The Kalenjin are called Highland Nilotes because they live in the Highlands of the Rift Valley and are related to the people in the Nile area of Sudan and Uganda.
The Kalenjin are sometimes considered as a tribe made up of many clans. The different clans are the Nandi Terik, Tugen, Keiyo, Marakwet, Pokot, Sabaot and the Kipsigis. Marakwet is actually a blanket term for the Endo groups and the Talai.
The Okiek (also called Ndorobo), though originally of Cushitic stock, now speak Kipsigis, and are sometimes classed with Kalenjin speakers. The Kalenjin arrived in Kenya from the Nile River, possibly the Blue Nile, as it appears they came into Kenya from the Ethiopian highlands.
Most of these clans acted as warriors during independence. The Kalenjin are related to the Datooga in north central Tanzania, the southernmost group of the Highland Nilote migration.
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