The family of Kaura Taylor had reported her missing, but now, they found relief… well sorta, after discovering she is alive after all. But what she’s doing, where, and with who, has her Texas family and the Black internet completely baffled.
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Taylor, a 21-year-old single mother of one and a former employee at Five Guys, is now a member of the Kingdom of Kubala, an African tribe who resides in the woods of Jedburgh, a town located 41 miles south of Edinburgh. Why are they in the forest? They are trying to reclaim land stolen from their ancestors, UK-based media group SWNS said.
The Kingdom of Kubala, helmed by King Atehene (a former opera singer under the name Kofi Offeh) and his wife Queen Nandi (a 43-year-old born Jean Gasho), claims they are the lost tribe of Hebrews and that their king descended from David the Messiah. They set up shop in the woods because, according to them, their ancestors were ostracized when Queen Elizabeth I deported native Black Jacobites. The tribe admits they “don’t recognize local laws,” per the outlet, because they are only obedient to their god named Yahowah.
“We live a very simple life of returning to innocence,” King Atehene told the outlet. “We connect to nature. […] We are living a simple life of relying daily on the creator for food, shelter and clothing. We live in a tent without walls, but we are not afraid of anyone, for we have the protection of the creator, Yahowah.”
Taylor, who now goes by Asnat, Lady Safi, of Atehene and is the tribe’s king and queen’s handmaiden, addressed those concerned about her wellbeing in a video. “Obviously I am not missing,” she said. “Leave me alone. I am an adult, not a helpless child.”
But that didn’t stop folks on X from trolling.
“I just love this. Reminds me that there are some people in the world who are truly nuts,” one person said.
A second person wrote, “They look well prepared for a Scottish winter.”
“Stay away from drugs, kids,” another penned, as someone else laughed at her “offering” of “processed crackers and a soda.” Others called the tribe a “cult” and how “Mental illness [is on a] world tour.”
Taylor reportedly left Texas on May 25 and entered the UK on a six-month tourist visa. She kept her connection with the “kingdom” hidden from her family, who says she’s being manipuled.
“It is very stressful, and difficult,” Taylor’s aunt Teri Allen told The Independent. “It breaks out heart. We’re overly concerned about Kaura.” She added her niece’s childhood was “sheltered and protected” and how, “She was brought up in church… [but this is] a bunch of hogwash.”
In a Facebook post on Aug. 20, Taylor wrote how she’s “very happy with my King and Queen, I was never missing, I fled a very abusive, toxic family who abused me sexually since I was a child! So you don’t go “missing” to your abusers.”
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