EMBAR

Author:
Patrick Michael Ogeto
PhD Candidate (History), Laikipia University, Kenya

DOI: doi.org/10.58924/rjhss.v4.iss6.p25

Published Date: 28-Dec, 2025

Keywords: Collective Memory , Decolonization , Oral Narratives , Medical Pluralism

Abstract:
The Endorois community of Kenya has long relied on indigenous medicine as both a therapeutic practice and a key marker of cultural identity. Embedded within oral traditions, knowledge of medicinal plants, healing rituals, and wellness practices has been transmitted across generations through memory, storytelling, and apprenticeship. Despite its centrality to community life, this body of knowledge has historically been marginalized by colonial historiography and dominant biomedical discourses that framed indigenous medicine as unscientific. This paper examines how Endorois oral narratives function not only as vessels for preserving indigenous medical knowledge but also as critical tools for rethinking African historiography through a decolonial lens. Drawing on oral narratives, community memory, and selected case studies of healers, the study demonstrates that indigenous medicine operates as both a repository of historical knowledge and a living archive of cultural resilience. Particular attention is given to custodians of memory, elders, healers, and women, whose roles are central in safeguarding and transmitting medicinal and wellness knowledge that remains relevant in contemporary Endorois society. The paper further argues that indigenous medical knowledge embodies epistemic justice by challenging Western medical dominance and affirming African oral traditions as valid sources of historical and scientific understanding. Ultimately, the study underscores the need to recognize oral tradition as both a source and a methodology for decolonizing African historical practice and heritage preservation

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