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Line 1: The '''Ariaal''' are northern [[Kenya]]n [[pastoralism\|pastoralist]]s. They claim descent from cattle-owning [[Samburu people\|Samburu]] who captured significant herds of camels and learned how to manage them from their eastern neighbours, the [[Rendille people\|Rendille]]. This led them to adopt the Rendille culture, language, and other Rendille practices, such as monogamy. Before Kenya independence, the separation between the cattle and camel economies was vividly reflected in the division between an Ariaal ~~elder’s~~elder's senior wife, whose family would be reared as Ariaal, and his junior wives who lived with his cattle as Samburu. In effect, such elders continued to straddle the boundary between monogamous camel-owning Ariaal and polygynous cattle-owning Samburu, speaking both languages and participating in both cultures.<ref>{{cite book \|last=Spencer, \|first=Paul, \|year=1973, ''\|title=Nomads in Alliance: Symbiosis and Growth among the Rendille and Samburu of Kenya~~'',~~ \|publisher=Oxford University Press, \|location=London \|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/20803/1/NOMADS%20IN%20ALLIANCE%202012.pdf \|isbn=0197135765}}</ref> An Ariaal person killing a lion is highly respected.<ref>{{Cite web\|title=Lions Kill Cattle, So People Kill Lions. Can The Cycle End? {{!}} Voice of America - English\|url=https://www.voanews.com/africa/lions-kill-cattle-so-people-kill-lions-can-cycle-end\|website=www.voanews.com\|date=8 October 2019 \|language=en\|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref> They have been the subject of much study by anthropologists, especially Elliot Fratkin. More recent work has been conducted by Bettina Shell-Duncan, Benjamin Campbell and their respective students.{{Full\|date=February 2009}}<!-- Need refs for this work. --> ==Ethnological studies== ~~An Ariaal person killing a lion is highly respected.{{Citation needed\|date=January 2009}}~~ They have been the subject of much study by anthropologists, especially Elliot Fratkin. More recent work has been conducted by Bettina Shell-Duncan, Benjamin Campbell and their respective students.<ref>{{Cite journal\|title=An Anthropologist's Journey with Samburu Diviners in Kenya\|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/517630/pdf\|last=Elliot\|first=Fratkin\|date=\|website=\|doi=10.1353/arw.2013.0033 \|s2cid=142530551 \|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412182306/http://muse.jhu.edu:80/article/517630/pdf \|archive-date=2018-04-12 \|access-date=}}</ref><!-- Need refs for this work. --> ~~<!-- ==Genetic evidence for origins==~~ ==Genetics and behavior== An article in ''The New York Times'' (Nov. 2, 2014) reports on research for which the evolution of the societal patterns of the Ariaal people into two subgroups (nomadic herders vs. settled growers) seems to provide a rather unusual intersection for the study of genetics and behavior. The researcher, Dan T. A. Eisenberg, a University of Washington anthropologist, is reported to be studying genetic variation of a [[Dopamine]] type 4 receptor (DRD4 7R) and finding correlated differences between the genetic variation and the chosen lifestyle of a given Ariaal subgroup. Eisenberg's research builds on a growing number of studies connecting the status of an individual's dopamine receptors and an [[ADHD]] diagnosis, and is presented in this article in the context of the [[Epidemiology of attention deficit hyperactive disorder\|proliferation]] of ADHD diagnoses in Western society, as one key new body of research exploring whether ADHD is [[Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder#Controversy\|more functional than is recognized]], a distinctive but functional (i.e., not pathological) phenomenon that has significant evolutionary roots in terms of having predisposed survival at a time when a hunter's instinct was aided by a certain restlessness. The research into the Ariaal subgroup differences seems to have suggestive implications supportive of a nonpathologizing view that what "ADHD" signifies is an individual's suitedness to a different kind of environment (and degree and type of activity) than the one the individual finds him/herself in.<ref>{{Cite news \| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/a-natural-fix-for-adhd.html?comments&_r=0#permid=13225329 \|title = Opinion \| A Natural Fix for A.D.H.D\|newspaper = The New York Times\|date = 31 October 2014\|last1 = Friedman\|first1 = Richard A.}}</ref><!-- ==Genetic evidence for origins== == Threats to existence == ==Subsistence== ~~== Ariaal people subdividing in line with genetic markers? ==~~ An article in the New York Times (Nov. 2, 2014) reports on research for which the evolution of the societal patterns of the Ariaal people into two subgroups seems to provide a rather unique situation. The context of the article and research is a surge in exploration of the validity of ADHD diagnoses in Western society and whether ADHD captures instead a distinctive but functional (i.e., not pathological) phenomenon that has significant evolutionary roots in terms of having predisposed survival at a time when a hunter's instinct was aided by a certain restlessness: <blockquote>"....There is a tribe in Kenya called the Ariaal, who were traditionally nomadic animal herders. More recently, a subgroup split off and settled in one location, where they practice agriculture. Dan T. A. Eisenberg, an anthropologist at the University of Washington, examined the frequency of a genetic variant of the dopamine type-four receptor called DRD4 7R in the nomadic and settler groups of the Ariaal. This genetic variant makes the dopamine receptor less responsive than normal and is specifically linked with A.D.H.D. Dr. Eisenberg discovered that the nomadic men who had the DRD4 7R variant were better nourished than the nomadic men who lacked it. Strikingly, the reverse was true for the Ariaal who had settled: Those with this genetic variant were significantly more underweight than those without it. So if you are nomadic, having a gene that promotes A.D.H.D.-like behavior is clearly advantageous (you are better nourished), but the same trait is a disadvantage if you live in a settled context. It’s not hard to see why. Nomadic Ariaal, with short attention spans and novelty-seeking tendencies, are probably going to have an easier time making the most of a dynamic environment, including getting more to eat. But this same brief attention span would not be very useful among the settled, who have to focus on activities that call for sustained focus, like going to school, growing crops and selling goods...."</blockquote> <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/a-natural-fix-for-adhd.html?comments&_r=0#permid=13225329</ref> == See also == --> Line 36 ⟶ 31: {{Ethnic groups in Kenya}} {{authority control}} [[Category:Nilotic peoples]] [[Category:Ethnic groups in Kenya]]