The History of Keiyo

The History of Keiyo

The History of Keiyo
The name Keiyo or Elgeyo has been used interchangeably to describe the Keiyo people. The latter name being disputed as a corruption of the former true name, which resulted from the Uasin-Gishu Maasai who were the neighbours of the Keiyo in the mid 19th century at the western side of Eldoret, being a word coined by them.

The Keiyo are the part of the Kalenjin sub-tribe i.e. the ‘Mnyoot’ who remained in the Kerio Valley when other Kalenjin communities moved to their present homelands.

The origin of the Keiyo people is mainly found relayed through oral traditions, the genealogy, which dates back to several generations, marked by a cycle of age groups. Keiyo, which is part of the Kalenjin ethnic group, believed to trace its ancestry to a forefather known as Kole, who lived around Mt. Elgon (i.e. Tolwop Kony). After moving southwards along wide valleys and a wide river (believed to be River Nile), the man had five sons and his first son was named Chemng’olin, who moved from the original with the aim of ‘kondi’ i.e. to inherit and conquer. The second son preferred the task of reproduction -Kosigis- meaning to “reproduce”. This is the Kipsigis sub-tribe.

The third son wanted to go out and practice milking and hence bore the name Keisyo, which later revered to the Keiyo. The fourth son wanted to break off from his father and collect termites, as there was a severe drought then. The process entailed the pocking (‘ketugen’) of the ground for the termites to come out from the ground. The son said he is going ‘ this side’ (kamase) and hence the present Kamasia or the Tugen. The fifth son chose to remain in the ancestral home and stay Kong-Kony’, ‘meaning to stay rooted’.

The first two sons followed the westerly direction along Lake Victoria, the third and forth sons followed the eastern direction, through Cherang’any hills, into the valley southwards along the Kerio River (Endo), taking them to their present occupation.

Each of them beget offsprings, through assimilation and reproduction which led to the Nyang’ori/Terik & Ogiek for the first and second sons; the Marakwet and Pokot(Suk)/ Njemps/Tchamus for the third and fourth sons respectively. The last son is associated with the emergence of the Sabaot, Pok and Bagomek .

The history of Keiyo appears to be troublesome – a series of raids by neighbours, especially the Elgon Maasai, Kipwopchek, who plundered their cows and women as well as famine and drought being outstanding. This led the Keiyo people to live settled on the foothills to avoid the wild animals occupying the forest of Uasin-Gishu and diseases such as malaria prevalent in the valley.

The Keiyo people probably settled in their current land not more than 300 years ago, and basically found the land inhabited by the hunting and gathering community, the Kapchegrot and the Kurut, who were respectively driven out of the land by an invasion of locusts. Some moved in the north-east joining the Pokot (Suk) as Kibomony section, while the Kurut were assimilated, as few of them survived the floods that came after the locust invasion which drove out of the caves they were hidden along the Endo Valley. They returned later, only to find their land already inhabited. This is found in one of the Keiyo myths, which talks of the valley sinking due to tectonic forces swallowing all people except a couple, who, on emerging from their hideout found people already living in the region. These were mainly the Tugen and joined by others mainly the Sebei, lumbwa-kipsigis and some Kisii people.

The various communities among the Keiyo divided their land into 16-east-west stretches to prevent inbreeding and displacement of a community by other individuals and a system of totems were acquired.

The land was divided so that each group had a shore of Kerio River andthus the totems ran perpendicular to the river. From the south to the north are Metkei, Kapkwoni, Maoi,Tumeiyo, Kowochi, Mwen, Sego, Chebior, Chang’ach, Rokocho, Mutei, Maam, Irong’, Kaptany, Kapchemutwa. The land was sub-divided to members of the same clan marked by a series of stones referred to as Koiwek.

The Keiyo co-existed with their neighbours who consisted of the Tugen,’Kipwochek’ Uasin-Gishu Maasai, the Kipchoi/Kisira i.e. the Karamojong’ and later acted as labourers in the European farms, although they were potrayed as cattle thieves by the settlers. But for some who lived closely with the community like Massam, a colonial District Commissioner (1922-23), conceded the Agikuyu, Kamba, Kipsigis and Nandi were the actual thieves.

Around 1840, when the Sawe age-group were the warriors, the Keiyo community was afflicted by internal and external conflicts, which resulted from the arrogance and rudeness of the warriors to the advice of the elders. Following their over-indulgence in alcohol and dance to the extent of wearing ear bells on their lobes to shut them down, or pouring milk into beer pipes when elders were sucking beer from the gourds,.