Rendille Tribe

The Rendille tribe inhabits the arid region of northern Kenya. Just like the Borana, they are classified under the broad Eastern Cushitic peoples and have Ethiopia are their original homeland. They were compelled to migrate down south to northern Kenya due to increased rivalry and conflicts with the people of the Oromo tribes mainly over grazing land and water for their livestock. They are said to be related to the Somalis of Somalia. They don't have history with the British colonialists, because their land was too dry to interest them. The language originally spoken by the Rendille is somewhat similar to the Somali languages, but currently many of them speak Samburu since they have intermarried.

The Rendille settled in the Laisamis Division in Marsabit District, mainly in the Kaisut Desert that is found east of Lake Turkana and west of Marsabit town. This desert is bordered by the Chalbi Desert, Mount Marsabit, and the Ndoto Mountains. In this region, they are neighbors to the Borana , Gabbra, Samburu and Turkana tribes. Their staple food consists of meat, and a mixture of milk and blood, known as "Banjo". They are semi-nomadic pastoralists who consider the camel most essential animal. The Rendille get milk and meat from the camel. Camel are the best suited for adaptability to the arid conditions of their territory. Another important aspect of the camel is that it's used as a mode of transport when they shift from site to site carrying family goods on their uniquely designed backload.

They can be categorized into two distinctive groups, the 'real' or northern Rendille, who herd camels, and the southern Rendille, comprising the Ilturia and Ariaal, who also herd cattle, and are closely related to the Samburu. Due to their intermarriage with the Samburu tribe, there is now what can be termed as a hybrid culture. With the recent droughts, transition is underway and in the near future, there is a chance that their pure nomadic ways of life will slowly die. They live in manyattas or homesteads which are constructed in a curved shape and arranged in circular groups of about 70-100 houses very close to livestock shelters.

A few of them are Muslim but many of the Rendille people still stick to their indigenous religious practices with a minority being Christians. Rendille men dress traditionally in a loin cloth tied around their loins whereas women dress in sheep and goat skins tied on their waists going downwards but the trunk is left uncovered.

Circumcision is supposed to be a public event, and an issue of great delight and pride. Boys and young men who are circumcised but have not yet undergone Ennui, (rite into adulthood done at age 30) whereby men become elders and are given ownership of land. In this ritual, wear a purple cloth and a white feather as their headgear.

This cloth is changed to a checked pattern at the final acceptance as an Elder. Being very conscious of their headgear, warriors will even get upset if it is touched by an outsider or member of another tribe, especially a woman. Nevertheless, some of the Rendille have adopted western clothing. Their building styles for houses comprise of higher ones than those built by other pastrolist tribes and have a round shape. After every seven (or fourteen) years, there is a general shifting up in status of the different male age-groups, moving from childhood to boyhood then to warrior hood and finally to elder hood.

In the past, Rendille women's, shift from maidenhood to matrimony is manifested by the agonizing rite of clitoridectomy, which happens in private on the very morning of her wedding. Nonetheless the event symbolizes the most important status-shift in the life of a woman. Beaded girls and warriors get ready for the wedding by applying a make-up of red ochre and sheep fat. The warriors put on long hair woven and braided, then dyed red using ochre and fat, making their bodies shinny and colorful. The Rendille`s ceremonial rituals can be summarized as Naming, Circumcision, Marriage and Death. They are all accompanied by very significant events and practices as rites of passage.