Wonders of Sergoit Hills

Three member posts from The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group, given here in full: by Ogw Limo HP, by Jackson James Singoei, and an age bracket table shared by Generali Robaa Kips. Lightly edited for spelling and layout only. The Eight Kutiit (Kalenjin) Age Sets By Ogw Limo HP The Kalenjin kutiit are eight in number. The Kipsigis lost the Kipkoimet age set. The Tugen lost the Maina age set. The Nandi lost the Korongoro age set. However, these communities of the kutiit still value the lost age sets, and at times they mention them. Here are the kutiit age sets and their salanik: Maina : Mainekap Kiptile. Kiptile introduced the Maina age set. Some say he was from Tanzania. Chumo : Chuumek-ap Kipsalpei. They loved giving salanik to water before drinking it. Sawe : Saweyek-ap Mararma. Mararma means they resisted the fire of Arab guns, defeating them. Kipkoimet : They were tough headed. They were the pillar stone and architect of the Nandi age sets. Korongoro : Kirwoi ...

By W.K. Oriop Kirai, Olokurto, Narok. Shared by William Kiptoo in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group. This is an oral legend, and the meanings given for the names are folk explanations. First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 23 September 2024. New historical findings have shown that the Kalenjin broke up into the present 61 dialects when they were still in Uganda, in a place called Kapchorwa District. An old man I talked to has his own legend, which holds some water. The legend has it that somewhere near Mt Koilegen (Elgon) there lived an old man called Loleiyo, who had several wives. When he died of old age, his sons began to scatter to different places. His eldest son, who became the ancestor of the Nandi, was someone who was rude and stubborn. He inherited his father's wives, as was the custom. Nandi means one who inherits and is derived from the verb ndi, that is, inherit. His second brother, who became the founder of the Kipsigis people, is...

A tribute by Sila Kiptanui, shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group. Full text, kept in its original verse form, with light spelling corrections. Dates and events are as the family and community remember them. First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 10 August 2024. Jeremiah Kigen arap Chemirmir The Royal King of Tumeiyo London A legend who slept at 132 years old The golden years on planet Earth He was the most senior member of our ancestors Who outlived many generations. A centenarian who grabbed news headlines Decades ago Before news were news And set a record of several jail terms He served at Kamiti prison And still emerged alive and sound. Jeremiah Kipkios Kipkesei Kimosop Kigen arap Chemirmir was a walking history, A living library of old stories. He was born around 1890 In the ancient Katkok Kaben, Tumeiyo London location, Kabiemit ward, Keiyo South Constituency, Elgeyo Marakwet County. He was the third born child of Mantulwa Limo Kimosop A...

Shared by William Kiptoo, adapted from an encyclopedia entry on the Kalenjin (Countries and Their Cultures). From the 1940s, young men from the Kalenjin speaking groups who went off to fight in the Second World War began using the term kale or kole, the scarring of the breast or arm of a warrior who had killed an enemy in battle, to describe themselves. During wartime radio broadcasts, the announcer John Chemallan used the phrase kalenjok, "I tell you" (plural). Later, students from these groups at Alliance High School formed a "Kalenjin" club. There were only fourteen of them, a small minority in a school in Gikuyu country, and they wanted an outward sign of a shared identity. Those students went on to become the Kalenjin elite. The identity was consolidated with the founding of the Kalenjin Union in Eldoret in 1948, and a monthly magazine, Kalenjin, in the 1950s. The movement was not only a people finding a name for themselves. According to this account, the col...