Adoption of Maasai language Īs a result of the decision to transition to pastoralism, the Mukogodo/Yaaku largely gave up their Cushitic language Yaaku for the Eastern Nilotic Maasai language between 19. The Maasai look down upon hunter-gatherer peoples, calling them Dorobo ('the ones without cattle'), and many Mukogodo/Yaaku consider the Maasai culture superior to their own. The reason for this transition is mostly one of social prestige. The Mukogodo/Yaaku assimilated to the pastoralist culture of the Maasai in the first half of the twentieth century (1920's and 30's), although some still keep bees. However, they maintained their hunter-gathering way of life. The Mukogodo appear to have lived in association with the Yaaku in that the Mukogodo in whose localities the Yaaku settled, adopted the Yaakunte language. The Mukogodo hunted rhinoceros for their horn, which they traded with their neighbors for livestock, crops, and manufactured goods like beads and iron.

These tips were purchased in trade with their neighbors as the Mukogodo had no blacksmiths of their own. Their shafts were made from a reedy plant and were fitted with iron tips. The latter which were carried in wooden quivers with leather lids and shoulder straps. The main tools of the Mukogodo hunter were his bow and arrows. The Mukogodo made their homes in caves hence the appellation applied to them. They occasionally hunted and trapped both small and large animals besides their day to day foraging activities.Even though Mukogodo hunters did pursue a wide variety of species, the main source of meat in their diet was the rock hyrax because it was simple to capture. The (Mukogodo) lifestyle revolved around hunting, beekeeping, trapping and gathering. An area of particular focus appears to have been bee-keeping, a heritage maintained by the Mukogodo Maasai today. Way of life Subsistnce Īt the time of Mukogodo and Yaaku interaction, the latter lived by hunting and gathering. They spoke a Cushitic language that is today called Yaakunte. The Yaaku practiced a herding and cultivation way of life. The territory of the original Mukogodo was impinged upon by a community referred to as Yaaku. At the very least their traditions do not go further back than their presence in that region. History Origins Īccording to Mukogodo traditions recorded by Mhando (2008), the Mukogodo people are ancestral to Mount Kenya. The name Mukogodo is a Yaakunte word meaning people who live in rocks. In the present time, the terms Yaaku and Mukogodo (sometimes Mukogodo Maasai), are used to refer to a population living in Mukogodo forest west of Mount Kenya. The Yaakunte language is today facing extinction but is undergoing a revival movement. However, the Mukogodo were later assimilated by the Maasai and adopted the Maa language. Their language, Yaakunte, was kept alive for some time by the Mukogodo who had all along maintained their own hunter-gathering way of life. The Yaaku community was later assimilated by a food producing population and they lost their way of life. A community known as the Yaaku later moved into their territory and the Mukogodo, adopted the Yaaku language, referred to as Yaakunte. Kenya, possibly through to the 18th century. The Mukogodo, are a people who are said to have lived in regions of central Kenya around Mt. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page.

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source.

Mikogo wikipedia