Turkana Shepherd Editorial Photo

A shepherd of the Turkana tribe Kenya with camels. The Turkana are a Nilotic people of Kenya, numbering about 340,000. They inhabit the Turkana District in northwest Kenya, a dry and hot region bordering Lake Turkana in the east. The language of the Turkana, an Eastern Nilotic language, is also called Turkana. The Turkana are noted for raising camels and weaving baskets. In their oral traditions they designate themselves the people of the grey bull, after the Zebu, the domestication of which played an important role in their history. In recent years, development aid programs have aimed at introducing fishing among the Turkana (a taboo in Turkana society) with varying success.