Editing Louis Leakey (section)

=== Return to British East Africa ===
Louis had already involved himself in Kikuyu tribal affairs in 1928, taking a stand against [[female genital cutting]]. He got into a shouting match in Kikuyu one evening with [[Jomo Kenyatta]], later the [[president of Kenya]], who was lecturing on the topic. R. Copeland at Oxford recommended he apply to the [[Rhodes Trust]] for a grant to write a study of the Kikuyu and it was given late in 1936 along with a salary for two years. In January 1937 the Leakeys travelled to Kenya. Colin would not see his father for 20 years.

Louis returned to [[Kiambaa]] near [[Nairobi]] and persuaded Senior Chief Koinange, who designated a committee of chiefs, to help him describe the Kikuyu the way they had been. Mary excavated at Waterfall Cave.<ref>According to Louis's ''Memoirs'', Chapter 6, it was the chief who suggested she excavate. He knew artifacts were being washed from the cave. Louis and Mary had moved into a hut in his compound at his invitation.</ref> She fell ill with double pneumonia and was near death for two weeks in the hospital in Nairobi, during which time her mother was sent for. Contrary to expectation, she recovered and began another excavation at [[Hyrax Hill]] and then [[Njoro River Cave]]. Louis got an extension of his grant, which he used partially for fossil-hunting. Leakey discoveries began to appear in the newspapers again.

Tensions between the Kikuyu and the settlers increased alarmingly. Louis jumped into the fray as an exponent of the middle ground. In ''Kenya: Contrasts and Problems'', he angered the settlers by proclaiming Kenya could never be a "white man's country."