The descriptions of these communities have been matched with present identity realities and contemporary understanding of regional history to show that they bear elements of historicity.
This was confirmed by an early colonial administrator who uncovered several alleged 'Muoko' graves, pointed out to him by Meru elders, which substantiated the practice of burial in a sitting position.
In Mwimbi, the forest hunters were called Mukoko or Mukuru and were linked to livestock-owning Ukara while Tiganians describe Mukuguru (or Aruguru) as allied to the Muoko herders of their region.
Existing evidence suggests that these names are variants of Mukogodo, a contemporary Ogiek people, whose original language was part of the Cushitic cluster.
The narratives portray a memorable instance of conflict on contact with the community on the Tigania plain; To fulfill the prophecy that had sent them westward since the migration's beginning, their prophets ordered them to seize the herds.
As the narration is retold today, Tiganian warriors took the Muoko by surprise, seizing "four great herds" in an initial skirmish, then moved livestock, women, children, and the aged into a single, defensible camp.
Meru tradition states that this period was followed by "decades" of war though Fadmian suggests that there was a time of dry-season raiding on both sides.