DISSERTATION / DOCTORAL THESIS Titel der Dissertation /Title of the Doctoral Thesis „Totemism Re-examined: A Study of Totems and their Relevance Today with Special Reference to the Keiyo Community in Kenya” verfasst von / submitted by Lic. Samuel Kipkemei Kigen angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doktor der Theologie (Dr.Theol.) Wien, 2018 / Vienna 2018 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 780 011 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt / Katholische Fachtheologie field of study as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: ao. Uni.Prof. Mag. Dr. Hans Gerald Hödl TABEL OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................................................... 13 1. HISTORICAL DEBATE .................................................................................. 13 1.1. Preamble ................................................................................................ 13 1.2. The Etymology of the Word “Totem” .................................................... 14 1.3. Historical Debate of Totemism .............................................................. 15 1.4. General Critique to the Historical Debate ............................................... 51 1.5. Resume .................................................................................................. 54 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................ 57 2. AFRICAN SACRED UNIVERSE AND TOTEMISM ..................................... 57 2.1. Preamble ................................................................................................ 57 2.2. Distribution of Totemism ....................................................................... 58 2.3. Philosophical Discussions ...................................................................... 62 2.4. The Meaning of Totemic Kinship .......................................................... 69 2.5. Vitalogy and Totemism .......................................................................... 73 2.6. Animism and Totemism ......................................................................... 77 2.7. Resume .................................................................................................. 81 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................... 83 3. KEIYO PEOPLE .............................................................................................. 83 3.1. Preamble ................................................................................................ 83 3.2. Method of Data Collection and Analysis ................................................ 84 3.3. Who Are the Keiyo People? ................................................................... 85 3.4. The Keiyo Totems (tiong’ik) pl. (tiondo) singl ....................................... 94 3.5. Resume ................................................................................................ 109 CHAPTER FOUR..................................................................................................... 111 4. TOTEMISM AS KINSHIP WITH GOD’S CREATION................................. 111 1 4.1. Preamble .............................................................................................. 111 4.2. Bible and Totemism - William Robertson Smith (1846-1894) .............. 112 4.3. Theology of Kinship with Creation ...................................................... 126 4.4. Resume ................................................................................................ 169 CHAPTER FIVE ...................................................................................................... 171 5. TOTEMISM RE-EXAMINED ....................................................................... 171 5.1. Preamble .............................................................................................. 171 5.2. Totemism and Modern Approaches ...................................................... 173 5.3. Challenges of Re-examination of Totemism ......................................... 195 5.4. Keiyo Totems and Community Re-examined ....................................... 198 5.5. Resume ................................................................................................ 204 CONCLUSION......................................................................................................... 206 BIBILIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 213 1. Selected Bibliography .................................................................................... 213 2. Sacred Scripture ............................................................................................. 223 3. Church Documents ......................................................................................... 223 4. Dictionaries and Encyclopaedia ...................................................................... 223 5. Magazines and Internet Sources ..................................................................... 224 ABSTRACT IN GERMAN....................................................................................... 227 ATTACHEMENT OF FIELDWORK REPORT ....................................................... 231 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... - 1 - 2. INTERVIEWS ............................................................................................... - 1 - 2.1. Introduction ......................................................................................... - 1 - 2.2. Group Interview ................................................................................... - 2 - 2.3. Initial Coding of Keiyo Leaders Interview Data ................................... - 9 - 2.4. Individual interview with Keiyo leaders ............................................. - 11 - 2.5. Focused Coding of Individual Keiyo Leaders Interview. .................... - 22 - 2 2.6. Interview with Keiyo neighbor clans .................................................. - 24 - 2.6.2. Nandi Elder ....................................................................................... - 27 - 2.7. Focused coding by comparing the Keiyo Totems with Nandi and Marakwet Totems. ....................................................................................................... - 30 - 2.8. Interview with Keiyo Church Leaders ................................................ - 34 - 3. QUESTIONNAIRES .................................................................................... - 41 - 3.1. Primary School Students .................................................................... - 41 - 3.2. Secondary School Students ................................................................ - 41 - 3.3. Primary and Secondary School Teachers ............................................ - 42 - 3.4. Analysis of questionnaire ................................................................... - 43 - 4. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION FROM A MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT CEREMONY .............................................................................................. - 44 - 4.1. Stages of the Ceremony ..................................................................... - 44 - 4.2. Celebration after Marriage Engagement ............................................. - 44 - 4.3. Analysis of Participant Observation ................................................... - 45 - 5. AXIAL CODING OF FIELD WORK DATA ............................................... - 45 - 5.1. What is the Origin and Who Are Neighbors of Keiyo People? ........... - 45 - 5.2. The Clans and Totems of Keiyo People ............................................. - 45 - 5.3. The Rites of Passage of Keiyo People ................................................ - 46 - 5.4. Keiyo Worship and Prayers................................................................ - 47 - 6. FINAL DATA ANALYSIS OF THE FIELD WORK ................................... - 47 - 6.1. Totems among the Keiyo community ................................................. - 47 - 6.2. Comparison of totems of some Kalenjin sub-tribes ............................ - 47 - 6.3. The Young People and Their Culture ................................................. - 47 - 6.4. Theological Importance of Traditional Culture ................................... - 48 - 7. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ - 48 - 3 DEDICATED TO My Mother Leah Talaa Kigen (1934-2009) AND My Bishop Most Rev. Cornelius Korir (1950-2017) 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis could not have succeeded without help from several people. First and foremost, I wish to thank my supervisor Professor Dr. Hans Gerald Hödl, for accepting to supervise my thesis and supporting me academically and morally. I also thank the Professors at the Faculty of Religious Studies and Theology at the University of Vienna who taught me to research, to be interdisciplinary and ecumenical. Special thanks go to my colleagues at the Faculty of Religious Studies and other faculties that through discussion, they helped me to refine my area of research. I am very grateful