Agumba
Encyclopedia
The Agumba people were an ethnic group
who inhabited the plains of what is now central Kenya
, but are now either extinct or assimilated.
They are known only through the oral tradition of the Kikuyu and Ogiek peoples, who credit them as being the original inhabitants of the territory; the Agumba are described as being hunter-gatherer
s, and pygmies
. According to Kikuyu descriptions, they worked with iron and made pottery, and were beekeeper
s.
The Agumba, along with several other groups, were sometimes called the Dorobo
by the Maasai and other cattle-herding groups. This derogatory term was also used in much of the early academic anthropological literature on the area.
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
who inhabited the plains of what is now central Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, but are now either extinct or assimilated.
They are known only through the oral tradition of the Kikuyu and Ogiek peoples, who credit them as being the original inhabitants of the territory; the Agumba are described as being hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
s, and pygmies
Pygmy
Pygmy is a term used for various ethnic groups worldwide whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define pygmy as any group whose adult men grow to less than 150 cm in average height. A member of a slightly taller group is termed "pygmoid." The best known pygmies are the Aka,...
. According to Kikuyu descriptions, they worked with iron and made pottery, and were beekeeper
Beekeeping
Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
s.
The Agumba, along with several other groups, were sometimes called the Dorobo
Dorobo
Dorobo is a derogatory umbrella term for several unrelated hunter-gatherer groups of Kenya and Tanzania....
by the Maasai and other cattle-herding groups. This derogatory term was also used in much of the early academic anthropological literature on the area.