THE RENDILLE

The Rendille tribe is a Cushitic tribe that inhabits the climatically harsh region between the Marsabit hills and Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya. They are neighbor of the Borana, Gabbra, Samburu and Turkana tribes. The ethnonym Rendille translates as “Holders of the Stick of God”. They are believed to have originally migrated down from Ethiopia. They were forced to migrate south into Kenya because of their frequent conflicts with the Oromo tribe over pasture and water for their animals. Since they lived on desert land with unfavorable climatic conditions, the British colonialists were not interested in overtaking their area and the Rendille tribe was, therefore, not very affected by colonial rule in Kenya.

The Rendille people have a traditional religion that includes prayer to the moon, animal sacrifices, and the existence of ancestral spirits. They also have traditional religious practices that resemble Jewish practices. The name of god is Wakh. Prayer is offered looking up to the heavens. Unlike other Kenyan Cushites, the Rendille have a very small Islamic following.