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Contemporary Kalenjin culture is a product of its heritage, the suite of cultural adoptions of the British colonial period and modern Kenyan identity from which it borrows and adds to.
Maintaining peace and amity, especially between relations, is particularly important for the Kalenjin and ranks high on their scale of values. This type of peaceful relationship is known as Tiliet and is rooted in ancient Kalenjin culture. It is the root word of Tilionutik a person's wider relationship circle.
The Kalenjin, like most other Kenyan and East African communities will usually shake hands when exchanging greetings. It is considered important to demonstrate respect for an elder or someone of higher social status by supporting the right forearm with the left while shaking hands. [1]
Hospitality to guests is very important and it is quite customary to offer tea, snacks and entertainment even to unexpected visitors. The magnanimity often reflects the closeness and/or status of those involved.
Pastoral culture has contributed significantly to Kalenjin cuisine; mursik, a fermented milk delicacy, is emblematic of Kalenjin culture as a whole and is still quite appreciated in contemporary times. Roast meat particularly beef, goat and less often mutton, known as nyama choma in Kenya, has long been a key feature of Kalenjin celebrations and get-togethers, [2] most famously the Kipsundet roast in olden times which involved the use of four different and specific types of wood to fuel the fire.
The Kalenjin generally grow and prepare grains, principally maize, as the main starch with the accompaniments being served onto individual plates from a central serving dish. The accompaniments usually comprise vegetable relishes though meat stews and roasts are had on occasion. [3]
Ever since the colonial period; sitting on a chair while eating at a table has become customary. Eating with the hands and using a knife, fork and spoon are both practiced and are largely determined by the meal and setting. Having a meal together and sharing food between members of the family has also become very much the norm.
Traditional principles concerning pregnancy and childbirth are largely influenced by folk beliefs, especially in rural areas. Modern practices follow the Western medical model.
The initiation process is a key component of Kalenjin identity. Among males, the circumcision (yatitaet) and initiation (tumdo) process is seen as signifying one's transition from boyhood to manhood and is taken very seriously. [4] On the whole, the process still occurs during a boys pre-teen/early teenage years though significant differences are emerging in practice. Much esotericism is still attended to in the traditional practice of initiation and there was great uproar amongst Kalenjin elders in 2013 when aspects of the tradition were openly inquired into at the International Court. [5] Conversely a number of contemporary Kalenjin have the circumcision process carried out in hospital as a standard surgical procedure and various models of the learning process have emerged to complement the modern practice. For orthodox, urban and Christian traditions the use of ibinwek is in decline and the date has been moved from the traditional September/October festive season to December to coincide with the Kenyan school calendar.
The female circumcision process is perceived negatively in the modern world and various campaigns are being carried out with the intention of eradicating the practice among the Kalenjin. [6] A notable anti-FGM crusader is Hon. Linah Jebii Kilimo.
The contemporary Kalenjin wedding has fewer ceremonies than it did traditionally and they often, though not always, occur on different days; [7]
During the first ceremony, the proposal/show-up (kaayaaet'ap koito), the young man who wants to marry, informs his parents of his intention and they in turn tell their relatives often as part of discussing suitability of the pairing. If they approve, they will go to the girl's family for a show-up and to request for the girl's hand in marriage. The parents are usually accompanied by aunts, uncles or even grandparents and the request is often couched as an apology to the prospective bride's parents for seeking to take their daughter away from them. If her family agrees to let them have their daughter, a date for a formal engagement is agreed upon. Other than initiating it, the intended groom and prospective bride play no part in this ceremony. [8]
During the second ceremony, the formal engagement (koito), the bridegroom's family goes to the bride's home to officially meet her family. The groom's family which includes aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. is invited into a room for extensive introductions and dowry negotiations. After the negotiations, a ceremony is held where the bridegroom and bride are given advice on family life by older relatives from both families. Usually, symbolic gifts and presents are given to the couple during this ceremony. [8] The koito is usually quite colorful and sometimes bears resemblance to a wedding ceremony and it is indeed gaining prominence as the key event since the kaayaaet'ap koito is sometimes merged with it and at other times the tunisiet is foregone in favor of it.
The third ceremony, the wedding (tunisiet), is a big ceremony whereas many relations, neighbors, friends and business partners are invited. In modern iterations, this ceremony often follows the pattern of a regular Western wedding; it is usually held in church, where rings are exchanged, is officiated by a pastor and followed by a reception. [8]
Kalenjin visual arts are traditionally heavily influenced by the practice of applique beadwork, with beadwork from different regions displaying a number of distinctive styles.
Traditional Kalenjin dances included structured performances such as the kambakta (a warriors dance performed during the eponymous event) and sondoiyo (an old peoples dance).
Today, modern dance styles influenced by Kenyan, African and American trends tend to be the norm with the traditional styles largely confined to cultural events such as weddings and cultural performances at the Kenya Music Festivals and at cultural venues such as Bomas of Kenya.
Kalenjin music includes folk music traditions as well as contemporary pop music. Traditional music played on the sukutit drum and the various stringed lyres is quite rare and is played only at cultural events and venues. [9]
Contemporary Kalenjin music derives from the benga sound whose defining feature involves playing the guitar principally by plucking as opposed to strumming the strings. The sound arose from the transition from traditional African stringed instruments which were played by plucking to western stringed instruments. The first of the Kenyan communities to develop the sound were the Luo community. Though there were earlier experiments and developments, the major shift occurred soon after the end of the Second World War when a handful of demobilized soldiers who had been conscripted from Luoland arrived back home with an instrument that would herald new practices of entertainment amongst their people—the Spanish guitar. [9]
The veteran music producer and retailer A.P. Chandarana set up base in the town of Kericho, which lies in the lush tea-growing regions east of the Rift Valley. It was at his studios that a vast number of musicians from western Kenya first put their work on spool tapes. Chandarana's business acumen was in large part responsible for the replication of the Benga sound by singers from the mid-Rift Valley region. His shop and recording premises in the town are still in operation. [9]
The Kalenjin have been called by some "the running tribe." Since the mid-1960s, Kenyan men have earned the largest share of major honors in international athletics at distances from 800 meters to the marathon; the vast majority of these Kenyan running stars have been Kalenjin. From 1980 on, about 40% of the top honors available to men in international athletics at these distances (Olympic medals, World Championships medals, and World Cross Country Championships honors) have been earned by Kalenjin.
In 2008, Pamela Jelimo became the first Kenyan woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics; she also became the first Kenyan to win the Golden League jackpot in the same year. Since then, Kenyan women have become a major presence in international athletics at the distances; most of these women are Kalenjin. Amby Burfoot of Runner's World stated that the odds of Kenya achieving the success they did at the 1988 Olympics were below 1:160 billion. Kenya had an even more successful Olympics in 2008.
A number of theories explaining the unusual athletic prowess among people from the Kalenjin-speaking people have been proposed. These include many explanations that apply equally well to other Kenyans or people living elsewhere who are not disproportionately successful athletes, such as that they run to school every day, that they live at relatively high altitude, and that the prize money from races is large compared to typical yearly earnings. One theory is that the Kalenjin have relatively thin legs and therefore do not have to lift as much leg weight when running long distances.
A viewerthon is a spectator event, usually on a screen in a social setting, of a long distance athletics event. They are often sponsored by a government or corporate entity and may have appearances by past successful athletes. The term is a portmanteau of the words ‘view’ and ‘marathon’ and the event arose from the success of Kalenjin athletes in these types of events giving rise to widespread viewership of notable races. Viewerthons are particularly noted in the town of Eldoret and it is not uncommon to find large screens being installed around town during Olympic and World Athletic Championship races. They attained notability during Eliud Kipchoge's attempt at running a marathon under 2 hours, an event publicized as the Ineos 1:59, which gained global prominence leading to much local interest. [10] [11]
The Kipsigis or Kipsigiis are a Nilotic group contingent of the Kalenjin ethnic group and speak a dialect of the Kalenjin language identified by their community eponym, Kipsigis. It is observed that the Kipsigis and another aboriginal group native to Kenya known as Ogiek have a merged identity. The Kipsigis are the biggest sub tribe within the Kalenjin community. The latest census population in Kenya put the Kipsigis at 1,972,000 speakers, accounting for 45% of all Kalenjin speaking people. They occupy the highlands of Kericho stretching from Timboroa to the Mara River in the south and the Mau Escarpment in the east to Kebeneti. They also occupy parts of Laikipia, Kitale, Nakuru, Narok, the Trans Mara District, Eldoret and the Nandi Hills.
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple, presentation of a gift, and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant. Special wedding garments are often worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers, or readings from religious texts or literature are also commonly incorporated into the ceremony, as well as superstitious customs.
The music of Kenya is very diverse, with multiple types of folk music based on the variety over 50 regional languages.
The Kalenjin are a group of tribes indigenous to East Africa, residing mainly in what was formerly the Rift Valley Province in Kenya and the Eastern slopes of Mount Elgon in Uganda. They number 6,358,113 individuals per the Kenyan 2019 census and an estimated 273,839 in Uganda according to the 2014 census mainly in Kapchorwa, Kween and Bukwo districts.
The Bukusu people are one of the 17 Kenyan tribes of the Luhya Bantu people of East Africa residing mainly in the counties of Bungoma and Trans Nzoia. They are the largest tribe of the Luhya nation, with 1,188,963 identifying as Bukusu in the 2019 Kenyan census. They speak the Bukusu dialect.
The Tugen are a sub tribe of the Kenyan Kalenjin people. They fall under the highland nilotes category. They occupy Baringo County and some parts of Nakuru County and Elgeyo Marakwet County in the former Rift Valley Province. Daniel Arap Moi, the second president of Kenya (1978–2002), came from this sub-tribe. The Tugen people speak the Tugen language. The Tugen population was 197,556 as of 2019.
Benga is a genre of Kenyan popular music. It evolved between the late 1940s and late 1960s, in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. In the 1940s, the African Broadcasting Service in Nairobi aired a steady stream of soukous, South African kwela, Congolese finger-style guitar and various kinds of Cuban dance music that heavily influenced emergence of benga. There were also popular folk songs of Tanzania and Kenya's Luo peoples that formed the base on benga creation.
The culture of Kenya consists of multiple traditions and trends. Kenya has no single prominent culture that identifies it. Its cultural heritage and modern expressions of culture instead consist of various cultures, shaped and practiced by the country's different communities.
The Nandi are part of the Kalenjin, a Nilotic tribe living in East Africa. The Nandi ethnic group live with close association and relation with the Kipsigis tribe. They traditionally have lived and still form the majority in the highland areas of the former Rift Valley Province of Kenya, in what is today Nandi County. They speak the Nandi dialect of the Kalenjin language.
The Kuria people (also known as the AbaKurya, are a Bantu community in Tarime District of Mara Region in Tanzania and southern Kenya. Their homeland is bounded on the east by the Migori River and on the west by the Mara River estuary. Traditionally a pastoral and farming community, the Kuria grow maize, beans and cassava as food crops and coffee and maize as cash crops.
The Maragoli, or Logoli (Ava-Logooli), are now the second-largest ethnic group of the 6 million-strong Luhya nation in Kenya, numbering around 2.1 million, or 15% of the Luhya people according to the last Kenyan census. Their language is called Logoli, Lulogooli, Ululogooli, or Maragoli. The name Maragoli probably emerged later on after interaction of the people with missionaries of the Quaker Church.
Mursik is a traditional fermented milk variant of the Kalenjin people of Kenya. It can be made from cow or goat milk and is fermented in a specially made calabash gourd locally known as a sotet. The gourd is lined with soot from specific trees, such as the African senna, which add flavor to the fermented milk. It is normally consumed with ugali or on its own and is served at room temperature or chilled.
Koito is a Kalenjin wedding ritual which involves the negotiation of a brides dowry.
The Tachoni is one of the tribes that occupy the western part of Kenya,its known for its gallant defense of the Chetambe in 1895 when resisting British rule. Tachoni people were masters at building forts such as Chetambe, Lumboka, and Kiliboti. It was their defiance of colonialism that led to the colonial government putting the entire region occupied by the Tachoni under administration of paramount chiefs drawn from Bunyala and Wanga communities. Sharing land with the Abanyala, the Kabras, Nandi, and Bukusu tribe. They live mainly in Webuye, Chetambe Hills, Ndivisi Matete sub-county-Lwandeti, Maturu, Mayoyo, Lukhokho, Kiliboti, Kivaywa, Chepsai, and Lugari sub-county in Kakamega County. Most Tachoni clans living in Bungoma speak the ' Olutachoni dialect which is a hybrid of the luhyia language of the luhyia people. Since they lost their original dialect during the divide and rule system used by the whites to scatter them for being resistants to their colonialism, they had to find a way to interact with their new neighbors and thats why they're subsequently mistaken as Bukusus. They spread from Kakamega county to Trans-Nzoia County, webuye especially around Kitale, Tambach in Iten Nandi in areas like kabiyet and kapsisiwa, kericho and to Uasin Gishu County near Turbo, Eldoret.
Among the Tachoni clans are Abachikha -further divided into Abakobolo, Abamuongo, Abachambai,Abamakhanga, Abacharia, and Abakabini, Abamarakalu, Abangachi -who are further divided into: Abawaila, Abakhumaya and Abawele, Abasang'alo, Abasamo, Abayumbu, Abaluu, Abarefu,Abanyangali, Abamuchembi, Abamakhuli, Abasioya, Abaabichu,Abacheo, Abamachina,Abaengele, Abamutama, Abakafusi, Abasonge, Abasaniaka, Abaabiya also known as Abakatumi, Abakubwayi,Abakamutebi, Abakamukong, Abamweya, Abalukulu,Abawande, Abatukiika, Abachimuluku. Note that the morpheme 'aba' means 'people'.
Chandarana Records is a record company from Kericho, Kenya. The company was known throughout Africa for releasing several thousand 45-rpm singles featuring a wide range of Kenyan and Tanzanian groups.
Traditional Kalenjin society is the way of life that existed among the Kalenjin-speaking people prior to the advent of the colonial period in Kenya and after the decline of the Chemwal, Lumbwa and other Kalenjin communities in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
The Sabaot are one of the nine sub-tribes of the Kalenjin of Kenya and Uganda. The Sabaot in turn are divided into six communities largely identified by their dialects. These dialects of the Sabaot language are the Pok, Somek, Mosop, Kony, Bong'omek and Sabiny. Being resident around Mount Elgon, the original homeland of most Kalenjin, the Sabaot are seen as the keepers of the authentic Kalenjin tradition. They and the area they inhabit are often referred to as Kapkugo by other Kalenjin.
Kamuratanet is a Kalenjin traditional process of teaching its members appropriate behavior, knowledge, skills, attitudes, virtues, religion and moral standards. Kamuratanet provides parameters that are used to determine what is acceptable and normal and what is not acceptable, and therefore abnormal. Though carried out throughout an individual's lifetime, it is formalized during yatitaet (circumcision) and subsequent tumdo (initiation).
Kadodi dance is a traditional dance performed by the Bamasaba people, also known as the Bagisu or the Gishu, who live in the eastern part of Uganda and the western part of Kenya. Kadodi dance is mainly associated with the Imbalu the male circumcision ceremony that marks the transition from boyhood to manhood among the Bamasaba. Kadodi dance is also performed at other occasions, such as weddings, festivals, and cultural events.