Product Description

Tribes of the Great Rift Valley is a celebration of the traditional peoples who occupy the lands of the Great Rift Valley, from the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Eritrea, across the Ethiopian highlands, and down to the great lakes and plains of Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi. Here are the proud, majestic warriors of the Maasai and Samburu, the Mursi with their jutting lip-plates, the guinea-fowl-painted faces of the Karo, the bull jumpers of the Hamar, and the honey seekers of the forests, the Batwa, among many other tribes. These fascinating peoples of the Rift Valley are remarkably diverse, yet sadly, nearly all of these communities face extinction in the near future due to Western influence.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s glorious black-and-white photography accompanied by her thoughtful, engaging text, offers sweeping views of this magnificent and sometimes harsh landscape and its peoples. Thought-provoking and remarkable, Tribes of the Great Rift Valley is a time capsule, perhaps even the last record, of age-old traditions and a way of life that will almost certainly soon vanish from our planet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157197 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

About the Author
Elizabeth L. Gilbert moved to Africa in 1991 to work as a photojournalist. Her images of conflicts and cultural issues in Somalia, Rwanda, and other East African countries have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Life, and The New York Times, as well as numerous major European publications. She is the author of Broken Spears: A Maasai Journey.

Customer Reviews

Tribes of the Great Rift Valley
This is a beautiful book, with black and white photographs of some of the disappearing peoples of the Great Rift Valley. While it comes behind incredible works by others in this field, like Mirella Ricciardi's "Vanishing Africa" and several of Carol Beckwith's books, I think the author gave it a very comprehensive try and came out with an interesting book. Some of the photographs were taken at great distances, showing big landscapes, where I would have preferred more in-depth glimpses into the faces of the people of the land.

finally a photojournal of Africa that's respectful of its subject matter
I was in Borders looking for a coffee table book about Africa. Most of the books I looked at seemed more interested in honoring the author's enormous ego than in honoring the Africans who were being photographed.

This book immediately caught my eye. The photograph on the cover is beautiful, but beyond that, I noticed the camera angle was looking up to its subject (as opposed to "down on"). The second thing I noticed was the text. In the other books often the biggest word on the cover was the name of the photojournalist. A picture says a thousand words, and I liked what this picture was saying.

As I paged through the book I grew even more impressed. The photography is absolutely stunning, and the story told through the pictures and their captions is deeply moving, a testament to the author's humbleness and integrity, not to mention *talent.*

If you're looking for a coffee table book on traditional African tribal culture, this is the one to get.

A Journey thru Time
An informative historical document on the life of African Tribes, beautiful photos which illustrate in detail tribal rituals and culture.
Incredible story of a young woman, a pioneer of sorts followed her dream and passion to bring light of this important cultural which is rapidly changing, a delightful and inspiring "can-do" attitude which would fuel any hearts inspirational desire, seek your best!