Turkana Shield – Giraffe Skin and Ostrich Feather – Northwest Kenia

Giraffe skin, ostrich feather pompom, metal. Cm. 123 high x cm. 43 width (48.42″ x 16.92″).

Turkana warriors narrow shields are made of animal hide as well as from metal drums. Some have ostrich feather pompoms at the bottom, like this one.

The Turkana are a Nilotic people native to the Turkana District in northwest Kenya. They are mainly semi-nomadic pastoralists. 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.