Lumbwa Treaty

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The Lumbwa Treaty is an event and ceremony in the history, records and recollection of the Kipsigis people which took place in Kipkelion town in 1905. It was based on a cultural practice of oath taking in Kipsigis called Mummek or Mummiat or Mumma. Mumma means "to do something impossibly disgusting". It involves two parties taking an oath and invoking a preemptive curse if the oath is to be broken by any party taking the oath. There usually would also be a performance of black magic involving the skull of a human and a pipe connected to the bellows used by a blacksmith.

In 1905, after the murder of Koitalel arap Samoei, the Kipsigis, like the Nandi, were devastated but Christianity had driven its roots into the community (the church had been preaching against African traditions and had been proclaiming that the Talai clansmen were evil and shared a trade with Satan.) and thus the Kipsigis on consensus, decided to make peace with the British.^[1]

Moments leading to this event include a move by the British to take the three Orgoik brothers (, and ) on a vacation to Mombasa where they held a negotiation and were given maize, which they brought back and introduced to the Kipsigis.

On the day of the Lumbwa treaty, the three brothers and their sons were given up by the Kipsigis and sent to Kericho Prison. In Kipkelion, Kipsigis leaders and a congregation of many kook elders met with the British and per took a Mummiat which involved an oath and promise by both sides, never to harm any other and then followed by performance of black magic that involved savoring a dog into two halves and both sides burying their half besides the other.

The British decided to transfer the Orgoik from Kericho Prison to Russinga Island in preservation of their newly founded peace with Kipsigis.

References[]

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