The Lullabies That Tell the Turkana Story
See below for an article about lullabies written by members of the Turkana tribe in northwest Kenya. This project was undertaken by Joel Lim, an undergraduate student from King’s College, London, and Karen Choi, a Harvard University undergraduate. Both Joel and Karen participated in the 2025 season of the Harvard Summer Program in Kenya.
When you think of lullabies, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of the cradle songs your parents used to play over the speakers when you were still an infant or the tunes that your Kindergarten school teachers used to sing to soothe you to sleep. Songs like these can cast an enchanting spell on even the most restless of children, exerting their magic through their characteristically soothing and melodious tunes. For parents around the world, lullabies are an incredible weapon in their arsenal of parenthood. This has resulted in the popularisation of many of these songs, with translated versions of the same catchy tunes becoming ubiquitous globally. If you were to ask people around the world what lullabies they grew up listening to, the same few answers, ranging from ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ to ‘Hush Little Baby’ would likely come up.
However, in certain parts of the world, such as Turkana County in Kenya, the tunes that children fall asleep to are quite different from the ones most of us are accustomed to hearing. In the Turkana tribe, lullabies are entirely composed by a child’s mother, inscribed with the stamp of her love and dedicated with affection to her child. To Linus, a member of the Turkana tribe, his mother’s lullaby is a salient reminder of her deep and unconditional love for him, a deeply personal song that evokes joyful memories of his childhood and mother. Songs like these are more than melodies – they are warm embraces, enveloping the sons and daughters of Turkana in the cozy warmth of maternal affection and childhood memories.
While we may think of these songs as mere tools to coax children to sleep, they are a great source of pride for Turkana mothers. Living in a largely pastoral society, fathers are commonly expected to be breadwinners and are therefore often occupied with the rearing of livestock to fulfill these duties. They often spend large amounts of time away from their family tending to their family’s livestock, leaving mothers with the heavy responsibility of caregiving. As such, the composition and singing of lullabies fall on the shoulders of Turkana mothers, turning these songs into emblems of the intimate and nurturing relationships between mother and child.
Below are the translated lyrics of two lovely songs that Turkana mothers of the Ng’imacharmkata sub-clan, Esther Ameruka and Elizabeth Asinyen, composed for their children, Melvin and Rebecca.
Esther’s lullaby for Melvin:
Tending, tending, tending, my tall friend is taking care of his goats
My tall friend, my tall friend, my tall friend is tending to goats
My good friend will tend to all the livestock
Tending, tending, tending, my tall friend is tending over goats
X2
Tending, tending, tending for goats, cousins of Meturan*
Tending, tending, tending, my tall friend
My tall friend is tending the livestock
My good friend, be a good shepherd
X2
*Meturan (is a short-hand for Ng’imeturana) is a sub-clan in the Turkana tribe
Elizabeth’s lullaby for Rebecca:
Timid, timid, the young child is timid
Timid among girls of the family of Nayeye
The timid, timid girl in the family of Nayeye
Timid, timid young girl in the family of Amaler
X6
*Nayeye is a highly respected family in the Turkana sub-clan of the person who Elizabeth decided to name her child after
*Amaler is the brother of Nayeye
*Note: The adjective in the local Turkana language used in the song (‘Emenen’) can mean many things, ranging from timid to ambitious to cunning to cheeky and therefore, the true meaning of this song may be lost in translation.
Interestingly, both songs share many similar characteristics with the lullabies that we are ever so familiar with. They are characteristically repetitive with short and repeated verses as well as a catchy tone. Yet, they also have many qualities that make them distinctly Turkana. Aside from the fact that lullaby singing is traditionally associated with mothers, Turkana lullabies often have a characteristically high pitch. Of note, these lullabies are also uniquely dedicated to the child and inspired by a special person – the chosen individual after whom the child was named.
In this respect, these lullabies open a window into a crucial tradition: the naming of a child. In Turkana culture, names hold great significance and power. Parents name their children after someone close to them, often a close family member or a greatly trusted friend. For these individuals, having a child named after you is both a sacred privilege and a heavy responsibility. It means that to the newborn’s parents, you are viewed as someone who shares a special connection to their family and whom they can depend on in times of need. These individuals often also take on important responsibilities. They are expected to provide for the child even beyond their childhood years and often partake in major decisions throughout the child’s life such as marriage.
Emmanuel Eipa Aoron, an esteemed member of the Epuchoit sub-clan, earned the privilege of having 10 Turkana children named after him, most of whom are children of his closest friends and family. He shared that while parents commonly decide to choose from their pool of friends and family, this is not always the case. Emmanuel speaks fondly of a time when he was offered milk by a pregnant stranger from a different sub-clan after a difficult session in the field. Struck by the kind gesture, Emmanuel urged the lady and her husband to name their daughter-to-be after him – a request that they honoured. From then on, Emmanuel became a part of their family, partaking in young Eipa’s schooling and marriage decisions while pledging to continue his unwavering support even as she continues to grow older. This means that Emmanuel is now considered as an older brother of young Eipa and will even receive a share of her wedding dowry. This is a living embodiment of the overwhelming sense of community within the Turkana tribe.
While lullabies may be just a memorable song of the past to you and me, they are woven into the fabric of daily life in Turkana. These songs stay with a child from infancy to old age, a symbol of the powerful mother-child relationship in the Turkana people. By learning more about them, we are not just hearing a melody—we’re hearing history, understanding culture and entering a world where names, songs and traditions carry the weight of the beautiful history of Turkana.
About his interest in the Lullaby project, Joel writes: Karen and I embarked on this project as a homage to the rich culture that we experienced in the Turkana sub-clans that we visited during our summer programme. We were first introduced to the lullabies of the Turkana tribe by Linus, a member of the TBI staff who kindly arranged an interview with mothers from the neighbouring Ng’imacharmkata sub-clan. These lullabies offered a window into Turkana cultural life and way of living.
As a student of history, I’ve always been drawn to oral forms of history because of their ability to preserve the nuances of cultures, communities and ways of living. Yet, I am also aware that the study of oral history is often fraught with challenges such as the lack of proper records and the potential for bias. It is for this reason that we were keen to undertake this project – serving as a lasting record for the celebration of the extraordinary Turkana history through their unique oral tradition of lullaby singing.
About her interest in the Lullaby Project, Karen writes: This project was actually inspired from a course I took my sophomore year called Oral Histories, with Dr. Lily Havstad. The class encouraged us to ask fundamental questions, such as: What counts as history? Who gets to write it, and what stories are told? We explored oral histories as a powerful tool for communicating and remembering, often offering different perspectives that written texts can overlook or obscure. And so, when we later met the Turkana tribe and their oral tradition of lullaby singing through Linus, a staff member at the Turkana Basin Institute, Joel and I were eager to take on this project as a way to broaden our narratives and deepen our understanding of the world.
Over the course of one evening, we had the privilege of sitting with Esther and Elizabeth as they kindly shared about their family, life, and traditions of lullaby singing. Our curiosity was met with kindness and warmth as they welcomed us into their homes. They shared stories about how their children were named and the process of creating these lullabies, offering a glimpse into the cultural richness of their community. It is our hope that, in sharing these recordings and engaging in this process of history making, that we get to recognize and celebrate the traditions of the Turkana.