FLOWERS OF FLIRTATION
In Northern Kenya, at the foot of sacred Mount Poi which is Africa’s largest monolith, live the Ariaal people, a sub-clan of the Rendille who speak the Samburu tongue. The Ariaal are a hybrid of both peoples, living between the Rendille camel herders to the north and the Samburu cattle keepers to the south. Ariaal girls are attracted to Samburu men because of their wealth in cattle as well as the fact that Samburu men are available for marriage at an earlier age than Rendille men, who are restricted by their age-group traditions.
Just after the rains, when there is plenty of pasture, young Ariaal men and women have leisure time to enjoy the courtship season. Warriors spend many hours grooming one another’s long finely woven ochered hair braids that cascade down their backs, worn in a style known as Ilmasi Wala. Beaded visors, crests of bird feathers, and colorful silk flowers complete their coiffures. Some of the warriors add tiny lanterns, airplanes, butterflies, and other knickknacks found in local marketplaces. The girls they court are around fourteen years old, whil the boys are a little older. The goal of a young man is to give the girl he is attracted to a coil of colorful beads. If she accepts this gift then the two of them would be Nekarai—boyfriend and girlfriend. Thereafter, the young man does all he can to acquire more beads for his lover, decking her with as many necklaces as he can manage. To raise the money to buy beads, he might rustle cattle from neighboring tribes, a risky venture during which he might kill or be killed for his romantic passion.
Love among unmarried Ariaal is encouraged by families; and sometimes they gave their daughter a hut of her own in which to entertain her boyfriend. The Ariaal word for “marriage” literally means “to build a house for yourself”. But for the young lovers, their blissful state is only temporary. When it is time for a girl to enter into a marriage, it will be arranged by her family. She will be betrothed to an older man and not her lover. When the Nekarai part, the girl must return her beaded necklaces to the boy. Tradition demands that she forget him forever.
