HONEY IN OKIEK PERSONALITY CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Abstract

This thesis describes the partial results of ethnographic field work among the Okiek tribe bf Kenya. The Okiek are a hunting and gathering tribe living, in the high forest regions of central Kenya. To a degree not found in-other societies. they have elaborate honey as the central the men their existence. In fact, the Okiek cannot be adequately understood without first studying the role of honey in their beliefs and behavior. Because of the logical priority of the theme of honey, the purpose of this, thesis to analyze the relationship of honey to Okiek personality, culture and society. Although honey is a secondary food source for the Okiek, it has value far beyond its intrinsic worth. This theses, attempts to explain why honey is very important to the Okiek by showing how it integrates, various systems in Okiek-life and why it is supported-in beliefs and behavior-as the central symbol in Okiek culture. The role of honey, in the form of honey itself, honey water and honey-wine, is discussed in the context of the Okiek personality, cultural and social systems. Honey is first analyzed as an object of orientation and as a cathected mode in Okiek personality.