Jon R. Moris (1939-2015) was an anthropologist and educator whose career spanned East Africa and the United States. Born in Kiomboi, Tanzania, to Lutheran missionaries Dr. Stanley W. Moris and Edith Okerlund, he was raised in Bumbuli and educated at the Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. After returning to the United States in 1957, he earned degrees from Seattle Pacific and Northwestern University, completing his Ph.D. in Anthropology with research conducted in East Africa. From the 1960s through the late 1970s, Moris taught and conducted research at Makerere University, the University of Nairobi, and the University of Dar es Salaam, and served as team leader for Tanzania's Masai Range Project from 1973 to 1976. In 1980, he joined the faculty at Utah State University in Logan, later retiring as Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Utah State University Eastern in Blanding, Utah.
This collection contains 8 cassettes and 17 reels of self-recorded interviews with native Maasai and other East African peoples. This was likely part of the fieldwork involved in the Masai Range Project in the mid-1970s. Some cassettes have language learning lessons for Swahili. Other reels contain interviews with local farmers or teachers. Some interviews are in English, some in local languages (Swahili, Maa, Kiswahili) with interpreters. Also featured are recordings of Maasai singing and dancing celebrations. Digital access copies are available
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These materials were donated to USU Special Collections and Archives in 2025 by Chris Conte, a colleague of Moris.
Tapes #2-3 were removed as they were either mostly blank or unrelated to the rest of the collection.
Most of the recording is of a Maasai celebration with singing and dancing.
Language learning tapes. Basic dialogue for fluency and comprehension. Not a commercially-made set of language tapes.
Reels #7, 9, 14 were removed because they were either blank or unrelated to collection.
No clear interviewer. Multiple people taking turns speaking in what sounds like Maasai or Swahili, but could be a variety of dialects. One person speaking English around the 40 min mark about fumigation, everyone else is speaking in Swahili or other languages. Sounds like sound bites from a large variety of people in multiple locations. Some music around the 1:06:00 mark, singing and instrumentals, possibly accordion.
Interviews with farmers in Kenya (likely). Interviewer is a British woman speaking English, respondents reply in Swahili. Concerns husbandry practices, sweet potato farms, farm loans and financial sources, chemicals used on the farm.
Man and woman speaking unknown language, possibly Kikuyu. At the roughly 50 minute mark, it switches to a different recording. There is a crowd with lots of children and they are listening to what might be political speeches in Swahili. The vice president is speaking at one point (approx 1:05:00). Side 2: Unknown language.
Men walking around and speaking, possibly Maa (Maasai). At one point it sounds like they are on a farm and someone is building something. Some conversation at the end, possibly Swahili.
Contains more traditional interviews with a clear interviewer and interviewee. The first interview is in English but neither person is a native English speaker. The farmer is talking about being happy to have his own land, talking about his neighbors, progressive farming. They talk about new farming practices, where to get potato seeds, the ministry, co-ops for African produce, etc. The remaining interviews are in Swahili or Maa.
An English-speaking man is leading some kind of a lecture or bible study class. He also talks about his pastor and passion for church history. No information on the speaker's name or the date. There is no obvious connection to the Kenya tapes.
This is an interview with farmers, a man and a woman. Swahili or perhaps Maasai oral histories, some English translation. The interview is mostly about plant seeds, diseases, and other farming concerns.
Echo at the beginning. The rest of it is probably in Swahili, sounds like an interview between native speakers, speaking about the cost of things and water at one point. Side 2: Interview is with a woman.
Blend of Swahili and English, includes a translator. Topics include farming, topsoil, how deep the soil needs to be, best times to plant, water.
Interview in Swahili and English with farmers and translator. Swahili and English. Asks about farming, business, suppliers, government support, etc.
Interviews with farmers, blend of English and probably Maa/Maasai. Topics include livestock, farming, manure and fertilizer, planting seasons, etc.
Interviews with farmers. American interviewer (Moris?) with a Kiswahli translator. English and Swahili. Talking about farming, cattle, crops.
Interviews in English with teachers. Interviewer (Moris?) requests interviewees not to reveal names. First interviewee is an American with the Teachers for East Africa Project. Talks about his teaching experience teaching in Tanga. He refers to Tanzania by an old name, which might date this tape to the 1960s. Second teacher is an American man, third is a British woman. Similar topics, teaching experience in the boarding schools, coursework and discipline.
The first interview could be in Maa, not Swahili. Interviewer is an East African. At about the 50 min mark, it is a different interview (same interviewer) that is mostly in English. They talk about farming, crop rotations, etc. Third interview is also in English, talking about potatoes and maize.
Two men are speaking, possibly in Maa. They talk about shillings at some point, identifying this as an East African location, either Kenya or Tanzania.
The recording takes place at farms in the Embu District (Kenya). The interviewer/main speaker is an East African. He briefly introduces the tape in English but the interviews sound like they are in Kiswahili. Multiple interviews on both sides of the tape.
Side 1: Speaker/translator is talking to people working on a farm. He speaks mostly in what sounds like Swahili but with a little English mixed in. At one point someone tells a folk story about a woman by a river and an evil spirit. Moris' voice can occasionally be heard in the background. At the 9:30 min mark, a man sounds like he is reading or reciting a prepared speech in English. He talks about social problems in Kenya, such as the disillusionment of people leaving villages to make their fortunes in towns. Additional interviews with farmers start playing after the 30 minute mark. Side 2: Interview with a Chief Benjamin(?) at his farm. This interview might be in Maa/Maasai.