This paper, whose first aim is the ethnolinguistic documentation of the
hunting tradition of the Ogiek of Mariashoni, also represents an opportunity
for a thorough reflection about the concept of materiality and its multifaceted
implications.
In the first part of the article I present a detailed description of the currently
used cultural lexicon, hunting methods (alone or in group), weapons (bow,
arrows, knives spears and traps) and materials used by the hunters of the region.
I also describe apprenticeship, the mechanisms regulating the transmission of
knowledge and those regulating the education of dogs inside the community,
before passing to the second part of the paper, where I discuss how the concept
of materiality is central and multifaceted in the gathering and interpretations
of the ethnolinguistic data collected in the field.
To understand this last point the theories of signification-emanation-circulation
by Silverstein (cf Silverstein 2013) and of metaform by Danesi (cf Danesi
2013) will be particularly useful.
