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I y . u . .. . .- fr. . 5: .I: ..Ibl§:‘r§M—.- Chou-1.3 .1 .Cr..r_:5 all tllmllllllllllllllmmll L 3 1293 00829 4229 This is to certify that the thesis entitled "Changing Use of the Resource Base Among The Taita of Kenya" presented by Andrew Allen Nazzaro has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph 0 Do degree in Geography jm Mm film Date dbl/'46 27/: [974' 0-7 639 ABSTRACT CHANGING USE OF THE RESOURCE BASE AMONG THE TAITA OF KENYA By Andrew Allen Nazzaro Among the questions of interest to geographers and other social scientists are those pertaining to the processes of economic and social change. This has become more true since the 1950's in Africa, because of the achievement of independence from colonial rule in most African countries since the end of that decade. The East African country of Kenya became independent from British rule in 1963. Its popular govern— ment is extremely desirous of encouraging development in all sectors of the nation, both urban industrial and rural agrarian. In order to plan for future expansion it is necessary to comprehend the level of develop— ment that exists today and it is even more crucial to understand how the contemporary scene has evolved. The focal area of this research is the Taita Hills, located in Taita District of the Coast Province. These hills represent the densest population division within the District. This study examines the Chang» ing resource identification and resource use over time by the Taita People. The temporal framework through which these processes have operated is divided, for analytic purposes, into three eras: pre— colonial, colonial, and post-colonial. Written documentation and oral testimony are integrated in order to discuss the spatial dimensions of pre-colonial Taita society. This treatment includes information about the settlement of the Hills by N {R Andrew Allen Nazzaro their present occupants as well as data concerning early resource and land management. The pre—colonial era serves as an historical- geographical baseline for the consideration of the roles that the mission societies, commercial companies, and the government played, in the colonial era, in reshaping the Taita's use of resources. Both intentional and unintentional effects of these organizations are included and competition for the use of land is a recurrent theme in these interrelations. The post-colonial era concerns contemporary patterns of, resource identification and land-use. Two areal scales of observation are employed. Districtwide, economic and population changes are the focus in the larger area; whereas the comparison of two valleys, within the District, illustrates levels of specialization and differentiation that have occurred at the local level. Comparison of Bura and Werugha valleys demonstrated that Werugha, with high yields of coffee and vegetables, sent fewer migrants to work outside Taita than did Bura. The arrangement of farm-plots and houses in these two valleys also differed, largely as a result of land consoli— dation. In Werugha, where consolidation was complete by 1969, housing patterns had begun to shift from agglomerated to dispersed. Werugha farm-plots became more rectilinear in shape after land consolidation. In Bura, where consolidation had not yet begun, at the time of the survey, the housing was still largely arranged in an agglomerated pattern, and the sizes and shapes of the fields were very irregular. The Taita have become committed to participation in the cash economy by supplying cash—laborers and by producing high quality Andrew Allen Nazzaro agricultural goods for both regional and world markets. Regionally, vegetables play an important role and internationally, coffee does. These changes, and others which are discussed, reflect the expanded resource inventory with which contemporary Taita operates. CHANGING USE OF THE RESOURCE BASE AMONG THE TAITA OF KENYA By Andrew Allen Nazzaro A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Geography 1974 @Copyright by ANDREW ALLEN NAZZARO 1974 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To the many people who gave freely of their time and considera— tion, the author is grateful. The cheerful encouragement and direction from public officials and nationals in Kenya made the field portion of this research all the more rewarding. Developing, as it did, from a larger research proposal by Dr. Harm J. de Blij and Dr. George Petrides, this study has had the bene— fit of their counsel and support. The author gratefully acknowledges their sustained inspiration and helpful suggestions. To Dr. John M. Hunter, the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee, the author acknowl— edges an especial debt for his supervision, criticisms, suggestions, and intellectual example. The other members of the Committee, Dr. Lawrence Sommers, Dr. Ian Matley, and Dr. James Hooker, have also offered helpful advice and direction, for which the writer is very grateful. This study was materially supported by the Midwestern Universities Consortium for International Activities, Inc. (M.U.C.I.A.), administered through the African Studies Center, a part of the Center for International Programs at Michigan State University. The list of individuals who gave of themselves to make this research a reality is so long as to make it impossible to thank them all here. For helping the author to understand the Taita Hills from a more personal perspective, he wishes to thank Tom Wolf, the teacher, and Shako Felix Mndenyi, the student. Thanks also are due to the Taita people for ii their patience in helping the author to find answers to his questions. For her cartographic talent and sensitivity to detail and to deadlines, the writer thanks Carole Wortley of Eastern Michigan University. The writer also wishes to thank Sue Helppie for typing preliminary drafts and Alice Sano for typing the final draft. The author acknowledges his deep appreciation for his parents' support, both in this country and overseas. The writer's greatest debt is to his wife Priscilla, for her sustained intellectual and emotional support, as well as for her efforts in the hundreds of mechanical tasks required for the assembly of a project such as this one. To her go my greatest thanks. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chapter I. II. III. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Culture and Environmental Perception . . Acculturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colonialism and African Societies . . . . . Statement of Problem . . . . . . . . . . . Method of Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . Organization of the Study . . . . SPATIAL DIMENSIONS OF PRE-COLONIAL TAITA SOCIETY Introduction I O O O O O O O O O O 0 Physical Location Physical Background Historical-geographical Reconstruction Patterns of Settlement . . . . . . . Traditional Military Organization Migration and Settlement Cores Patterns of Internal Movement . . . . . . . . Exchange Networks . . . . . NON-AFRICAN ORGANIZATIONS AND THE TAITA . . . . Introduction . . The Missionary Societies Mission Land Alienation The Bura Mission The Wundanyi Mission Other Mission Lands iv Page vii viii WOQNU'IN H 15 25 47 53 58 58 59 Chapter Private Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . Wundanyi Ltd. The Sisal Estates The Kedai Estate Taita Concessions Limited Other Commercial Companies Colonial Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Land Ownership Labor Supply IV. ORDER AND CHANGE IN TAITA SOCIETY . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Economic Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hunting Plant Agriculture Coffee Vegetables Dry Land Crops Pastoral Activities Tertiary Activities Selected Population Characteristics V. DIFFERENTIAL MODERNIZATION IN THE TAITA HILLS . . Introduction 0 I O O O O I O I I O O O O O O 0 Comparative Ecological Features . . . . . . . . Bura Valley Werugha Valley Agricultural and Settlement Characteristics . Bura Valley Werugha Valley Some Demographic Comparisons . VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Pre—colonial Taita Society . . Colonial Non—African Organizations and the Taita Contemporary Taita . . . . . . . Page 89 109 126 126 128 183 183 184 189 211 216 217 219 223 Page APPENDICES A. TAITA DIVISION POPULATION BY LOCATION FOR SELECTED YEARS O O O O O O O O O O I O O O I O I I O O O O O 230 B. DUKA OWNERS IN TAITA, QUESTIONNAIRE . . . . . . . . . 231 C. HOUSEHOLD OCCUPANTS IN TAITA, QUESTIONNAIRE . . . . . 232 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 vi Table 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. LIST OF TABLES Selected Rainfall Reporting Stations in Taita District . . Combined Military Organization and Numerical Designations Of Clans O O O O Q I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O . Wundanyi Estate Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taita District Schedule of Treaties . . . . . . . . . . . Tenure of Colonial Taita District Commissioners, 1918—1958 Taita District Government Ivory and Rhino—horn confiscation O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 Statistical Dimensions of Modern Coffee Cultivation in the Taita Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Growth Statistics of Coffee Cultivation in Taita . . . . . Wundanyi Coffee Factory Receipts of Cherry from May 1968, to January 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List of Available Vegetables in the Taita Hills, 1968 & 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selected Dry Crop Exports from Taita by Rail . . . . . . . The Progress of Land Consolidation in Taita Division, Mid-1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1969 Population of Two Sub—Locations . . . . . . . . . Migrant/Resident Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Page 20 32 97 111 123 132 142 143 149 150 155 207 212- 213 Figure 10. 11. 12. l3. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. LIST OF FIGURES Location of Taita District Within Kenya . . . . . . . Location of Taita Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Panorama of the South Side of the Hills, Part One . . . Panorama of the South Side of the Hills, Part Two . . . Forested and Cultivated Slopes . . . . . . . . . . . . Acacia and Commiphora Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . Masai Raiding Paths and the Taita . . . . . . . . . . . Pre—European Population Movements in East Africa . . . Settlement Cores in Taita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MWachora, Margin of the Wundanyi—Kedaya Core . . . . . The Wundanyi Area, or the "Boma" . . . . . . . . . . . Human Versus Wildlife Population Pressure . . . . . . . Principal Missions in Taita and Sagalla Divisions . . . Bura Mission Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diffusion of Coffea arabica to Taita . . . . . . . . . Location of Wundanyi and Mbale Missions . . . . . . . . Major Agricultural Estates in Taita . . . . . . . . . . Location Boundaries and Shifting Administrative Centers Major Cash Crop Areas and Bura and Werugha Valleys . . Model Coffee Factory Lay-Out viii Page 11 17 19 19 21 21 28 38 41 43 44 49 65 73 8O 84 99 117 139 147 Figure Page 21. Wundanyi Coffee Factory and Drying Racks . . . . . . . . 148 22. Ritual Versus Economic Use of a Resource: A Hypothetical Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 23. Major Cattle Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 24. Kishushe Grazing Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 25. Tsavo National Park Land Within Taita District . . . . . 179 26. Bura Valley Crop Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 27. Cane—Crushing Mill for the Production of Deng; . . . . . 193 28. "Sponges" (seed pods of Kigelia aethiopica) Drying and Bottles Being Prepared for the Sale of Denge . . . . . 193 29. Distribution of Farm Plots and Houses in Bura . . . . . . 198 30. Old and Modern Style Houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 31. Werugha Valley Crop Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 32. Werugha Farm-Plot and House Distribution . . . . . . . . 210 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The search for order in science is well represented in the field of geography. Geographers have long sought to understand the modes by which mankind has perceived, identified, and organized his environment. Adherents of the school of Human Geography particularly, have been con— cerned with the discovery and explanation of the differing spatial- organizational forms of man's design. Some recent important statements, by geographers, concerning human spatial organization include those of 2 Ambrose,l Haggett, Morrill,3 Abler, Adams, and Gould,4 Johnson,5 and English and Mayfield,6 among others. ‘I'_ 1Peter Ambrose, ed., Analytical Human Geography (New York: American Elsevier, 1969). 2Peter Haggett, Locational Analysis in Human Geography (London: Edward Arnold Ltd., 1966). 3Richard Morrill, The Spatial Organization of Society (Belmont, California: Duxbury Press, 1970). 4Ronald Abler, John Adams, and Peter Gould, Spatial Organiza— tion (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1971). 5E. A. J. Johnson, The Organization of Space in Developing Coun— tries (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970). 6Paul English, and Robert Mayfield, eds., Man, Space and Envi- ronment (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970). A major difficulty in looking for order in Man's activities, is the tendency toward determinism, be it climatic, economic, or cultural. As Haggett suggests, "Order and chaos are not part of nature but part of the human mind. . . ."7 Mindful of similar statements, modern geo— graphers have exercised caution in their search, in order to avoid imposing a preconceived order where, objectively, one cannot be shown to exist. One direction that some geographers have taken in recent research efforts, is toward an understanding of the possible inter— relationships between culture and environmental perception. Culture and Environmental Perception The concept of environmental perception has received some atten— . 8 tion from geographers as well as from urban planners. Perceptual images have been dealt with in a variety of contexts, from the frozen . 9 . . 10 arctic North to the Middle Eastern c1ty. In a treatment of urban imagery, Lynch considers the city's identity as deriving from the per- ceptions of its inhabitants. "Each individual creates and bears his own image, but there seems to be substantial agreement among members of 7Haggett, Locational Analysis in Human Geography, p. 2. 8A useful collection of works has been edited by David Lowen- thal around the themes of environmental perception and human behavior. David Lowenthal, ed., Environmental Perception and Behavior (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Research Paper No. 109, 1967). 9Joseph Sonnenfeld, "Environmental Perception and Adaptation Level in the Arctic," in David Lowenthal, ed., Environmental Perception and Behavior (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970). 10John Gulick, "Images of an Arab City," Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 29 (August, 1963). the same group. It is these group images, exhibiting consensus among significant numbers, that interest city planners. . . ."11 In recogni- tion of variant individual and group environmental images (interpreta— tions), Sonnenfeld has fashioned the term "Operational environment." He has used this term to represent one classification in a series of nested environments ranging from the broadest inclusion of elements to the narrowest; from geographical to operational, to perceptual, to behavioral. The exact makeup of the operational environment varies, according to physiology, sensory sensitivity, and behavioral orientation and inclination. Thus a basic distinction between the geographical environment and Operational environment is that while the former is the same for all of man, the operational environment differs, race from race, culture from culture, and individual from individ— ual.12 It is with group operational environments that geographers have usually been concerned. The role of culture13 in the continuity or dis— continuity of operational environments is a question of long standing interest to geographers and anthropologists. Cultural distinctness between discrete human population groups appears to play a critical role in environmental perceptions and hence in each group's organizational 11Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City (Cambridge: M.I.T. Press and Harvard University Press, 1960). 12Joseph Sonnenfeld, "Geography, Perception, and the Behavioral Environment," in P. English and R. Mayfield, eds., M?DL,SP3C€ and Environment (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972), p. 247. 3Culture is conceived of here as a system of learned values, shared by a human group, through which information is selected, accen— tuated, and interpreted. Allport's explanation of the process of per— ception-cognition (selection, accentuation, and interpretation) has been included in this definition of culture. Gordon W. Allport, Th3 Nature of Prejudice (Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1958), p. 161. forms. Group perceptions, like individual ones, are subject to radical change; or one physical environment may represent different group opera— tional environments within the same timespan. The example of the Plains Indian of North America serves well to illustrate the changing perceptions of environment which often accompany technological innovation. The introduction of the horse helped to extend the physical mobility of the plains Indians and therefore to encourage a greater use than previously of the high plains. The utili— zation of the horse as a beast of burden was an important element in the broadened management of the plains habitat by the Indians. This innova- tion may have played a central role in their enlarged economic success. The same Plains area was perceived differently by European immi- grants whose cultural predilections were toward sedentary agriculture. The vast open grassland areas, in their apparent emptiness, seemed to offer unlimited opportunity for agricultural settlement. European settlers claimed large tracts and introduced the deep plow, with varia— ble results. The examples above portray several principles with which geo— graphers have dealt. Perhaps the most obvious principle illuStrated is the modification of environmental perception within one cultural group, over time, concomitant with the introduction of a technological innova— tion; the use of the horse. Another principle involves the variance between the operational environments of two cultural groups whose occupa— tion of the same physical area was synchronous. The degree to which one cultural group's environmental interpretations affect another's, often depends on several factors, all of which may be considered as elements in the process of acculturation. Acculturation Anthropologists have led the way in the study of acculturation. Although there has been some disagreement in the English—speaking world as to the use of the proper term, in this paper, acculturation is used instead of the term culture-contact preferred by Malinowski. A useful operational definition of acculturation was fashioned by Herskovits. Acculturation comprehends those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups.14 In a discussion of the processes of acculturation it is useful to indicate at the outset, what has come to be an implicit misimpression. In the meeting of different societies, having different cultures, it is often the society with the most forceful technology which prevails in the maintenance of its culture, with the least disruption. The society with a less forceful technology may, whether intentionally or not, feel the greater imperative to change. Although this principle is clearly understood, what is often not pointed out is that both societies in such cases were involved, even before mutual contact, in the processes of social change, technological development, and cultural modification. The so—called "traditional" society already contained the seeds of change, which were then fertilized by contact with outside societies. 14M. J. Herskovits, "The Significance of the Study of Accultura— tion for Anthropology," American Anthropologist, 39 (1937), 259. Innovation was not originated by the invading society, it was merely encouraged in prescribed directions by the invaders. In the study of acculturation it is all too easy to imply that "progress" starts with the invading population. The migration and settlement of human population has held an abiding curiosity for geographers. Since Whittlesey coined the term "sequent ocCupance" to describe the successive occupation over time of one area by different population groups, geographers have used the con— cept to attempt to explain both evolving settlement patterns and systems of functional organization. Questions of acculturation have been partially answered by this approach, insofar as an historical reconstruc- tion of settlement patterns can tell us about the degree of interaction that obtained between coexistent cultural groups. Problems focussing on what is often a part of acculturation, that is, diffusion,15 have been of more current interest to geographers. As it is true with the diffusion of disease, it is also true with the diffusion of innovation; not everyone will become infected, nor will all innovations be equally accepted. Diffusion and acculturation occur, like many other transformations, by degrees. The confrontation of one society by another does not necessitate the acceptance by one of the other's view of reality. 15Examples of this growing field of interest amongst geographers are: T. Hagerstrand, "The Propagation of Innovation Waves," Lppd Studies in Geography, Series Bi Human Geogpaphy, Series B, Human Geo— graphy, of Regional Science, 8 (1968), G. Pyle, "The Diffusion of Cholera in the United States in the Nineteenth Century," Geographical Analysis, 1 (1969), and J. M. Hunter and Johnathan C. Young, "Diffu— sion of Influenza in England and Wales," Annals A.A.G., 61 (December, 1971). Because we cherish the past as a collective guide to behavior, the general consensus alters very slowly. Scientists as well as laymen ignore evidence incompatible with their preconceptions. New theories which fail to fit established views are resisted, in the hope that they will prove false or irrelevant; old ones yield to convenience rather than to evidence.16 Colonialism and African Societies The degree of interaction that existed between indigenous and immigrant groups within a colony was often not mutually defined. Under colonial domination, in which the immigrant population had major tech— nological advantages, it was the invaders' decisions that prevailed. Colonialism in Africa gave rise to a variety of philosophies of adminis- tration and interaction.17 Often, in colonial situations, indigenous societies were severely circumscribed in their attempts to compete with the invading or immigrant populations in the economic, social or politi- cal spheres. Various restraints were imposed upon the original inhabi- tants, often regardless of their desires, by the colonial settlers and their institutions. Colonial societies have existed in which the domi- nant group is a majority of the total population. In colonial Africa, - . . 18 the reverse was, and 1n several cases still 18, true. The controlling l6David Lowenthal, "Geography, Experience and Imagination: Towards a Geographical Epistemology," Annals, A.A.G., 51 (September, 1961), quoted in P. English and R. Mayfield, Man, Space and Environment, p. 225. 17For an informative treatment of colonial administrative philosophy see: Michael Crowder, West Africa Under Colonial Rule (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1968). 18The examples of the Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozam— bique as well as the semi-independent Rhodesia still persist as cases in which the African majorities are dominated, in almost every field of human endeavor by Caucasian settlers. group was a minority of European descent.19 Some African territories were organized in much the manner of factories in which there were extremely small numbers of managerial staff, all European.20 Other territories were opened for settlement by European farmers, of both the peasant and "gentlemen" varieties. Kenya Colony went through several stages of economic exploitation; from large chartered company domina- tion, to an influx of "gentlemen farmers from Europe and Southern Africa, to modern independence. In every case, prior to independence, a small number of Europeans dominated the political and égznomic activi- ties of the country. Statement of Problem The selection of a discrete cultural group within an African country for the analysis of the processes of social change and the impact of immigrant populations, is a well founded approach in the social sciences with many enlightening precedents. Such a cultural group are the Taita of Kenya. The Taita are usually included among the Northeastern Bantu complex of peoples that are dispersed throughout Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The term Bantu, represents a language group whose speakers are widely distributed through central and eastern Africa. 19For a discussion of numerical versus sociological minorities, see Georges Balandier, "The Colonial Situation," in Pierre L. Van den Berghe, ed., Africa: Social Problems of Change and Conflict (San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Co., 1965). 20 . . All Cauca31ans, except for some Middle Easterners, are referred to in East Africa as Europeans, even if they are of British, South African, or American descent. The Taita speak a language whose vocabulary and sounds are only partially intelligible to neighboring peoples. Although there are loan words from other languages, the language of the Taita has maintained a degree of exclusiveness, which reflects their feelings of social unique- ness. The 1969 Kenya Census recorded in excess of 108,000 individuals who claim affinity with the Taita ethnic group. At that time, just over 80 percent of the Taita lived within the Taita District of the Coast Province of Kenya. ~(See Figure l.) The focus of this study is upon the Taita Hills, which represent the most dense population division within the Taita District. The pur— pose of this research is to analyze the Taita Hills in terms of the pat— terns of resource identification and use that have evolved from pre— colonial days until the present. This elaboration is traced by compar- ing three successive time periods; pre—colonial, colonial, and post- colonial. These eras have been chosen as an analytic convenience only. The processes involved in social and economic change are not time—bound. Method of Approach In light of the interdisciplinary nature of the research problem ontlined above, it was appropriate to employ equally interdisciplinary data vauisition techniques. The data to be collected fell into two major categories. The first concerned data which had been recorded by others, whether published or not. The second category involved informa- tion which, to this researcher's knowledge, had not previously been collected. 10 Fig. 1.—-Taita District is in the southwestern corner of the Coast Province of Kenya. 11 lOCATION OF TAITA DISTRICT WITHIN KENYA II- '{ \.\.\ ,.”'\ '3 .‘. I" " '\._ __ -. 3.". \. I. I ." \ ........ 'l. I f ..,~ ., I. .‘.\, I H ‘-,_ EASTERN NORTH i I I; EASTERN : ? RIF'I’ ; I, o .’ VALLEY ! I i I I I ! I I -. i. \ \. “ \ (NAIROBI . rANA ~ \ uven .. ‘\ -lAMU 69 . x. :__N .a \ \, ,"\ PROVINCE: COAST ‘ x ’59 I p , .- 77 _, .1 1V . ;.<3/ KHJH ousrucr: IAIN; c.‘ ”HA - Iouqunws= "\"’ ‘ ., 'x' Y MOMIASA 'lOVINCIAl —— «f KWAlE ousrucr ------ ‘. INTERNATIONAI. ' ' - ' ' ‘. 9 5.0 400 MILES IT— Fig. 1. 12 Information in the first category came from a variety of sources. Preliminary information of both theoretical and substantive importance was gleaned from the African Studies Library at Michigan State Univer- sity, and through the inter-library loan arrangements of that institu- tion. Additional archival information was collected in extensive visits to the library of the British Museum and especially to the Public Records Office, both located in London. Kenya government documents were seen both at local governmental offices in the Taita Hills and in East Lansing, in the University's collection of Kenya Archives microfilms. Aerial photographs and topographic sheets were secured from the Kenya Survey Office in Nairobi. Selected Land Consolidation Field Survey sheets were acquired from both the Nairobi office and from the local area field officers of the Survey of Kenya. Data falling into the second category was also secured by a variety of methods. Large-scale field-mapping was executed where appro— priate. In some cases photography was used to supplement field—mapping. Much valuable information was acquired through extensive interviewing of a wide cross—section of respondents. Within this cross—section were off- duty government officers of both local and Province standing. For the most part, the interview of government officers was of an informal nature, without a structured questionnaire. Both formal and informal interviews were conducted with market participants, homeowners, shop— keepers, students, cattle—herders, farmers, and members of cooperatives. Of additional value was the opportunity to observe cooperative society meetings and to take part in discussions of locally perceived problems. 13 Research outside the United States was executed between August 1968, and July 1969. The month of August 1968 was spent in London in the Government Public Records Office and in the library of the British Museum. The remainder of the time the researcher was collecting data in East Africa. Organization of the Study The ultimate aim of this thesis is an analysis of the directions of social and spatial organizational change of the Taita, especially since the coming of Europeans and the achievement of political indepen— dence from Britain. The study is divided into six chapters. Chapter I is concerned with introducing the reader to geographers' growing inter- ests in such concepts as: culture and environmental perception; accul— turation and diffusion; colonialism and plural societies. The first chapter also includes a brief statement of problem, and an outline of the writer's method of approach. The second chapter discusses the spatial dimensions of pre-colonial Taita society, and introduces the reader to the Taita Hills of Kenya. Chapter III examines the historical impact of non—African organizations on the Taita, especially since the incursion of Europeans. This chapter is concerned primarily with the influence of three types of non—African organizational forms: Missionary societies, private companies, and the British colonial administration. The fourth chapter investigates various levels of order and change in Taita society, focussing particularly on economic and political aspects. Chapter V analyzes the occurrence of differential modernization within the Taita Hills. For this purpose, two sample areas in Taita are 14 compared and contrasted. Chapter VI reviews and summarizes the conclu- sions derived from the study. CHAPTER II SPATIAL DIMENSIONS OF PRE-COLONIAL TAITA SOCIETY Introduction Physical Location The East African country of Kenya is administratively organized into seven provinces and one extra-provincial district (Nairobi). Each province is further divided into districts. Taita District, with its headquarters at Wundanyi, is one of six within the Coast Province (Figure l). The Taita Hills, the largest population agglomeration in the District, are approximately five miles to the west of the town of Voi in southeastern Kenya. From Mombasa, Kenya's major seaport, to Voi is barely 100 miles. From Nairobi, Kenya's capital, to Voi is over 210 miles. At Voi the main railway, originally built to connect Uganda to the Indian Ocean, junctions with track that proceeds west, on the south side of the Hills, to the Kenya-Tanzania border—town of Taveta. The Taita Hills are located in the northwest angle of the junction of the two railways (Figure 2). Taita District, like much of East Africa, is an area of stark physical contrasts. Physical Background Rising abruptly from an eastward extension of the Serengeti Plains, the Taita Hills reach elevations in excess of 7,200 feet above 15 16 Fig. 2.--The Taita Hills were located in the path of caravans to and from the coast. The surrounding plains are still known for their abundance of wildlife. 17 .~ .mE 0(0312 / 3:! 4 .3: .353 3:: 23:2:— 3:3 / an; 5.3 68.9.: 834:... / ”Owns—Om rut-:..- .ocotoe.o.:. ...... / to... 3.01 In 2.8:... <....(0(m m2. . \ I\ / 39:0! O hmOmemm w... mahh... . .‘5 . I--~---¢'-. ’ . m3...— <=