Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History

Introduction

Dr. B. E. Kipkorir's memoirs, Descent from Cherang'any Hills, provide an account of growing up in a Marakwet family and a society that was steadily changed by the tides of Colonialism and Christianity. The author writes from not only the distinct vantage of a village boy living in Kenya but also from one who received formal Western education at GAS Tambach, Alliance High School, Makerere University in Uganda, and then Cambridge University in England. In other words, although his memoirs could ignite the emotions of even a Stoic, he maintains academic discipline.

While seeking a PhD at Cambridge University, Kipkorir married his first wife Lea, who had just obtained her master's degree from Harvard, in June 1969. The last chapter of Descent from Cherang'any Hills, "Till death do us part," primarily focuses on his early relationship and eventual marriage to her. The couple settled in Kenya soon after Kipkorir completed his PhD in December. They had four children together, all of which are grown today. Lea was eventually diagnosed with cancer which took her life in March 1999. Though the chapter discussing her is not included in the following extract, she is an important figure as she had pioneered early childhood education in Kenya.

Kipkorir begins the book with his first memory at around age three (1942-1943) in the village of Ng'echer, where his father worked as an African Inland Mission (AIM) agent. Shortly thereafter, his mother abandoned his family, leaving his father to care for him and his four brothers. Kipkorir's family ultimately moved to Kapsowar which contained a large AIM settlement, naturally comprised of Christian adherents and families.

While Kipkorir writes of his childhood, he also recounts the origins of AIM's work in Marakwet and their establishment of a mission station in Kapsowar. Simultaneously, he searches for an answer as to why one would convert from traditional African life to one prescribed by the newcomers, white men and women who touted a different set of cultural values and norms. In the section titled, "Concepts of God and Salvation," he compares beliefs from the "New Faith" with those of the Marakwet or Kalenjin tradition. He examines instances where missionaries could have made their religion more appealing to the Kalenjin, had they truly understood Kalenjin culture and language. After living five years in Kapsowar (1944-1948), he returned in 1950-1951, before permanently leaving and enrolling in boarding school.

The final extract paints a vivid picture of Kipkorir's ethnic group, the Marakwet—which is actually a combination of six territorial clusters: Endo, Almo, Kiptani, Borkuut, Cherang'any, and Markweta; the name is, of course, a perversion from the latter group, a name originally given by Swahili traders and later adopted by the British. However, like many other ethnic groups in Kenya, the people now designated as the Marakwet had for centuries before the advent of British colonial administration settled along the western slopes of the Kerio Valley and adjoining Cherang'any Hills. These memories, such as those regarding his traditional grandfather, present village life on an intimate level, a level that could only have been written by a native.

Kipkorir has worked as a Deputy Clerk of the Sirikwa County Council, lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Director of the Institute of African Studies, and Executive Chairman of the Kenya Commercial Bank; and has authored and published several other works. In another set of memoirs that he is expected to release, he is likely to discuss his career as Kenya's Ambassador to Washington as well as his remarriage and second family.

What follows is a glimpse into Marakwet history—one altered by western ideology—told in the context of Kipkorir's life story.