[3] The Rendille are believed to have originally migrated down the Great Lakes after splitting off from the Cushitic-speaking peoples in the Horn region, following wide population expansions by various Nilotic and Bantu ethnic groups.

According to Grassivaro-Gallo and Viviani, some people believe the custom was brought to the Horn of Africa from the Arabian Peninsula during antiquity.

[7] Also known as the ‘Holders of the Stick of God’, the Rendille inhabit the climatically harsh regions between Marsabit County and Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya.

[8] Believed to have originally migrated down the Great Lakes from Ethiopia, they were forced towards Mount Marsabit because of frequent conflicts with other ethnic groups over pasture and water for their animals.

[9] Despite it being one of the most dominant theories, it is also evident that this argument is only based on post-hoc explanations on shared linguistic similarities.

The study described the unmixed Rendille he encountered as tall, slender and reddish-brown in complexion, with soft, straight hair and narrow facial features.

[5][19] Recent advances in genetic analyses have helped shed some light on the ethnogenesis of the Rendille people.

[20] The Rendille's autosomal DNA has been examined in a comprehensive study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa.

According to Bayesian clustering analysis, the Rendille generally grouped with other Afroasiatic-speaking populations inhabiting the Great Lakes region, with these lacustrine groups forming a cluster distinct from that of the Afroasiatic-speaking populations in the Horn of Africa, North Africa and the Sahara.