenya/Uganda Border: Western Pokot, 1900-1986. A Ph.D. dissertation University of Amsterdam.
Kjartan Jonsson 2006. Pokot Masculinity, The Role of Rituals in Forming Men. A Ph.D. dissertation, Reykjavik: University of Iceland, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Meyerhoff, Elisabeth L. 1981. The Socio-Economic and Ritual Roles of Pokot women. A Ph.D. dissertation, Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge.
Reckers, Ute 1992. Nomadische Viehalter in Kenya : die Ost-Pokot aus human-ökologischer Sicht (Arbeiten aus dem Institut für Afrika-Kunde vol. 83). Hamburg: Institut für Afrika-Kunde im Verbund der Stiftung Deutsches Übersee-Institut. ISBN3-928049-12-7
Reynolds, John Eric 1982. Community Development, Ethnicity and Stratification in a Rural Destination: Mnagei, Kenya. A Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington.
Robbins, Pat 2010. Red-Spotted Ox: A Pokot Life (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA))
Schladt, Matthias 1997. Kognitive Strukturen von Körperteilvokabularien in Kenianischen Sprachen (Afrikanistische Monographien vol. 8). Köln: Institut für Afrikanistik / Universität zu Köln. (esp. pp. 40–42)
Schneider, Harold K. 1953. The Pakot (Suk) of Kenya, with Special Reference to the Role of Livestock in Their Subsistence Economy. PhD Dissertation, Northwestern University.
Tully, Dorene R. 1985. Human Ecology and Political Process: The Context of Market Incorporation in West-Pokot District, Kenya. A Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington.
Visser, J.J. 1989. Pökoot Religion. Oegstgeest: Hendrik Kraemer Institut.
