DISCOVER KENYA
Northern Kenya Tribes to Visit
While Kenya has numerous tribes and ethnic groupings, the country boasts six tribes of Turkana, Gabbra, Pokot, Rendille, El Molo, and Samburu in its Northern region
Kenya is an ideal travel location for a variety of reasons including being a popular destination for Big Five safaris (rhino, lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo), witnessing the dramatic wildebeest migration (from July to October), enthralling hiking tours on challenging mountains like Mount Kulal or Mount Kenya – Africa’s second-highest peak after Kilimanjaro and relaxing on pristine white-sand beaches along the Indian Ocean, or learn about the several Kenya tribes that have maintained their traditional way of life in the face of ongoing modernization elsewhere.
Kenya is home to over 44 tribes divided into three primary ethnic groups; the Bantu, the Cushites, and the Nilotes. The Bantu make up 70% of the country’s total population and is believed to have originated from West and Central Africa. These occupy the coastal, central, eastern, and western regions of the country. The Cushites on the other hand, originally migrated from Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia and they include the Rendille, Gabbra, and El Molo people. The Nilotes who are believed to have originated from current-day Ethiopia include the Maasai, Samburu, and Turkana. The Cushites and Nilotes are mainly nomadic pastoralists.
While Kenya has numerous tribes and ethnic groupings, the country boasts six tribes of Turkana, Gabbra, Pokot, Rendille, El Molo, and Samburu in its Northern region; which are particularly the most impressive to see and explore while on a Kenya safari. These vibrant, colorful, and stunning tribal faces break up the dull brown tones of the parched desert terrain in northern Kenya. While they are distinct from one another in terms of beliefs, customs, traditions, rituals, and cultural practices, these tribes share a few cultural and traditional aspects owing to origins, and history, among others.
Northern Kenya Tribes
The Turkana
With a population of 988,592, the Turkana are Kenya’s tenth-largest tribe, accounting for around 2.5% of the country’s overall population, and are one of the most popular tribes in Kenya. The Kenyan Turkana tribe originated in the Karamojong area of north-eastern Uganda. They dwell in Turkana County in northwest Kenya and are popular among many people who come to explore Lake Turkana.
Traditionally, the Turkana are semi-nomadic pastoralists who live in the northwest of Kenya around Lake Turkana. Their daily lives are shaped by the harsh climate in Northern Kenya and other neighboring tribes. Otherwise, the Turkana lifestyle revolves around herding livestock including cattle, camels, sheep, and goats. The Turkana are also famed for their basket weaving and brightly colored beads. They are linked to the Maasai and the Samburu and are known for being strong warriors. Their major source of nutrition is milk and blood from their livestock.
Although the Turkana practice Christianity, they still uphold their traditional beliefs. Polygamy is common among the Turkana; however, a Turkana marriage ceremony lasts three years, concluding when the first kid is weaned. Their trendy adornments and jewelry style are emblematic of marital status as well as clan affiliation.
Visitors can explore the Turkana while on a safari in Northern Kenya and explore their settlements along Lake Turkana. The Turkana tribe lives to the north of the Pokot tribe, and the two tribes are involved in isolated fierce confrontations that have resulted in numerous fatalities, primarily owing to livestock raiding.
The Samburu
The Samburu tribe dwells in Northern Kenya’s physically intriguing Samburu County, north of the equator. A very friendly group of people, the Samburu tribe is linked to the Maasai tribe, which also lives in East Africa and both of these tribes speak a language related to Maa. The Samburu tribe, like the Maasai, are semi-nomadic cattle herders who are thought to have separated from the Maasai many years ago. In comparison to the Maasai, only the Samburu people are still quite traditional and have not abandoned old practices.
However, due to modernity and being forced by the government to settle in permanent communities, some tribes are experimenting with small-scale income crop production. The Samburu (“butterflies”) is the most northern Maa-speaking community, and they call themselves Loikop—”those who have territory.” They survive primarily on cattle products with majorly milk and blood (without slaughtering them) being their major source of nutrition.
In the Samburu culture, elders are extremely significant in the polygamous Samburu community. They select who can marry whom, how many wives each member can have, and how much dowry each wife is worth. Samburu men and women have distinct roles. Men defend their families by herding livestock. Women, on the other hand, construct homes out of branches, dung, and mud, only to demolish them when they relocate. If a man has more than one wife, each woman constructs her hut for herself and her children.
Women also collect firewood, milk cows, make meals, care for their children, and engage in crafts such as beading. The Samburu are one of the few Kenyan tribes that have kept their original tribal costume rather than adopting Western-style clothing. They wear intricate, colorful headdresses, beaded necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and red ochre paints on their faces and hair. They enjoy singing and dancing, typically without the use of instruments. Men and women often dance in separate circles, with men frequently leaping into the air—but they sometimes dance some portions together.
The Samburu can be visited while on Kenya safaris to Samburu National Reserve and most of the Samburu cattle herders can be seen in the area grazing their animals. Others can be found in the reserve’s premises working in safari lodges and as local guides. Because of the large number of visitors who visit Samburu National Reserve, it has developed extremely interesting village excursions, similar to the Maasai tribal settlements in Kenyan game parks.
Gabbra
The Gabbra tribe may be found traveling from Loiyangalani, Lake Turkana, across the Chalbi Desert towards Marsabit. The Gabbra are Ethiopians with close ties to the Borena tribe, whose dialect of the Oromo language they currently speak rather than their distinctive language. The Gabbra are believed to have relocated to Northern Kenya around the 15 century in search of water and pasture for their cattle. Because few people visit the Gabbra, they might be rather bashful.
The Gabbra dwellings are remarkably cool inside compared to the continuous sunshine outside, despite living in a harsh desert setting and being Kenya’s sole dessert. They have the biggest dwellings in northern Kenya, featuring gigantic domed structures covered in dried animal skins, grass, and gorgeous fabric pieces. As with any tribe, it takes time and interest to connect with the Gabbra and make them feel at ease.
Although a smaller fraction of the Gabbra still adheres to their historic traditional Somali-Waqi beliefs and camel-oriented rites, the majority are mostly Sunni Muslims. They go on pilgrimages to sacred locations, the majority of which are in the mountains, such as Hesi-Nabo and Agal. Both of these holy places are now inside Gabbra’s historic borders and can be explored by tourists on cultural excursions in their community. Dabela, the religious leader, presides over the religious ceremonies, which include animal sacrifices and ceremonial prayers.
The Rendille
The Rendille are a Cushitic tribe that lives in Northern Kenya’s climatically severe territory between the Marsabit highlands and Lake Turkana. They share borders with the Borana, Gabbra, Samburu, and Turkana tribes. Rendille means “Holders of the Stick of God” in French and they are also said to have moved south from Ethiopia. The Rendille people, like the Samburus, survive off of their animals. Camels provide several essential functions, including survival in the harsh areas surrounding Lake Turkana, since they can go for extended periods without water.
They also provide the Rendilles with their primary food: milk, in addition to ready transport for the Rendille houses on specially built saddles when clans are on the road. However, the Eastern Cushitic Rendille have long had a positive connection with their Nilotic Samburu neighbors, adopting many of their customs, clothing, and language. Recently, significant levels of intermarriage have also occurred between them, giving rise to a new group of people.
The Rendille follows a well-defined system based on age, in which youths can join warriorhood every 7 or 14 years, after which they enter adulthood. Boys are circumcised during these rites, after which they are given a spear to carry as a mark of manhood. Meanwhile, the elders have their heads shaved. Rendille people live in big villages, with numerous clans coexisting.
Rendille warriors may also reside in temporary shelters away from their hamlet to allow their livestock to graze. To protect themselves from rustlers and predators like lions, leopards, and hyenas, men and animals sleep in homemade shelters fashioned with acacia branches. Warriors pass on stories and tribe rituals to their sons around an evening campfire. The government has established a migratory system that guarantees that each nomadic tribe has enough water and verdant pastures for their animals. With partnership from several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), central water wells around the country ensure the survival of nomads and their cattle have been built.
The El Molo
The El Molo, sometimes known as Elmolo, is Kenya’s smallest ethnic group, with only approximately 300 members. They first inhabited the north of Lake Turkana but were forced to relocate to the tiny islands by the other tribes. There are presently two settlements, each with 150 and 70 residents. The El Molo are thought to have moved down into the Great Lakes region around 1000 BC from Ethiopia’s more northern Horn region. Most group members are now admixed with neighboring Nilotic communities, with just a few unmixed El Molo known to persist.
They may go extinct in the next twenty to thirty years owing to intermarriage and modernity. Even their language which is related to Dassanech, is now extinct, with no fluent speakers remaining and no schooling for young people. Instead, modern El Molo people speak their tribe neighbors’ Nilo-Saharan language. Their most recent danger is the proposed development of a wind farm on the territory between the two main El Molo settlements near Loiyangalani.
The El Molo live in a cluster of tiny houses built from palm fronds and acacia branches on the banks of Lake Turkana. Neighboring tribes see them as “lesser people” for economic reasons: they do not own cattle, are not pastoralists, and rarely consume meat. They instead cruise the waters and capture fish with spears, nets, and harpoons for food.
Crocodiles were originally a primary food source for the El Molo, but due to recent conservation initiatives, crocodile hunting is now reserved for rare occasions. Traditional spears made from Oryx horns were employed in these hunting excursions for enormous fish and crocodiles. When visiting El Molo settlements, one might still see people making exquisite baskets or drying fish. Men sit in the shade, repairing nets and planning their next fishing expedition.
The Pokot
The Pokot are Kenya’s untouched tribe and are found in Kenya’s West Pokot and Baringo counties, as well as Uganda’s Pokot District in the eastern Karamoja area. They are part of the Kalenjin ethnic group and speak Pökoot, which is connected to Marakwet, Nandi, Tuken, and other Kalenjin language groups. Pokot identity emerged in the Kerio Valley as early as the late 18th century, and probably no later than the mid-nineteenth century. Economically, the Pokot are separated into two groups: pastoralists and agriculturalists.
However, across both groups, wealth is assessed by the number of cows owned. Cows are utilized for barter, trading, and, most importantly, for bride wealth. In the Pokot society, a man is allowed to marry more than one lady provided he has enough cows to offer her family in exchange. This is the principal means through which money and resources are transferred in Pokot society. Cows in the Pokot society are rarely butchered for meat since they are far more valuable in their natural state.
Traditionally, women have a low status in Pokot society. A woman has no say in public forums and no control in her own home. The Pokot are terrified of illness and death and much of their religious practice is devoted to preventing or curing disease. Whereas the bulk of Pokots continues to practice their traditional faith, some are Christians. Even among Christians, the conventional religious viewpoint continues to predominate. Pokot ladies wear Karen, which are exceptionally complex disk necklaces. These begin as braided branches for young girls, but following initiation, they are given enormous necklaces made of colorful glass beads. They also wear enormous loop earrings made of brass called Tawuyi by the time they marry. Men and boys progress through several life phases, beginning with Karachona, or little boys, and ending with Poi, or senior men.
The Pokot tribe is rarely explored by tourists due to its reputation for being aggressive in battle. The Pokot are often in conflict with their neighbors and amongst themselves which makes various tour operators skeptical about creating itineraries to tour their communities. However, like with any cultural tour, if you must the Pokot, you must go with an experienced ground tour operator who knows the locations and has local contacts to make your safari a memorable one. Most of the time, it is safe to visit during the day since numerous sporadic attacks and clashes take place at night. Nonetheless, the Pokot tribe is one of the most beautiful tribes to visit.
