Chapter 2
In: Agricultural Intensification, Environmental Conservation, Conflict and Co-Existence at Lake Naivasha, Kenya
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Abstract
This chapter looks at the history of Maa-speaking communities in the Central Rift from the early nineteenth century to their removal in 1904 to make way for white settlement. The period is bracketed by two crises: climate change and drought in the later eighteenth century and pandemic disease and the establishment of colonial overrule a century later. During the period, the “traditional” Maasai moved from being one of several emerging Maa-speaking communities to a position of dominance before the 1890s. Their developing identity was shaped by a purposive and persuasive narrative of forward movement in both space and time. That narrative, like the narrative of white settlement which followed, has in turn influenced modern histories of the Central Rift. The chapter also considers the importance of Naivasha-Nakuru as a strategic corridor, allowing movement from the northern plains south and eastwards towards Kilimanjaro. Control of the corridor and its resources was both vital and contested.