Kipsigis people
Their arrival in the districts is estimated at 600 to 800 years ago (i.e. c.1200 to 1400 AD);[6] As a consequence of Lwoo incursion into the Maliri territory, the tribe broke into groups that would go on to forge the Pokot and Sebei factions of Kalenjin and Merille/Dasaanach (who migrated back to Omo Valley through the East banks of Lake Turkana).
Some studies suggest that Tororot was the initial kalenjin deity but interactions in Kerio valley led to assimilation of the priestly Kibasisek clan whose peculiarity is having the Sun as their tortem; they were much sought after to perform marriage rituals and other religious activities.
This convention under the culture and positive psychology studies when contrasted to other indigenous communities gives researchers an obstacle in obtaining a qualitative or quantitative measure of happiness.
[12] The Kipsigis tribe is a patriarchal society that was organized in terms of geo-political groupings, clan systems, age sets and military ranks.
It is believed that the Southern Nilotes of two thousand years ago cooperated in loose supra-clan groupings, called *e:m.[15] Kokwet was the most significant political and judicial unit among the Kipsigis.
[18] At a later stage, the four regiments merged into two consisting of Kipkaige and Kasanet on the one side and Ng'etunyo and Kebeni on the other; but ultimately, the strength of this army was tested with a resounding defeat at the hands of Gusii in the battle of Ngoina dated to circa 1850.
Considered special and thought to have out-of-worldly powers, the three were pushed into leadership and for the first time in Kipsigis history, they were able to hold positions that can be equalled to a king or leaders of autonomous regions.
Following the Lumbwa treaty between Kipsigis and The British, the three brothers were arrested and would, in about 1903, be deported to Kikuyu-land while their siblings and immediate families consisting of about 700 individuals were banished to Gwassi in Homa Bay County and stayed there excommunicated between 1934 and 1962.
In the middle of 1905, a punitive raid led by Major Richard Pope-Hennessy killed 1,850 men, women, and children who were rounded up and fired upon indiscriminately with a Maxim gun and other weapons.
[27] Some months later on 19 October 1905, Richard Meinertzhagen tricked Koitalel into what was effectively an ambush and shot him at point-blank range, killing him on the spot and the rest of his entourage.
Some men were drafted or volunteered to fight and it is remarked how the Empire they fought for did not recognize them or keep any records or accounts of African soldiers.A number of factors taking place in the early 1920s led to what has come to be termed the Nandi Protest or Uprisings of 1923.
Alarmed at the prospect and as there was also organized protest among the Kikuyu and Luo at that time, the colonial government came to believe that the Orkoiyot was planning to use the occasion of the Saget ab eito of 1923 as a cover under which to gather forces for a massive military uprising.
On 16 October 1923, several days before the scheduled date for the saget ab eito, the Orkoiyot Barsirian Arap Manyei and four other elders were arrested and deported to Meru.
His capacity to read and write earned him a place in the colonial law courts and civil service as an interpreter based at the Kericho District Commissioner’s office.
In recognition of his “illustrious career” at his retirement, Queen Elizabeth II of England conferred on Chief Tengecha the coveted OBE (Order of the British Empire).
Known to the Kipsigis as 'Boriet ap Jeromaan', literally German war, the world event marks a period of time and denotes a generation where some of its youthful men either volunteered or were drafted into the King's African Rifles forces.
Contemporary Kalenjin music has long been influenced by Kipsigis producers, artistes, and musicians leading to Kericho's perception as a cultural innovation center in Kenya and effectively in the Great-Lakes Region of Africa.
One notable Raphael Kipchamba arap Tapotuk was a luminary artiste, songwriter and producer credited as being a forebearer of Kalenjin pop culture often manifesting his works as folk song, country, and jazz.
A song "Chemirocha III" collected by ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey in 1950 from the Kipsigis in Kapkatet in Kericho was written in honour of Jimmie Rodgers.
The Kenyan long-distance runner Ezekiel Kemboi danced to a Kalenjin hit single, "Emily Chepchumba", during the 2011 IAAF Daegu World championship, after crossing the finish line in the 3000 metres steeplechase and during the London Summer Olympics held in August 2012, after crossing the finish line in the 3000 metre steeple chase finals and winning gold.
It is believed that genetic predisposition, altitude and environmental adaptation, diet, poverty and all-inclusive training philosophy contribute to the success of Kalenjin sportspersons.
He was awarded scholarship by the Kipsigis County Council in 1955 to the South Devon Technical College, Torquay, to study for a diploma in public and social administration.
He was one of the eight original Africans elected to the Legislative Council in 1958 as Member for the Southern Area, a constituency comprising mainly Kipsigis and Maasai Districts.
Professor Jonathan Kimetet Araap Ngeno was a Kipsigis elite who was sponsored by African Inland Church from Litein to study in the United States.
He was appointed to Ministerial positions and was elected the Fourth Speaker of the Parliament of Kenya succeeding coincidentally his baghuleita (a male agemate who was initiated in the same seclusion home), Moses Kiprono arap Keino.
Hosted by Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation (KBC) in 2019, Prof. Koech cited bad peer review on his experimental drug and that he was currently overseeing reexamination of Kemron and further research in China.
He is an alumnus of Kaplong Boys' High School in Bomet County and Moi University Eldoret, Kenya, where he obtained his bachelor's and Master of Science degrees in wildlife management and Ecology.
Mau crisis started when the trust land was allocated to group ranches between the 1980s and 1990s who were mainly ethnic Maasai elite during Daniel Moi's Kanu era.
[54] In 2017, a consortium from the Kipsigis community organised by Professor Paul Kiprono Chepkwony and led by Karim Ahmad Khan sought redress for human rights violations committed by the British government during the colonial period.
In Naivasha, Nakuru and the slum areas of Nairobi, Kikuyu gangs were mobilized and used to unleash violence against Luos, Luhyas and Kalenjins, and to expel them from their rented residences.
