K'naan

Who We Are

LAND OF THE BEGINNING

I am going to attempt to convey the complexity of who my people are as simple as the subject permits. With straight forward language, facts and myth. I will assume you understand the reasons for the prior two by why "myth"? Because it is the morals in myth, and the message in a proverb, that orders to shape and form the magic of my people. And the magic, when concerning the calling of the original man's identity, is very important. I am also going to skim over the more accessible aspects of our history, e.g colonization and it's details, while I will probably touch on it's affects. The earliest name for what is current day Somalia was the Land of Punt. To the ancient Egyptians, the Land of Punt, with it's houses raised up on stilts above water, was also known as Ta Nteru: "Land of the Gods". A place of profound beauty, the Land of Punt was incredibly rich with high quality entyw incense, frankincense, myrrh and precious gum. The first undisputed contact that the ancient Egyptians documented with the Puntites the people from the Land of Punt, was Queen Hatshepsut's famous expedition to East Africa.