Going South

What forces shaped the rise of the Masai in East Africa, and how did one family’s story become intertwined with the region’s complex history of migration, colonization, and cultural survival?

Going South: Tracing the Masai from the Middle East to East Africa by Paul Nkuo Kunoni traces the historical, cultural, and political pathways that shaped the Masai people and their enduring legacy in the region.

A multigenerational narrative tracing a Maasai family from ancient migrations to colonial upheaval, postcolonial struggle, and modern asylum. Blending history, memoir, and anthropology, it follows Lenku’s journey across Kenya, the United States, and Canada, revealing how ancestry, displacement, and resilience shape African lives in a world marked by migration.

Drawing on historical reflection and personal investigation, Kunoni explores the events that contributed to the Masai’s influence in East Africa while uncovering the overlooked role of a native royal family whose spiritual and administrative leadership helped shape tribal traditions. The narrative reveals the tensions faced by this family—caught between Masai authority and British colonial power—and documents how colonial policies displaced them from the Nairobi Forest, paving the way for the establishment of modern-day Nairobi.

Blending personal heritage with broader historical analysis, the book examines intermarriage, cultural identity, and the resilience of communities navigating the pressures of colonialism, urbanization, and nation-building. It also situates these experiences within wider political movements, including Pan-Africanism, post-independence struggles, neo-colonial influences, and Africa’s democratic transformations.

Ideal for students and scholars in anthropology, African history, political science, and international relations, as well as readers interested in Indigenous histories, colonial legacies, and the evolving cultural identities of East Africa.

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright Page
• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• Book-level learning objective
• Table of Contents
• Disclaimer
• Content warning
• Prologue
• Introduction
• Methodological statement
• Book structure
• Significance of the study
• Part I Roots, knowledge, and the becoming of An Empire
  • 1 The lineage of smoke and iron
  • 2 The prophecy of a mysterious calf
  • 3 The prophetic lineage
  • 4 The hippo tale
  • 5 The inheritance dilemma
  • 6 The feast and the curse
  • 7 The return to Kaputiei
  • 8 The prison’s bulls
  • 9 From spear to service
  • 10 The making of moral unions
  • 11 The builder becomes the tenant
  • 12 The name that healed a house
  • 13 The curse of the green fence
  • 14 Enkopiro rising
• Part II Research frontiers and ethical encounters
  • 1 When the rivers met
  • 2 Roots, responsibilities, and resilience
  • 3 The river of balance
  • 4 Stewards of the land
  • 5 New politics of opportunity
  • 6 The wine that announced a silence
  • 7 Reconfiguration of courage
  • 8 Crisis of domestic order
  • 9 The house between two nations
  • 10 From spears to songs and goals
  • 11 The age of learning
  • 12 The rise of the desk
  • 13 Moral economics of belonging
  • 14 Landscapes of memory
• Part III Professional formation and transnational mobility
  • 1 The making of a young scientist
  • 2 Quiet logic of encounter
  • 3 Social order among the Maasai
  • 4 Ethics of survival
  • 5 Landscapes of research, knowledge, and risks
  • 6 Mapping memory and medicine in Laikipia
  • 7 When the world opened
  • 8 Unsettled geographies of return
  • 9 Journey of resilience
  • 10 Return to identity
  • 11 Village recognition and independence
• Part IV Diaspora, precarity, and reassembled belonging
  • 1 Between care and racial boundaries
  • 2 A shared vulnerability
  • 3 A life in transition
  • 4 Crossing America, finding Maine
  • 5 A journey through snow and sun
  • 6 The Cornerstone Shelter
  • 7 Northbound Thresholds
  • 8 Learning to Belong
• Epilogue
  • The Long Shadow of the Journey South
• Book-Ending Suggested Projects / Assignments / Discussion Questions
• Recommended Further Readings
• References
• Author’s Biography
• Subject Index
• Names Index
• Terminology Index

Paul Nkuo Kunoni is a Kenyan-born medical scientist and researcher whose work and personal heritage explore the history, culture, and identity of the Masai and East African communities.

DOWNLOAD Going South Course Modules - Kunoni (.docx format)