The Nandi is a Kenyan ethnic group or tribe living in the highland areas of the Nandi Hills in Rift Valley Province; they form a sub-group of the Kalenjin. Before British colonization, they were sedentary cattle-herders, sometimes also practicing agriculture; their settlements were more or less evenly distributed rather than being grouped into villages. Like other Nilotic peoples, they were noted warriors. They traditionally practice circumcision of both sexes as a rite of initiation into adulthood. Boys' circumcision festivals took place about every 7 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 were given names from a limited fixed cycle. About four years after this festival, the previous generation officially handed over defense of the country to the newly circumcised youths. Girls' circumcision, excising the clitoris, took place in preparation for marriage. They traditionally worship a supreme deity, Asis (literally "Sun"), as well as venerating the spirits of ancestors. They were divided into a variety of clans, each with a particular " totem" animal which its members could not eat. Their land is divided into six "counties" (emet): Wareng in the north, Masop 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 the time was Koitalel Arap Samoei who was killed by a British soldier. The Nandi have a reputation for courage and swiftness (the latter statistically proven.) In precolonial 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. ...more on Wikipedia about "Nandi people"
The Oromo are an African ethnic group found in Ethiopia and to a lesser extent Kenya. They are the largest single ethnic group in Ethiopia, numbering around 24 million or approximately 32% of the population. Their native language is the Oromo language, or Afan Oromo. ...more on Wikipedia about "Oromo"
The Pokomo are an ethnic group of Kenya, who are predominantly agriculturalists living along the Tana River in the Tana River District. They speak a language of the Niger-Congo group. ...more on Wikipedia about "Pokomo"
The Pokot people (commonly spelled Pökoot, in older literature Suk) live in the West Pokot and Baringo districts of Kenya and in the eastern borderland of Uganda, east of the Karimojong area. They speak Pökoot, a Kalenjin language of the Southern Nilotic language family. A 1994 figure of SIL puts the total number of Pokot speakers at 264 000, while the only little more recent Schladt (1997:40) gives the more conservative estimate of 150 000 people, presumably based on the figures found in Rottland (1982:26) who puts the number at slightly more than 115 000. ...more on Wikipedia about "Pokot"
The Rendille are an African ethnic group of the Kaisut Desert of Kenya. They refer to themselves as "the holders of the stick of God". ...more on Wikipedia about "Rendille"
The Samburu are an ethnic tribe in north central Kenya related to the Maasai. They are semi-nomadic pastoralists who mainly herd cattle but also keep sheep, goats and camels. The name they use for themselves is "Lokop" or "Loikop," a term which may have a variety of meanings which Samburu themselves do not agree on. Many assert that it refers to them as "owners of the land" ("lo" refers to ownership, "nkop" is land)though others present a very different interpretation of the term. The Samburu speak the Samburu language. ...more on Wikipedia about "Samburu"
The Sirikwa were an ethnic group in the Turkana area of Kenya, sometimes identified with the Oropom or the Kalenjin. ...more on Wikipedia about "Sirikwa"
The Somalis are an ethnic group indigenous to the Horn of Africa. These people are of African heritage. They speak the Somali language, which is part of the Afroasiatic language family (subgroup: Cushitic) and is thus related to the Oromo, Sidamo, Afar, Agaw, and Beja languages and also Arabic language. There are between 10 and 20 million ethnic Somalis, principally concentrated in Somalia (over 8 million), Ethiopia (3-5 million), Djibouti (250,000), northeast Kenya (240,000) and an unknown but large number living in non-east African countries, primarily the United States and northern Europe. ...more on Wikipedia about "Somali people"
The Suba are a people in Kenya who speak the Suba language. Their population is estimated at under 30,000, making them one of the country's smallest tribes. They migrated to Kenya from Uganda and settled on the two Lake Victoria islands of Rusinga and Mfangano, and are believed to be the last tribe to have settled in Kenya. They were influenced by the Luo, who live on the mainland. There are also people in Tanzania (Tarime District, Mara Region) who call themselves Suba, but it is unclear as to whether or not they are part of the same ethnic group. ...more on Wikipedia about "Suba"
The Terik people are a Kalenjin tribe inhabiting parts of the Kakamega and Nandi Districts of western Kenya, numbering about 120 000 people. They live wedged in between the Nandi, Luo and Luhya (Luyia) peoples. Among the Luo they are known as nyangóóri, but to the Terik, this is a derogatory term. The Terik call themselves Terikeek; in their usage, 'Terik' refers to language, land, and culture. ...more on Wikipedia about "Terik"
The Tugen are a branch of the Kalenjin community and they occupy the districts of Baringo and Koibatek in Rift Valley, Kenya. Daniel Arap Moi, the second president of Kenya (1978–2002) was from the Tugen branch. The Tugen people speak the Tugen language. ...more on Wikipedia about "Tugen"
The Turkana are a Nilotic people of Kenya, numbering about 340,000. They inhabit Turkanaland in northwest Kenya, a dry and hot region bordering Lake Turkana in the east. South of them live the Pokot (Pökoot), Rendille, and Samburu. The language of the Turkana, an Eastern Nilotic language, is also called Turkana; their own name for it is Ng'aturk(w)ana. ...more on Wikipedia about "Turkana people"
The Yaaku (often Mukogodo-Maasai) are a people living in the Mukogodo forest west of Mount Kenya, a division of the Laikipia District of Rift Valley Province, Kenya. Former hunter-gatherers and bee-keepers, the Yaaku have assimilated to the pastoralist culture of the Maasai in the first half of the twentieth century, although there is still some occasional bee-keeping going on. The reason for this transition is mostly one of social prestige. The Maasai look down upon hunter-gatherer peoples, calling them Dorobo ('the ones without cattle'), and many Yaaku consider the Maasai culture to be superior. As a result of the assimilation the Yaaku almost completely gave up their Cushitic language Yaaku for the Eastern Nilotic Maasai language between 1925 and 1936. The Maasai variant they speak nowadays is called Mukogodo-Maasai. Old Yaaku words are still found in some parts of the bee-keeping vocabulary, for example: ...more on Wikipedia about "Yaaku"
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