Naming things in the sea and muddy bottoms of the mangroves: Indigenous taxonomy of marine resources among the Mijikenda of coastal Kenya

Abstract

This paper presents findings of a study on the indigenous knowledge and management systems of marine resources among the Mijikenda people of Coastal Kenya. The objective of the study was to investigate how Mijikenda indigenous system of practices and beliefs provides an understanding of indigenous ecological knowledge for classifying and managing marine resources. Undertaken in villages stretching from Vanga on the border between Kenya and Tanzania in the south coast, to Matsangoni in Kilifi County in the north coast, the study was guided by the theory of neo-structuralism. It was undertaken between 2013 and 2022. The study employed an exploratory descriptive design. Data, which was collected using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews, informal interviews and transect walks, was analysed using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study found that the community has developed an elaborate taxonomy of mangroves, fisheries and corals through systematic observations over the years. Criteria used to create the taxonomies include physical features such as size, colour and shape. For fisheries, taxonomical characteristics also include behavior related to feeding, breeding and style of movement in the sea, as well as seasonal appearance in certain locations of the ocean. This study snugly places anthropology in the emerging praxis of knowledge production, practically identified and translated not only from the Western scientific sense, but also from a wide spectrum of indigenous knowledge from diverse cultures like the Mijikenda.