The Chemwal (also Chemwel, Il-Tengwal, Jangwel, Senguel, Senguer) people were a Kalenjin-speaking society that inhabited regions of western and north-western Kenya as well as the regions around Mount Elgon at various times through to the late 19th century. The Nandi word Sekker (cowrie shell) was used by Pokot elders to describe one section of a community that occupied the Elgeyo escarpment and whose territory stretched across the Uasin Gishu plateau. This section of the community appears to have neighbored the Karamojong who referred to them as Siger, a name that derived from the Karimojong word esigirait (cowrie shell). The most notable element of Sekker/Chemwal culture appears to have been a dangling adornment of a single cowrie shell attached to the forelock of Sekker women, at least as of the late 1700s and early 1800s.
The Chemwal (also Chemwel, Il-Tengwal, Jangwel, Senguel, Senguer) people were a Kalenjin-speaking society that inhabited regions of western and north-western...
exposed for public view. Chemwalpeople Loikop people Chok people Sengwer people Maliri people Lumbwa people Oropom people Yaaku people Lane, Paul J. (4 July...
of the Chemwal whose country may have been known as Chemngal, a community that appears to have lived in association with the Chok. The Chemwal appear...
the Kipoiis clan were later joined by people from Lumbwa. From the Kalenjin narrative of origin, a distinct Chemwal (predating Nandi) identity appears to...
of people associated with Sirikwa culture. From local folk lore, the Kipsigis were initially a single group and identity with the Nandi as 'Chemwal' until...
century, the Nandi referred to themselves as Chemwalindet (pl. Chemwalin) or Chemwal (pl. Chemwalek) while other Kalenjin-speaking communities referred to the...
among the Kalenjin-speaking people prior to the advent of the colonial period in Kenya and after the decline of the Chemwal, Lumbwa and other Kalenjin...
War, and Violence in South Africa The drought decimated the herds of the Chemwal, thought to have been cervicothoraic-humped Sanga crossbreeds, leading...
(warlord/diviner) among both the Nandi and Kipsigis were migrants from northern Chemwal regions. By the mid-nineteenth century, both the Nandi and Kipsigis were...
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