cbd@iham1.UUCP (Carl Deitrick) (10/05/84)
If one has terminal curiosity (no pun intended) and no access to some place like the NYC Public Library, USENET is the greatest thing since paperback books! No matter how esoteric the subject, someone out there knows something about it. Let's see what comes out of this. Lately I've read several books about professional hunters in East Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, etc. or whatever the names are today). Those books mention something called a Mau-Mau rebellion in that region in the early 1950s, how bloody it was and how the white residents of that region put it down rather violently. Evidently, the mood of the white residents was "There is no quarter asked, none given, and there are no prisoners taken." Books by Robert Ruark relate some incidental stories about the Mau-Mau rebellion and say that there were "terrible" oaths taken by the natives when they joined the rebels. Pretty enticing stuff, eh? Are there any history students out there who can tell me the back- ground of this rebellion? Why did it happen? What were these "oathing" ceremonies? How did the white residents manage to put the rebellion down? All the pertinent details will be appreciated, as will pointers to books that give more information. Thanks in advance. Carl Deitrick iham1!cbd
bbanerje@sjuvax.UUCP (B. Banerjee) (10/18/84)
>> names are today). Those books mention something called a Mau-Mau >> rebellion in that region in the early 1950s, how bloody it was and how >> the white residents of that region put it down rather violently. >> Evidently, the mood of the white residents was "There is no quarter >> asked, none given, and there are no prisoners taken." Books by Robert It was basically a tribal rebellion (as far as I am aware) which had it's basis in the desire of the Mau-Mau's to preserve their culture/ way of life (herder/gatherer) in the face of different cultural values. The Tribes involved were primarily the Zulu and the Masai (I may be wrong on this). >> Ruark relate some incidental stories about the Mau-Mau rebellion and >> say that there were "terrible" oaths taken by the natives when they >> joined the rebels. Pretty enticing stuff, eh? This again ( as far as I am aware ) is standard procedure for secret societies. The idea is two-fold. Firstly, by making the initiation rites "horrible", you cut down on the probability of being infiltrated. Secondly, the oaths taken by the initiates forms a sort of bond. Anyhow, what happened to the Mau-Maus ? Well, the only thing that I know is that one of their leaders, (Jomo Kenyatta) later became prime minister of his Country, and led it to freedom (Run the former sentence through swap to get correct chronological order). Regards, -- Binayak Banerjee {allegra | astrovax | bpa | burdvax}!sjuvax!bbanerje P.S. Send Flames, I love mail.