Nandi people

Settlement of Nandi

Main Article: Kalenjin History

According to the Kalenjin narrative of origin, the Nandi section was formed from the separation of what had been a combined group of Kipsigis and Nandi. They had been living at Rongai near Nakuru as a united group for about a century before they were forced to separate due to antagonistic environmental factors, notably droughts and invasion of the Maasai from Uasin Gishu. The Kipsigis moved southwards, settling around Kericho while the Nandi continued west and settled at Aldai.

The traditional Nandi account is that the first settlers in their country came from Elgon, and formed the Kipoiis clan; a name that possibly means 'the spirits'. They were led by a man named Kakipoch, founder of the Nandi section of the Kalenjin. They are said to have settled in the emet (county) of Aldai in south-western Nandi. Kakipoch's people were later joined by a few Kipsikis, who were then followed by people from the other Kalenjin branches.

One of the earliest districts (bororiet) was named after Kakipoch. The site of his grave is still shown on Chepilat hill in Aldai, and is marked by the stump of an ancient olive tree. The account of his burial is that his body was laid on ox-hide, together with his possessions, and left for the hyenas.

Defeat of the Arabs

The earliest recorded mention of Arab caravans in Nandi oral tradition date to the 1850's during the time when the Sawe age-set were warriors. The contact was antagonistic with raids on the caravans carried out by Nandi warriors. By 1854, the name Marmar ("to ornament a dress") had been conveyed upon a sub-set of the Sawe possibly as a result of the very successful raiding of Arab caravans or perhaps as a result of the major defeat at Kipsoboi. These were good years for the Nandi.

The Nandi warriors had never encountered a foe armed with firearms before and they had to develop new military tactics to overcome the effectiveness of a large number of firearms. Like the Masai, the warriors drew the enemy's fire by a sudden rush at which time they went "go to ground." Then the warriors charged the caravan porters before the muzzle loading weapons could be recharged. The porters bolted into the reloading riflemen followed closely by the Nandi warriors and in this confusion, the Nandi warriors could spear the panicked men. This tactic would be deployed effectively until the battle of Kimondi in 1895.

Part of the reason for the Nandi success was the limited access. The easiest approach was from the north-east, but a caravan had to travel two or three days before reaching principal Nandi settlements. This evidently was not preferable as the Arab caravans diverted east to Kavirondo and Mumias where food and protection was located.

Due to the casualties to the caravans, direct trade increasingly became difficult. Caravans rarely entered or camped in Nandi and a strange "middle man" system evolved after the 1850's. Trusted Sotik and Dorobo agents were employed to act as "middle men" who would trade ivory and other coastal goods for cattle to the Nandi for a large commission.

Enterprising Arab traders hoping to circumvent this arrangement often fell victims to a Nandi ploy. A few old Nandi warriors would meet the armed caravan and tell them that a large supply of ivory was only two or three days journey from the caravan. However, the Nandi were only willing to entertain a small Arab party to negotiate a trade. Dutifully, a party of twenty men would be dispatched with cloth, wire, and other trade goods only to be ambushed by the Nandi and massacred."

Another ruse used by the Nandi was to send a small party of warriors to lead the prospective caravan into the depths of Nandi by the wrong road and then conduct a night attack. The Arab traders even attempted a tactic that had worked with other tribes, blood brotherhood. This consisted of sitting opposite one another, cutting the back of each other's hand and sucking the blood from one another's hand. The Nandi held no credence to such a foreign ceremony, and it only became another ploy to easily acquire coastal goods.''

Frustrated by failures, the Arab traders attempted one last tactic. They established a series of fortified stations at Kimatke, Kibigori, Chemelil, Kipsoboi, and Kobujoi, and began a campaign of intimidation. Donkeys were let loose to trample the millet fields, Nandi warriors were humilitated, Nandi boys were imprisoned, and Nandi women and girls were compromised. At Kipsoboi four Nandi shields were propped against a tree and the Nandi were offered the chance to shoot arrows into the shields. Once this was accomplished, the Arabs fired musket balls through the shields that had stopped the arrows. The Arabs then poured gruel over the attending Nandi's heads and shaved off their cherished locks.

The Nandi warriors had had enough. They sought permission from the Kaptalam Orkoiyot to kill the Arabs. He gave permission, and the post was stormed. Some accounts credit the Orkoiyot's charms with making the defender's ammunition disappear, while others credit the error of the garrison commander to provide ammunition to the riflemen. Regardless of the reason, the garrison at Kipsoboi was destroyed. The Nandi kiptaiyat (raiding bands) then successfully attacked and slaughtered the garrison at Kobujoi. This was enough to force the Arab traders to withdraw from Nandi and to avoid the area.

The defeat of the Arabs created the "Nandi legend." The Nandi were undefeatable. Porters could not be hired and expeditions could not be launched into Nandi for nearly forty years. The Nandi warriors stood proudly aloof from the events that were swirling around them confident to defend their independence.

Resistance to British Rule

By the later decades of the 19th century, at the time when the early European explorers started advancing into the interior of Kenya, Nandi territory was a closed country Thompson in 1883 was warned to avoid the country of the Nandi, who were known for attacks on strangers and caravans that would attempt to scale the great massif of the Mau.

Matson, in his account of the resistance, shows 'how the irresponsible actions of two British traders, Dick and West, quickly upset the precarious modus vivendi between the Nandi and incoming British'. This would cause more than a decade of conflict led on the Nandi side by Koitalel Arap Samoei, the Nandi Orkoiyot at the time.

Nandi Ortinuek (Clans)

Like the wider occupation of the Rift, a look at the individual Nandi clan histories shows that the narrative of origin, though containing elements of truth, largely over simplifies the formation of the Nandi sub-tribe.

The Nandi sub-tribe was formed through the settlement of the Nandi region by members of various Kalenjin clans from different regions. The account of settlement by the 17 clans present in the early decade's of the 20th century is as follows;

The Nandi ortinuek are each identified by an 'animal' or tiondo, which no clan member could hunt. The identification by Oreet helped prevent inbreeding since marriage within Oreet was largely not permitted. Clan symbols (tiondo) range from birds, wild animals, frog and snake to bees. Although the sun is not an animal, 'she' has oreet and is called 'tiondo' in the same sense as a lion.

It is claimed that Kong'ony (crested crane) was the first animal allocated a family. Hence Moi (Kong'ony) is regarded as the 'leader' and in child stories this is shown as the source of babies in a family.

The jackal (Kimageet, oreet of Tungo, korap oor) is claimed to have been the last tiondo to be allocated and comes along with several rules of favour (ostensibly to hide the fact that it was the last). Hence, even though the Nandi claim 'Cheptaab oreet age ne wendi oreet age' literally 'a daughter from one clan goes to another clan and belongs in the new clan', to mean a woman has no clan, the Tungo girls are permitted to retain their clan identity.

Social Organization

The traditional system of social organisation was broadly similar to that of other Kalenjin. The Nandi territory was divided into six counties known as emet (pl. emotinwek). These were Wareng, located to the north, Mosop in the North East,Tindiret in the East, , Soiin & Pelkut in the South, Aldai & Chesumei in the west and Emgwen in the center.

The emotinwek were divided into districts known as bororiet (pl. borororisiek) and these were divided into villages known as kokwet (pl. kokotinwek). The Nandi administrative system was unique among the Kalenjin in having the bororiosiek administrative layer.

Within the wider Kalenjin administrative system, the Kokwet was the most significant political and judicial unit in terms of day to day issues. The kokwet elders were the local authority for allocating land for cultivation, they were also the body to whom the ordinary member of the tribe would look for a decision in a dispute or problem which defied solution by direct agreement between the parties. Membership of the kokwet council was acquired by seniority and personality and within it decisions were taken by a small number of elders whose authority derived from their natural powers of leadership.

Among the Nandi however, the Bororiet was the most significant institution and the political system revolved around it.

The Nandi Bororiet

People of the same oreet were not necessarily restricted to one bororiet, people could and still change bororiet, due to migration, without necessarily changing their oreet. However, some families were advised, perhaps to avoid recurrent catastrophes, not to live in certain bororiet. For example, if one's family lived in one bororiet but was haunted by repetitive deaths that pointed to a curse, a ceremony reminiscent of 'Kap Kiyai' was performed to allow the family to change their bororiet by 'crossing a river' in the context of 'ma yaitoos miat aino' which literally means that death does not cross a river (body of water). This elaborate ceremony was called 'raret' (rar means trim or cut off). A family with a name Kirorei probably indicates a case of bororiet change which came about as a result of 'rareet' (chopping off). A case in point is the long-standing banning of Kap Matelong (and all Kipkenda?) from inhabiting Chesumei which is populated by the relatively obscure but conservative borioriosiek of Cheptol, Kapno and Tibingot.

Age-set (Ibinda)

The Nandi traditionally practiced circumcision of both sexes, although female circumcision was abandoned as a rite of initiation into adulthood. Boys' circumcision festivals took place about every seven and a half years, and boys circumcised at the same time are considered to belong to the same age set; like other Nilotic groups, these age sets (called ibinda, pl. ibinweek) were given names from a limited fixed cycle. Each age set is further subdivided into a subset (siritieet, pl. siritoiik). About four years after this festival, the previous generation officially handed over defense of the country to the newly circumcised youths. Girls' circumcision, took place in preparation for marriage.

The Nandi social organisation centres around the age-set, or ibinda. There are seven age-sets (ibinwek) which are rotational, meaning at the end of one ageset new members of that generation are born. The order is roughly as given below. Among the other Kalenjin peoples, an age-set called Korongoro exists. However, among the Nandi, this ageset is extinct. Legend has it that the members of this ibinda were wiped out in war. For fear of a recurrence, the community decided to retire the age-set. Ibinda was given out at initiation and by simple arrangements, there ought to be one ibinda between a father and a son. For example, a Maina cannot beget a Chumo. The Nandi don't consider a woman to have an ageset, hence she can marry any ageset except that in which her father belongs. The Nandi say "ma tinyei ibin gorgo" which means a woman has no ageset.

Age sub-set (siritiet)

In each age-set, the initiates were bundled into siritiet or what can be understood as a 'team'. There are four 'teams' or siritoik in an age-set (ibinda) namely:

Religion

Like other Kalenjin, the Nandi traditionally worshipped a supreme deity, Asis (literally "Sun"), as well as venerating the spirits of ancestors. Their land is divided into six "counties" (emet): Wareng in the north, Mosop in the east, Soiin/Pelkut in the south, Aldai and Chesumei in the west, and Em-gwen in the center. The Orkoiyot, or medicine man, was traditionally acknowledged as an overall leader. The Orgoiyot led not only in spiritual matters but also during wars, as evidenced during the war between the British colonials building the railway and the Nandi warriors. The leader at that time was Koitalel Arap Samoei who was killed by Richard Meinertzhagen, a British soldier. In pre-colonial times, they also enjoyed a fearsome reputation as fighters; Arab slave-traders and ivory-traders took care to avoid the area, and the few that dared attempt to traverse it were killed.

Academics

The Nandi have also produced great scientists and academics like Dr.rer.nat.habil. Dr Seronei arap Chelulei Cheison (Matelong), a top protein chemist at Mars Inc, Prof. David Kimutai Some of Moi University, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Paul Ndalut(deceased) of Chemistry and Biochemistry department at Moi University, Dr Fredrick Sawe(Director Walterreed, Owner-Nursing home Kericho), Dr Saisi Mayo(Dean College of Engineering, Moi University), Dr Noah Kiptoo Tenai (a distinguished Researcher of note, based in Cape Town, South Africa), Dr Cosmas Kipkurgat Ronno of department of Education Science University of Eldoret and Prof. Chelagat Lelei and Prof. Isaack Kosgey, the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Egerton University among others. Prof Mengich(Moi Referral Hospital) Dr Cheruiyot S Lagat of Masinde Muliro University, Dr. Felix K Ngetich, Agriculturalist, Kenyatta University, Dr. John R. Busienei, Ph.D (Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi). Among the leading lawyers from the community are Lawyer Paul Birech of Eldoret, Lawyer Paul Lilan of Nairobi, Lawyer Julius Kipkosgey Kemboy of Nairobi and retired judge Barabara Tanui, Dr. John Rugutt,Statistic,in the Faculty of Education, (Illinois State University, USA), Professor Bernard Kipsang Rop, Geology, (Jomo Kenyatta university of science and Technology). Among the leading medics from Nandi are Dr.med. Elly Kibet Cherwon of Heidelberg, Germany. Elly also deputises the head of the hospital. Dr Vincent Komugor Kiprotich (Makerere university) There is also Dr. Kirongo (Psychiatrist Moi Referral Hospital),Dr Geoffrey Kiprotich Yebei Ngeny MD (Geriatric Medicine-Internal Medicine) of Pittsburg University, Dr Mark Kiplagat Rotich (Internal Medicine, Geriatrics medicine and Emergency Medicine) of Marion Illinois. Dr Andrew Kibet Cheruiyot (Consultant Trauma KNH), Dr Franklin Rono,Dr Eliud Kireger, Managing Director, Tea Research Foundation of Kenya and former Dean School of Natural Resource and Environmental Management, Kabianga University.Dr slyvester Kimaiyo ( MTHRH). Dr Lawrence Tanui.Dr.Kipchirchir Murgor,Educationa planning, Dr Kipyego Amos(Renewable energy physics)

Sport

Like other Kalenjin, the Nandi have produced a number of notable Kenyan athletes. These include great distance athletes like the legendary Kipchoge Keino (Kip Keino), a gold medalist at Mexico (1968) and Munich (1972) Olympic games and Prof. Mike Boit, a Bronze medalist at Munich 1972 Olympics. Others include Peter Koech, Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat who represents the USA and Wilson Kipketer who ran for his adopted home of Denmark. Current world beating athletes like Pamela Jelimo, David Rudisha, Richard Mateelong, Wilfred Bungei, Janeth Chepkosgei and Super Henry Rono, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Peter Rono, Tecla Chemabwai, Kenya Paralympian Henry Kirwa among others are Nandi. The father of Kenyan Steeplechasers Amos Kipwambok Biwott comes from the community.

Politics

The Nandi people have had remarkable political figures like Jean-Marie Seroney, the first MP for Nandi and Tindiret, Henry Kosgey, Kimayo arap Sego, Joseph arap Leting who first served as Head of public service then MP. Samwel Ngeny, Kipruto Kirwa, Stanley Metto and Ezekiel Barng'etuny, Dr Joseph Misoy and William Morogo Saina. Philomena Chelagat Mutai cut her teeth as a university student in the 1970s and remains one of the most celebrated of Nandi female political leaders.Gerald Nathaniel Kalya who was the first and long serving Mosop mp,Tamason Barmalel who was chepalungu MP, Dr Sally Kosgei former mp Aldai. William Samoei Ruto who is currently the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya.

Customs

Female-female marriages within the Nandi culture have been reported, although it is unclear if they are still practiced, and only about three percent of Nandi marriages are female-female. Female-female marriages are a socially-approved way for a woman to take over the social and economic roles of a husband and father. They were allowed only in cases where a woman either had no children of her own, had daughters only (one of them could be "retained" at home) or her daughter(s) had married off. The system was practiced "to keep the fire"—in other words, to sustain the family lineage, or patriline, and was a way to work around the problem of infertility or a lack of male heirs. A woman who married another woman for this purpose had to undergo an "inversion" ceremony to "change" into a man. This biological woman, now socially male, became a "husband" to a younger female and a "father" to the younger woman's children, and had to provide a bride price to her wife's family. She was expected to renounce her female duties (such as housework), and take on the obligations of a husband; additionally, she was allowed the social privileges accorded to men, such as attending the private male circumcision ceremonies. No sexual relations were permitted between the female husband and her new wife (nor between the female husband and her old husband); rather, the female husband chose a male consort for the new wife so she will be able to bear children. The wife's children considered the female husband to be their father, not the biological father, because she (or "he") was the socially designated father.