Moving the Maasai : a colonial misadventure

Resource Information

The work Moving the Maasai : a colonial misadventure represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of Liverpool. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Moving the Maasai : a colonial misadventure

Title remainder

a colonial misadventure

Statement of responsibility

Lotte Hughes

Creator

• Hughes, Lotte

Subject

• Kenya -- Colonization | History
• Land tenure -- Kenya
• Great Britain -- Colonies | History
• Masai (African people) -- Land tenure
• Masai (African people) -- Claims

Language

eng

Summary

• This is the scandalous story of how the Maasai people of Kenya lost the best part of their land to the British in the 1900s. Drawing upon unique oral testimony and extensive archival research, Hughes describes the intrigues surrounding two enforced moves and the 1913 lawsuit, while explaining why recent events have brought the story full circle.
• '[A] fascinating account of imperial land theft.' - Tribune 'Hughes' book tells the story of the most significant event in 20th-century Masai history: the forcible dispossession of Masai territories by the colonial government to make way for British settlement. Hughes has meticulously pieced together an account of the evictions and the court cases from a range of official and unofficial sources. Beyond the traditional archival records she has used, she also interviewed Masai survivors of the second move, and managed to retrieve some of the correspondence of Norman Leys, a colonial doctor in colonial Kenya who harshly criticised the Masai moves.' - The Sunday Times South Africa 'Moving the Maasai is a compelling analysis of the history and legacies of the Maasai moves of 1904 and 1911 and the ensuing 1913 court case in Kenya...She reveals the people, processes, principles, and power behind the production of these 'facts,' providing an absorbing study of history-in-the-making.' - Dorothy L Hodgson, African Affairs, Vol 107, No 427, April 2008
• One hundred years ago, in 1904, the British robbed the Maasai of what became Kenya of the best part of their land by moving them into two reserves to make way for white settlers. Seven years later they went back on their word (having promised this move was permanent) and moved the Maasai again - at gunpoint - into one large reserve that was arid and full of stock diseases. Hundreds of Maasai allegedly died of exposure, disease and famine. There was an outcry led by a maverick British doctor and whistle-blower in East Africa, who alerted British MPs to what was going on. He helped the Maasai bring a landmark lawsuit in 1913 - but the Maasai lost on a technicality. Now the story has come full circle, with modern-day Maasai, who claim they are still affected by this huge land loss, suing Britain again for the return of land and reparations

Member of

• Online access with purchase: Palgrave Connect (History Collection)

Cataloging source

UK-WkNB

Index

no index present

Literary form

non fiction

Series statement

St Antony's series

Summary expansion

One hundred years ago, in 1904, the British robbed the Maasai of what became Kenya of the best part of their land by moving them into two reserves to make way for white settlers. Seven years later they went back on their word (having promised this move was permanent) and moved the Maasai again - at gunpoint - into one large reserve that was arid and full of stock diseases. Hundreds of Maasai allegedly died of exposure, disease and famine. There was an outcry led by a maverick British doctor and whistle-blower in East Africa, who alerted British MPs to what was going on. He helped the Maasai bring a landmark lawsuit in 1913 - but the Maasai lost on a technicality. Now the story has come full circle, with modern-day Maasai, who claim they are still affected by this huge land loss, suing Britain again for the return of land and reparations