Gurapau “people of the lake” are Cushitic, smallest and near extinct ethnic group found in Kenya With a population of fewer than 400 people, and decreasing, the El Molo is probably Africa`s smallest ethnic group. They are the most skillful-hardy fishermen amongst the mostly semi- nomadic pastoral tribes around Lake Turkana in Loiyangalani Division of Marsabit District.

1. EL MOLO
HUMANITIES

2. EL POLO PEOPLE
Gurapau “people of the lake”
are Cushitic, smallest and near
extinct ethnic group found in Kenya
With a population of less than 400
people, and decreasing,
the El Molo is probably Africa`s
smallest ethnic group. They are the
most skillful-hardy fishermen
amongst the mostly semi- nomadic
pastoral tribes around Lake Turkana
in Loiyangalani Division of Marsabit
District.

3. D.N.A
The present population is
largely comprised of mixed
blood,combining elements of
Samburu, Turkana and El
Molo, although many of the
customs and the El Molo way
of life are maintained by many

4. LOCATION
El Molo is a village in Kenya,
situated on the southeast shore of
Lake Turkana, just 10 km north of
Loiyangalani town. Its population is
about 300. The tiny population
fishes the lake for giant Nile perch.

5. DWELLING
Their dwellings resemble
igloos, built from what little
scrub vegetation there is to be
found amongst the volcanic
wasteland surrounding the
alkaline waters of this inland
body of water.

6. ECONOMY
The life of the El Molo is generally
based on fishing, using spears or
harpoons, fishing rods (made from
the roots of an acacia with
doumpalm fiber and a forged iron
point or hook) and nets( made from
doumpalm fiber).

7. CULTURE
OF THE “EL MOLO"

8. MARRIAGE
Bride`s maids from Kenya`s
smallest ethnic group El-
molo smile during a wedding
ceremony in El-molo bay in
Loiyangalani

9. El Molo people maintain many
of their traditional customs and
way of life. Unlike the Turkana
the El Molo do practice
circumcision, both of boys and
girls.

10. Of the old and largely unrecorded
traditions, that of the ngwere is the
most revered. As El Molo society
requires no chief as such the elders of
the tribe convene and supervise the
hunting of the hippo, often associated
with wacq, the God of the lake.
El Molo Christian devotee.

11. Dances and songs pay tribute to the
ancestors before the elders turn on the
young warriors, slashing them across their
bodies it whip them to a frenzy of
excitement before spending them out to
pursue the mammal probably responsible
for more deaths in rural Africa than any
other, the Hippopotamus.

12. DRESS
The traditional "selah", a triangle
of woven string worn as a form
of skirt is still worn on significant
occasions, although these are
becoming fewer as the tribe's
numbers dwindle.

13. KILLING A
HIPPO
Fish, hippopotamus and crocodiles are
important animals to the tribe. In this
community, killing a hippo is what killing
a lion is to a Maasai moran. Anyone
who kills a hippo is decorated with a
necklace made from the hippo’s teeth
and a feast for the whole community is
held.

16. THANK YOU