page_title: Kipsigis people
section_title: A Summary of Oral Traditions and Mythologies
hierarchical_section_title: Kipsigis people / Social and Cultural development / Kipsigis language / A Summary of Oral Traditions and Mythologies
caption_attribution_description: English: Illustration of the Nandi bear, 1961.
context_page_description: The Kipsigis, are a SouthEastern Nilotic people who live in Kenya and Tanzania and are a par of the Kalenjin-speaking group of peoples who alongside other Highland Nilotes of the African Great Lakes Region make up the Kalenjin ethnic group. They live in close relation and association with the Nandi. They are structurally heterogeneous with an amalgamation of 'ortinwek' from Nandi, Okieik, Maasai, Kisii, Luo and aboriginal ethnicities of Kenya. The Kipsigis people speak the Kipsigis language; Nilotic language which falls under the Nandi-Markweta cluster of the Kalenjin languages.
  In the late 19th century AD, the Kipsigis were eponymised as the Lumbwa; a name which is of Maasai origin, but was adopted by the European colonial government for administrative purpose.
  The Kipsigis together with other linguistically and culturally related peoples now identify as Kalenjin, an identity they have been collectively using since the 1950s.
context_section_description: Perhaps even up to date, most if not all of the oral traditions, usually narrated by a grandmother at her hut to a group of children, usually her grandchildren; are of and about a creature known as Chemosi. It has been adopted in the Western World as the Nandi Bear. It is often but not always portrayed as a carnivorous beast with the ability to speak the Kipsigis or Kalenjin language. The structure of the traditions usually begin with unruly kids who disobey the instruction of their elder siblings, parents or community members, then are lost in a forest where then, the Nandi Bear finds them, takes them to their residence, asks them to perform some musical or performed arts then roast or cook them before they are eaten but usually, the relatives and friends of the abducted arrive just in time to save them before being roasted or cooked.
  Among the Nandi, Nandi bear is called Chemosit, Kerit, Kododoelo, Ngoloko or Duba.
  In Chepsongwor, there is said to have been a dragon or an enormous reptile named Lulu which shone light at night that could be seen miles away (or at least its eggs). About 1930s, it is reported that the big-game hunters did adventure into the dragon's cave and acquire the dragon or its eggs as bounty.
  There is also local speculation about a creature called Dingonek. This is a fearsome looking water creature which has features including armadillo-like leopard patterned hippo size back, head looking like a leopard's but with two large protruding fangs among other features. It was reported by the Lumbwa/Kipsigis and the Wadoko/Agiek to be seen in River Maggori. The creature was recorded to have been seen by Edgar Beecher Bronson.
  Perhaps also more prevalent is what is called Mur-ngetunyit; this literally meaning 'a darkened or blackened lion beast'. The description are sketchy and perhaps misleading where certain beasts, probably the cheetah, could be mistaken for the beast. The name however implies it could possibly be the black panther. It is usually also inclined by some elderly men as an accompanying tale that this beast, the Mur-ngetuniyit or perhaps the Cheetah or leopard have a form of magic; that it usually goes for the phallus by springing at high speeds and clutches at the head, usually of a man and if the victim survives, his recovery will include a symptom of weird if not wizardry insects usually beetles coming out of the inflicted wounds.
caption: A 1961 illustration of Chemosi being hunted
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