Modern ethnicities
38-517: Diaspora Performing arts Government agencies Television Radio Newspapers The Sengwer people (also known as Cherang'any and previously as Sekker, Siger, Sigerai, Segelai, Senguer, Senguel and Jangwel) are an indigenous community who primarily live in the Embobut forest in the western highlands of Kenya and in scattered pockets across Trans Nzoia , West Pokot and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties. The Sengwer are sometimes portrayed as
76-913: A "water towers". The other water tower in Elgeyo-Marakwet County is Cherangani Hills . Embobut supplies Eldoret town and its environs with water. Collectively the Embobut and Cherangani Hills water towers also supply water to the Kerio River , which flows through the Cheploch Gorge in Baringo to Lake Turkana via the Turkwel Gorge . The Embobut Forest is one of the largest continuous blocks of indigenous forest remaining in East Africa. As of 6 November 1954, it
114-684: A component of the Marakwet people but are a distinct ethnic grouping with a distinct language. The Sengwer people are currently a marginalized community and face significant threats to their identity and ancestral lands. International and human rights organizations including the United Nations , Amnesty International and the Kenya Human Rights Commission recognize the Sengwer as indigenous peoples whose claim to
152-499: A correlation between high Nile discharge and greater rainfall in equatorial East Africa. The analysis of Nile flood stages indicates a 'Minor Low' for the period 1800 to 1830, this was preceded by a 'Minor High' during the years 1725 to 1800 and was followed by a 'Minor High' which lasted between 1830 and 1870. Studies in Ethiopia by Pankhurst indicated major famines in 1880–1881, 1835 and in 1829. These studies are significant in that
190-547: A diverse species of plants and animals. The Embobut Forest has become the site of ongoing dissent and violent conflict over the ownership and use of forest lands. The Sengwer people have been the target of repeated and forcible evictions from the area by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and other governmental agencies. Embobut Forest. As with many of Kenya’s gazetted forests, Embobut has been characterized by periodic evictions of people deemed to be residing in
228-451: A long dry period starting about 1800 seemingly peaking with an intensely arid time during the mid-1830s. This would be congruent with Krapf's (1860) mention of a "great famine of 1836". There are a number of oral traditions from various communities across much of southern Africa that point to the region having experienced declining rainfall levels from about 1800 to about 1830. This saw the progressive desiccation of lakes, rivers and springs,
266-489: A phenomenon observed by an employee of the East India Company in the 1820s who noted; ...in many parts of the interior of the country the springs and rivulets are drying up and annual rains become more scanty and irregular. The traveler often meets with houses and farms that have been deserted by their owners on account of a permanent failure in the supply of water which they once enjoyed. The drought decimated
304-420: A radically different way of life to the Sengwer, a spartanly pastoral world view based on their early possession of hardy thoraic-humped Zebus that were much more resistant to heat stress, drought and disease. The Turkana had bordered the Sengwer for some time and their initial interactions had been peaceful though conflict, likely spurred by the drought, developed towards the end of the 18th century. Large parts of
342-579: A role in the social organisation of the Sengwer. One of these 'clans' was known as the Kacepkai. This clan was displaced during the Turkana invasion of Moru Assiger and were said to have become the diviners of a number of different peoples in the Mt. Elgon region. The Sengwer are credited with great mystical abilities and divination appears to have played a large role in their culture. The confederacy gave rise to
380-542: The Aoyate drought . The drought decimated the Sengwer herds and the community disintegrated. Many famine refugees who tried to push eastwards died of starvation near Moru Eris, though some found refuge with the Dassanetch , Pokot and Karimojong . To the north, Ateker societies, notably the emerging Turkana who lived on the borders of Sengwer territory, began encroaching on Sengwer highland pastures. These societies led
418-652: The 1700s and 1800s adorned themselves with - a dangling cowrie shell referred to as esigirait, pl. ngisigira in Karimojong. They thus came to be known as Siger, Sigerai, Segelai and Losegelai in some accounts. At its largest extent, Sengwer territory covered the northern parts of Uasin Gishu , as well as parts of Elgeyo-Marakwet , Trans Nzoia and a southern section of West Pokot ; ...Commences from Kiporoom River in Uasin Gishu District. It extends along
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#1732776457440456-847: The Kapsumbeywet River through Ziwa (Sirikwa) centre, Moiben Posta and Kose hills in Uasin Gishu. From Kose Hills, it goes down to join Moiben River. The boundary goes up river Moiben to the confluence of Ko’ngipsebe and Kimowo streams. It turns eastwards to cover areas of Maron sub-location in the Emboput location in Marakwet District. Turning to the west it then goes to Kamolokon along Marakwet/West Pokot and Marakwet boundary. From here it drops to Sebit, Somor, then to Kongelai and up along Swom River. From Swom River to
494-539: The Karamojong and then the Maasai laughed at us because we had no cattle, and called us Cherangany... By the early 20th century, ...the Sengwer (Cherangany) [were] a minority, unrecognized, marginalised, oppressed and discriminated against hunter-gatherer indigenous group... The Sengwer continues to be a marginalized community that is facing separate and significant threats to both its identity and ancestral lands in
532-740: The Kenyan Government's Water Towers Protection and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Programme (WATER), as a result of ongoing abuses of the human rights of indigenous people in the conservation areas. As of October, 2018, the Sengwar were preparing an international petition to be taken to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in Arusha , Tanzania . They argue that a renewal of their traditional land management practices would be more effective for forest management than
570-518: The Loikop (also known as 'Kor'), a Maa-speaking alliance that lived in close associations with various Cushitic-speaking peoples. Like the Turkana, the Kor kept some of the hardy Zebus which allowed them to withstand the Aoyate a lot better than the Sengwer and to absorb members of the community as their society collapsed. To the south, some refugees were fleeing Turkana advances, who were raiding south into
608-803: The Meturona line of diviners among the Turkana, the Kachepkai diviners of the Pokot and the Talai diviners of the Uas Nkishu Maasai, the Nandi and Kipsigis . The most notable element of Sengwer culture was an adornment of a single cowrie shell attached to the forelock of Sengwer women, a hairstyle that was also common to the Oropom who neighbored them to the west and north-west. This dangling cowrie shell
646-519: The Nandi to designate their tribe". In recorded accounts of the colonial era in Kenya, the people today known as Sengwer usually referred to themselves as such. ...Once the Cherangany were a powerful race called Sengwer... Other accounts on the etymology consider the name a derivation from Karimajong. The Karimajong came to refer to them by the name of the cowrie shell ornament that Sengwer women of
684-531: The Sengwer community, already decimated by the drought, were absorbed into the growing Turkana identity, becoming a territorial section known as Siger and probably forming several new Turkana clans, including the Siger, Swalika and Ngoleroto clans. According to Maasai tradition, the Chemngal were attacked by an alliance of the Uasin Gishu and Siria Loikop communities. To the east, rivalry was also developing with
722-563: The Turkana age-set system suggested a date in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. He notes that concurrent drought traditions suggested in the chronological reconstruction of neighboring communities indicates that the drought affected much of the Rift Valley region. Records of Nile River flood stages date back to the 7th century AD and an analysis of the flood patterns and comparison with water levels in Lake Chad revealed
760-576: The Turkana and Chemwal. Bands of Turkana warriors forced some Chemwalin northwards to the head of Lake Turkana where they formed the Inkabelo section of the developing Dassanech community. Other Chemwalin were pushed back onto the Suk hills, to the south to be incorporated by the Chok leading to the rise of the ritually important Kachepkai clan while others yet were assimilated by the Turkana where some became
798-508: The Uasin Gishu where they were known as Kakesira, and can be associated with the Losegelai (Siger = Sigerai = Segelai) Maasai of the late 19th and early 20th century. Small numbers of Sengwer retreated into the forests and into small enclaves among the emerging Marakwet society where they retained elements of their identity. The Maasai coined a derogatory term for the Sengwer after they lost their cattle. ...We were robbed of our cattle by
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#1732776457440836-466: The actions of the KFS. Some of the most prominent personalities in the former Marakwet District come from the Embobut region. They include former politicians, such as Robert Kiptoo Kipkorir , and the first female MP from Marakwet community, Linah Jebii Kilimo . 01°13′N 35°38′E / 1.217°N 35.633°E / 1.217; 35.633 Aoyate drought The Aoyate drought
874-462: The area goes back hundreds of years and have repeatedly raised concerns about human rights violations against them. Following his Juba expedition, MacDonald (1899) noted of the 'Senguer' who previously 'dwelt on the Uasin Gishu plateau' stating that "As "l" and "r" are interchangeable, "Senguer" of the Juba expedition is evidently the same word as "Jangwel", a term which Mr. C. Hobley found was applied by
912-435: The confluence of Swom and Cheptenden River. From Cheptenden River to the confluence of Cheptenden River and Moiben River where these two rivers confluence with Kiboorom. The Sengwer prior to the 19th century herded a distinctive type of long-horned black cattle, postulated by Lamphear (1994) as being a cervicothoracic-humped Sanga crossbreed. During this period, social groupings similar in concept to clans seem to have played
950-535: The country of Ethiopia borders present-day Turkana county. Meanwhile, Samburu historians interviewed by Straight et al. (2016) state that the Samburu separated from a society known as Burkineji in the wake of the 1830s Mutai. According to a Samburu Laibon interviewed by Fratkin (2011), the Sambur 'Il Kipkeku' age-set were warriors during the period c.1837-1851. The various narratives, records and reports thus point to
988-480: The evictions of indigenous peoples, repeated violations occurred. The World Bank has been heavily criticized for its involvement in the area and for its failure to require that its own standards for the treatment of indigenous people were met. As of 2016, the European Union supported a conservation plan for the area, with the goals of protecting the water towers and biodiversity, while still respecting
1026-508: The evictions until the Sengwer community's case was heard on 27 February 2018. As of October 2018, the Sengwar were preparing an international petition to be taken to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in Arusha , Tanzania . Milka Chepkorir as one of the Sengwer People has been documenting all various testimonies about the effect on eviction to the Sengwer People. She said: The eviction still happened till 2020 and in
1064-472: The forest as illegal "squatters" and "minority communities", differences in terminology that can have important cultural, legal and political implications. As of 2007, the World Bank supported a forest conservation project in the area, expressing the hope that it would "improve the livelihoods of communities participating in the co-management of water and forests." In spite of policy frameworks against
1102-615: The forest illegally. The Report of the Embobut Task Force cited 20 such evictions since the 1980s. During the NRMP period, Requesters claim that KFS participated in forceful evictions of Cherangany-Sengwer from Embobut in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013... in 2009... over 400 families were evicted and a large number of houses, belongings, and crops destroyed by forest guards, regular and administrative police, and Kenya Wildlife Service rangers to prevent people from returning into
1140-537: The forest. International and human rights organizations including the United Nations , Amnesty International and the Kenya Human Rights Commission recognize the Sengwer as indigenous peoples whose claim to the area goes back hundreds of years and who are potentially productive partners in managing their lands. In contrast, the Kenyan government has promoted "the government narrative that there are no people living in Embobut forest", describing all residents in
1178-482: The herds of the Chemwal , thought to have been cervicothoraic-humped Sanga crossbreeds, leading to the disintegration of the community. Sengwer folklore has it that, "It became dry and there was great hunger. The Siger went away to the east to Moru Eris, where most of them died of heat and starvation. So many died that there is still a place there called Kabosan (the rotten place)". Full-scale war flared up between
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1216-686: The middle of COVID-19 pandemic . Kenyan Forest Service used the reason of protection and conservation of the forests as the reason for doing the evictions. Though, the Sengwer people tells that their tradition has been conserved the forest for a long time. Embobut Embobut ( Embobit , Embotut ) is one of the administrative wards for the Marakwet East Constituency in Elgeyo-Marakwet County , Kenya . The area contains one of two major drainage basins for Elgeyo-Marakwet County, referred to locally as
1254-447: The present time. By 1980, the pressures of population growth of forest dwelling communities in Kenya, among them the Sengwer, came against the governments desire and efforts to control the forests. Repeated eviction attempts have been carried out since then. On 16 January 2018 herder Robert Kirotich was shot and killed and David Kipkosgei Kiptilkesi was injured by Kenya Forest Service officers. The Sengwer men were herding their cattle at
1292-401: The rights of the indigenous Sengwer people. This resulted in renewed evictions and violence against the Sengwer, in which Kenyan Forest Service guards fired gunshots, burned homes and killed livestock. On 16 January 2018 herder Robert Kirotich was shot and killed and David Kipkosgei Kiptilkesi was injured by the KFS. As of January 17, 2018, the European Union suspended its financial support for
1330-468: The time. Both were unarmed. As of 17 January 2018, the European Union suspended its financial support for the Kenyan Government's Water Towers Protection and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Programme (WATER), as a result of ongoing abuses of the human rights of indigenous people in the conservation areas. On 22 January 2018, a court in Eldoret issued an injunction requiring the government to stop
1368-456: Was an acute meteorological drought that according to Turkana tradition affected much of the Rift Valley region of Kenya during the late 18th century or early 19th century. The word aoyate is from the Turkana language and means long dry time . It is the word that the Turkana use to describe this dry period in their history. Lamphear (1988) noted that chronological reckonings based on
1406-411: Was gazetted and registered as a protected public forest, by Proclamation Order 26. Soil erosion and landslides are ongoing concerns, as is the protection of the water supply and biodiversity, impacts on climate, and local livelihoods. The water towers store rainwater, enable regular river flows, recharge ground-water storage, improve soil fertility, reduce erosion and sediment in river water, and host
1444-406: Was referred to as esigirait, pl. ngisigira and it is from this cultural feature that the Sengwer are said to have derived their name. Towards the end of the 18th century, a drought captured in folklore as the Aoyate - the long dry time, struck. It appears that the factors that resulted in famine combined to decimate Sengwer identity. The long-horned cattle that the Sengwer kept were devastated by
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