The new open access book, Decolonizing Maasai History: A Path to Indigenous African Futures, offers a new version of Maasai history based on Maasai memory and concerns. Through their rich and detailed narrative, we learn not only about the history of the Maasai as they understand it, but also about the relations between politics and Western history; about the untold history of Kenya both pre- and post-nationhood; about why the creation of nation-states is not synonymous with liberation; and about how and why Indigenous approaches to land obstruct global processes of resource extraction. All of this finds wider resonances that upend received narratives of post­ “independence” Africa and offer new opportunities for the emancipation of Indigenous ommunities from neo-colonial regimes the world over.

Event Speakers

• Meitamei Olol Dapash, Founding Director of the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation
• Mary Poole, Professor of Critical Social Justice and Solidarity at Prescott University

Event Information

Free and open to the public; registration required. Please email scienceandsociety@columbia.edu with any questions.

Hosted by the Center for Science and Society at Columbia University. Co-sponsored by the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University.