Open Access“Man Eaters”
Author(s) -
Kendall Artz
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
contingent horizons
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2292-7514
pISSN - 2292-6739
DOI - 10.25071/2292-6739.81
Subject(s) - wilderness , modernity , narrative , kenya , history , natural (archaeology) , ethnology , art , geography , ecology , archaeology , literature , political science , law , biology
The stuffed “man-eating” lions of Tsavo, Kenya are one of the Field Museum of Natural History’s most popular exhibits. However, in Kenyan museums the story of the lions is nowhere to be found. The narrative of these “man-eaters” (who ate over 100 people) and the heroism of the British soldier who killed the lions and rescued the railway seems to be primarily a Western construction. This story of the modernity of a British railroad held up by a savage wilderness intrigues audiences even today. I will discuss how that story plays into the popular belief of a wild, but conquerable, Africa.