THE ART OF SHIELD MAKING AMONG ILCHAMUS

Samuel Lekichep and James Lenaiki recreate the traditional leather Ilchamus shields. Although they are normally made from buffalo hide, in this updated version they use cow leather and modern paint, and they have based their design after the Maa shields held by the British Museum, Ethnographic museum in Budapest, and the Weltmuseum Wien. These shields have now all but disappeared from Ilchamus as they have been bought by tourists and guns replaced spears. But they were once part of every warrior Morran’s attire and many elders still remember seeing them. This includes James and Samuel, for whom it was the first time making a shield.


Samuel lekichep oo James lenaiki otobirita longoo lo ilchamus.Ore taa amu nchoni naaapa e losowan e tibirieki kake te nkaraki nkiwatwatata e nkata naaaku keitumiatie lchoni lenkiteng neipoki rangi lenkata e taata neitobir naaa netiu anaa lotungaitie apa lachumba te museum ee ethnographic museum natii Budapest o nkai natii weltmuseum wien.Ore tena kata mookore apa etii longoi amu keinyang'a lachumba nemokore apa etii mperia amu ketijingitwa ntioli nkop neya napasi oo mperia.kake ore te apa naa mpaka naaaku keeta lmuran longoi ata te sikar newen taake etai lpayeni kitwaa o toduaa neparu.ore samuel o james naa keparu netoduaa,kake mpari enche ana ekwe naitobirita longo.


Filming and recording were done as part of the project Historical East African Archaeology and Theory funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (ID: HEAAT-884702), the Cambridge Humanities Research Grant, British Academy Small Grants, and the British Institute in Eastern Africa. The video and it’s parts are licenced under CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0



Project team: Team lead: Nik Petek-Sargeant; Filming and audio recording: Glen Nakure, James Ng’etich, Wilson Tiren, Mercy Leapai Senteyon; Translation: Mercy Leapai Senteyon, Glen Nakure; Video editing: Patrick Nakure, Wanjage Wairimu; National Museums of Kenya representative: Lillian Amwanda.”