The Kipsigis or Kipsigiis are a Nilotic people contingent of the Kalenjin ethnic group and speak a dialect of Kalenjin language identified by their community eponym, Kipsigis. It is observed that the Kipsigis and an aboriginal people native to Kenya known as Ogiek have a merged identity. The Kipsigis are the most numerous of the Kalenjin. The latest census population in Kenya put the Kipsigis at 1.972 Million speakers, accounting for 45% of all Kalenjin speaking people. They occupy the highlands of Kericho stretching from Timboroa to Mara River in the south, the west of Mau Escarpment in the east to Kebeneti in the west. They also occupy parts of Laikipia, Kitale, Nakuru, Narok, Trans Mara District, Eldoret and Nandi Hills.
Tugen is the language spoken by the about 200,000 Tugen people of the broader Kalenjin group in Kenya. As a part of the Kalenjin dialect cluster, it is most closely related to such varieties as Kipsigis and Nandi.
Ogiek is a Southern Nilotic language of the Kalenjin family spoken or once spoken by the Ogiek peoples, scattered groups of hunter-gatherers in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Most Ogiek speakers have assimilated to cultures of surrounding peoples: the Akie in northern Tanzania now speak Maasai and the Ogiek of Kinare, Kenya now speak Gikuyu. Ndorobo is a term considered derogatory, occasionally used to refer to various groups of hunter-gatherers in this area, including the Ogiek.
The Elgeyo language, or Kalenjin proper, are a dialect cluster of the Kalenjin branch of the Nilotic language family.
Kipsigis is part of the Kenyan Kalenjin dialect cluster, It is spoken mainly in Kericho and Bomet counties in Kenya. The Kipsigis people are the most numerous tribe of the Kalenjin in Kenya, accounting for 60% of all Kalenjin speakers. Kipsigis is closely related to Nandi, Keiyo, South Tugen (Tuken), and Cherangany.
Kericho is the biggest town in Kericho County located in the highlands west of the Kenyan Rift Valley. Standing on the edge of the Mau Forest, Kericho has a warm and temperate climate making it an ideal location for agriculture and in particular, the large scale cultivation of tea.
The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya. He held the dual roles of King spiritual and military leader, and had the authority to make decisions regarding security particularly the waging of war. Notable Orkoiik include Kimnyole Arap Turukat, Koitalel Arap Samoei and Barsirian Arap Manyei.
Litein is a town located in the Kericho County, Kenya. It was previously the capital of the former Buret District. Litein has an urban population of 4,000. The town is along the Kericho-Sotik road. It also has a road link to Bomet.
Bomet is the capital and largest town of Bomet County, Kenya. Bomet town has a total population of 110,963. It is located along the B3 Mai Mahiu-Narok-Kisii road. Bomet city is one of the eight sister cities to Milwaukee.
Koitalel arap Samoei was an Orkoiyot who led the Nandi people from 1890 until his assassination in 1905. The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya. He held the dual roles of chief spiritual and military leader, and had the authority to make decisions regarding security matters particularly the waging of war and negotiating for peace. Koitalel was the supreme chief of the Nandi people of Kenya. He led the Nandi resistance against British colonial rule.
Dr. Elisha Kipyegon Taaitta Arap Toweett, also known as Taaitta Arap Toweett, was a scholar, writer, linguist and a Kenyan politician.
Sotik Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya established for the 1997 elections. It is one of five constituencies in Bomet County. Sotik has one major river, River Kipsonoi. Sotik is also a hilly place with the main crops being grown are tea and maize. The Nairobi Kisii highway passes through Sotik. Recently, many developments have occurred; Sotik Market was put up by the former governor Hon Isaac Ruto, since then infrastructure has been improving. Sotik is also a religious center with over 10 churches set up in the area, e.g., Bethel AGC, St Joseph's Sotik catholic church and Gustavo D' Kerich chapel.
Keiyo is a Kalenjin language spoken in western Kenya, in the southern part of the district of Elgeyo-Marakwet.
"Chemirocha" is a series of three field recordings made in 1950 by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey during his visit to the Kipsigis people of the Great Rift Valley of Kenya. The tribe had previously heard the recordings of American country singer Jimmie Rodgers, which they integrated to their musical culture.
Cheptalel is a heroine found in the folklore of the Kipsigis and Nandi sections of the Kalenjin people of Kenya. She became a folk hero as a result of being offered as a sacrifice to save the Kalenjin sections from a drought that was ravaging their land.
The Siger people were a community commonly spoken of in the folklore of a number of Kenyan communities that inhabited regions of northwestern Kenya at various points in history.
The Lumbwa Treaty event took place on 13th October 1889, in Lumbwa in Kericho between the Kipsigis led by Menya Araap Kisiara and the British East Africa administration. It was based on a cultural practice of oath taking in Kipsigis called Mummek or Mummiat or Mumma. Mumma means "to do something impossibly disgusting". It involves two parties taking an oath and invoking a preemptive curse if the oath is to be broken by any party taking the oath. There usually would also be a performance of black magic; and on this particular event a coyote was savored in two halves with each party burying its part and making the oath never to harm each other in any way.
The Kalenjin are a Nilotic people living in Kenya. They speak Kalenjin language which is spoken in dialects specific to individual contingent tribes and/or sub-tribes. The system observes that every name of a person, object or place has a meaning. The system has been subject to westernization and attrition to linguistics due to the Kenyan adoption of Swahili language as a lingua-franca and the dynamic view that indigenous languages are provincial and irrelevant.
Raphael Kipchambai arap Tapotuk, better known by the stage name Kipchamba, was a Kalenjin singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1970s. He specialized in rhumba sung in the Kipsigis dialect of the Kalenjin language. While performing as a singer, Kipchamba preferred wearing a suit and presenting himself in a formal slant.
