A Mathematics Professor's Cultural Museum

A Mathematics Professor’s Cultural Museum

By Andrew Mibei

Growing up in a traditional Kipsigis homestead in the mid-1900s makes him aware of the erosion that his culture has gone through. Professor Paul Tum, the man behind the establishment of Museum of History, Art and Science of the Kipsigis People of Kenya at Kapkatet town in Kericho County, says that the erosion affected the traditional practices, language, arts, economic activities and aesthetics of the Kipsigis people, a member of the larger Kalenjin community.

 The Kipsigis are mainly found in Kericho, Bomet and Nakuru counties though several other counties especially in the former Rift Valley province host them in varying proportions.

 “So many changes occurred and they happened so fast that within a short period our community was totally different from what we knew before,” Tum reveals the genesis of the museum idea.

“I felt it necessary to preserve what could be salvaged for future generations,” he told The Standard during a visit to the museum recently.

His mission was fuelled by the desire to confront the fallacies that had been spread by the colonialists about Africans. The professor says that Africans had self-sufficient cultures that the younger generations should be made aware of.

“This museum helps inform our people that our forebears were very intelligent despite the challenges that might have been there during the period,” he said.

Inside the museum, one can see a number of tools used by this agrarian community majority of which resemble the modern tools used today. One can see various traditional hoes including a wooden one that is thought to have been used the last time around 1905.

Besides farming tools, the other implements on display in this section were used in harvesting and those used during consumption.

One of the attractions in this section is a stuffed calf ‘kimang’etit’ that the curator, Wesley Keter, says was used to induce a cow to give milk in case her real calf died.

The weapons used by this community are also on display. There are spears, arrows, bows and rungus. Some of these were used by men during war while others were used during dances. There are also special headgears worn during such activities.

A number of clothing items made mainly from skins can also be seen. Some were ceremonial while others were every day garments. Different stages of circumcision demanded different garments and these are all found in this museum.

There is also a full ‘modern’ adornment for a girl preparing for circumcision. It looks modern since it has a shirt and a tie in addition to special colobus monkey skin. Without glorifying female circumcision, the museum brings out the artistic part of this community through this piece.

There are also several traditional musical instruments that probably cannot be played by the community’s modern musicians. They include the one-stringed ‘kimeng’eng’, the five-stringed ‘chepkesem’, the six-stringed ‘chemongen’ and the traditional eight-stringed harp ‘ketuba’. Several wind and percussion instruments are also on display. These confirm the artistic part of the Kipsigis whose musicians to date rule the Kalenjin music.

The latest acquisition is a traditional smelting apparatus. This is a hollowed out piece of wood with an outlet at the side. The top is covered with a sheep skin and the outlet has a metal pipe connected to it. This apparatus works as a fan to ignite the fire used in the smelting of iron. That the ‘special’ soil with iron deposits that was used in the smelting is found at Kiplelji and Kamogoso in the nearby Bomet County is news to many, as it may interest the new county government.

The museum has literature about the Kipsigis including articles and books that attempt to discuss its rich history. Prof. Tum reveals that some of the books at the museum are no longer in circulation and are therefore gems to researchers on the Kipsigis culture. However, he says that more needs to be done on this section to avail more material about the community.

According to the curator at the facility, majority of the visitors are students and pupils from nearby schools and some locals. Sometimes they also have foreign visitors.

Professor Tum hopes that his museum will be supported by the government to ease some of its operations that he has been funding using part of his salary every month.

“The gate charges are not enough to sustain this facility so I chip in from my own income,” he said.

 Entry fee is 10/= for a Kenyan school student and 20/= for adults while foreign school students pay 100/= and a foreign adult pays 200/=

He is still in the process of collecting more artefacts. He is also renovating the archetypal Kipsigis hut attached to the museum. He says that a curio shop will also soon be part of this project.

“I trust that my effort is worth it in that our people, especially the youth, have something that helps them to spend their free time constructively instead of gambling and wasting away in alcohol,” Tum said.

Prof. Tum, 69, teaches at Moi University’s Kericho town campus where he also serves as the assistant director. He is happy that he will have something to keep him relevant when he retires next year at 70. He is a father of six grown children- three sons and three daughters.

A Mathematics Professor’s Cultural Museum

By Andrew Mibei

Growing up in a traditional Kipsigis homestead in the mid-1900s makes him aware of the erosion that his culture has gone through. Professor Paul Tum, the man behind the establishment of Museum of History, Art and Science of the Kipsigis People of Kenya at Kapkatet town in Kericho County, says that the erosion affected the traditional practices, language, arts, economic activities and aesthetics of the Kipsigis people, a member of the larger Kalenjin community.

 The Kipsigis are mainly found in Kericho, Bomet and Nakuru counties though several other counties especially in the former Rift Valley province host them in varying proportions.

 “So many changes occurred and they happened so fast that within a short period our community was totally different from what we knew before,” Tum reveals the genesis of the museum idea.

“I felt it necessary to preserve what could be salvaged for future generations,” he told The Standard during a visit to the museum recently.

His mission was fuelled by the desire to confront the fallacies that had been spread by the colonialists about Africans. The professor says that Africans had self-sufficient cultures that the younger generations should be made aware of.

“This museum helps inform our people that our forebears were very intelligent despite the challenges that might have been there during the period,” he said.

Inside the museum, one can see a number of tools used by this agrarian community majority of which resemble the modern tools used today. One can see various traditional hoes including a wooden one that is thought to have been used the last time around 1905.

Besides farming tools, the other implements on display in this section were used in harvesting and those used during consumption.

One of the attractions in this section is a stuffed calf ‘kimang’etit’ that the curator, Wesley Keter, says was used to induce a cow to give milk in case her real calf died.

The weapons used by this community are also on display. There are spears, arrows, bows and rungus. Some of these were used by men during war while others were used during dances. There are also special headgears worn during such activities.

A number of clothing items made mainly from skins can also be seen. Some were ceremonial while others were every day garments. Different stages of circumcision demanded different garments and these are all found in this museum.

There is also a full ‘modern’ adornment for a girl preparing for circumcision. It looks modern since it has a shirt and a tie in addition to special colobus monkey skin. Without glorifying female circumcision, the museum brings out the artistic part of this community through this piece.

There are also several traditional musical instruments that probably cannot be played by the community’s modern musicians. They include the one-stringed ‘kimeng’eng’, the five-stringed ‘chepkesem’, the six-stringed ‘chemongen’ and the traditional eight-stringed harp ‘ketuba’. Several wind and percussion instruments are also on display. These confirm the artistic part of the Kipsigis whose musicians to date rule the Kalenjin music.

The latest acquisition is a traditional smelting apparatus. This is a hollowed out piece of wood with an outlet at the side. The top is covered with a sheep skin and the outlet has a metal pipe connected to it. This apparatus works as a fan to ignite the fire used in the smelting of iron. That the ‘special’ soil with iron deposits that was used in the smelting is found at Kiplelji and Kamogoso in the nearby Bomet County is news to many, as it may interest the new county government.

The museum has literature about the Kipsigis including articles and books that attempt to discuss its rich history. Prof. Tum reveals that some of the books at the museum are no longer in circulation and are therefore gems to researchers on the Kipsigis culture. However, he says that more needs to be done on this section to avail more material about the community.

According to the curator at the facility, majority of the visitors are students and pupils from nearby schools and some locals. Sometimes they also have foreign visitors.

Professor Tum hopes that his museum will be supported by the government to ease some of its operations that he has been funding using part of his salary every month.

“The gate charges are not enough to sustain this facility so I chip in from my own income,” he said.

 Entry fee is 10/= for a Kenyan school student and 20/= for adults while foreign school students pay 100/= and a foreign adult pays 200/=

He is still in the process of collecting more artefacts. He is also renovating the archetypal Kipsigis hut attached to the museum. He says that a curio shop will also soon be part of this project.

“I trust that my effort is worth it in that our people, especially the youth, have something that helps them to spend their free time constructively instead of gambling and wasting away in alcohol,” Tum said.

Prof. Tum, 69, teaches at Moi University’s Kericho town campus where he also serves as the assistant director. He is happy that he will have something to keep him relevant when he retires next year at 70. He is a father of six grown children- three sons and three daughters.

A Mathematics Professor’s Cultural Museum

By Andrew Mibei

Growing up in a traditional Kipsigis homestead in the mid-1900s makes him aware of the erosion that his culture has gone through. Professor Paul Tum, the man behind the establishment of Museum of History, Art and Science of the Kipsigis People of Kenya at Kapkatet town in Kericho County, says that the erosion affected the traditional practices, language, arts, economic activities and aesthetics of the Kipsigis people, a member of the larger Kalenjin community.

 The Kipsigis are mainly found in Kericho, Bomet and Nakuru counties though several other counties especially in the former Rift Valley province host them in varying proportions.

 “So many changes occurred and they happened so fast that within a short period our community was totally different from what we knew before,” Tum reveals the genesis of the museum idea.

“I felt it necessary to preserve what could be salvaged for future generations,” he told The Standard during a visit to the museum recently.

His mission was fuelled by the desire to confront the fallacies that had been spread by the colonialists about Africans. The professor says that Africans had self-sufficient cultures that the younger generations should be made aware of.

“This museum helps inform our people that our forebears were very intelligent despite the challenges that might have been there during the period,” he said.

Inside the museum, one can see a number of tools used by this agrarian community majority of which resemble the modern tools used today. One can see various traditional hoes including a wooden one that is thought to have been used the last time around 1905.

Besides farming tools, the other implements on display in this section were used in harvesting and those used during consumption.

One of the attractions in this section is a stuffed calf ‘kimang’etit’ that the curator, Wesley Keter, says was used to induce a cow to give milk in case her real calf died.

The weapons used by this community are also on display. There are spears, arrows, bows and rungus. Some of these were used by men during war while others were used during dances. There are also special headgears worn during such activities.

A number of clothing items made mainly from skins can also be seen. Some were ceremonial while others were every day garments. Different stages of circumcision demanded different garments and these are all found in this museum.

There is also a full ‘modern’ adornment for a girl preparing for circumcision. It looks modern since it has a shirt and a tie in addition to special colobus monkey skin. Without glorifying female circumcision, the museum brings out the artistic part of this community through this piece.

There are also several traditional musical instruments that probably cannot be played by the community’s modern musicians. They include the one-stringed ‘kimeng’eng’, the five-stringed ‘chepkesem’, the six-stringed ‘chemongen’ and the traditional eight-stringed harp ‘ketuba’. Several wind and percussion instruments are also on display. These confirm the artistic part of the Kipsigis whose musicians to date rule the Kalenjin music.

The latest acquisition is a traditional smelting apparatus. This is a hollowed out piece of wood with an outlet at the side. The top is covered with a sheep skin and the outlet has a metal pipe connected to it. This apparatus works as a fan to ignite the fire used in the smelting of iron. That the ‘special’ soil with iron deposits that was used in the smelting is found at Kiplelji and Kamogoso in the nearby Bomet County is news to many, as it may interest the new county government.

The museum has literature about the Kipsigis including articles and books that attempt to discuss its rich history. Prof. Tum reveals that some of the books at the museum are no longer in circulation and are therefore gems to researchers on the Kipsigis culture. However, he says that more needs to be done on this section to avail more material about the community.

According to the curator at the facility, majority of the visitors are students and pupils from nearby schools and some locals. Sometimes they also have foreign visitors.

Professor Tum hopes that his museum will be supported by the government to ease some of its operations that he has been funding using part of his salary every month.

“The gate charges are not enough to sustain this facility so I chip in from my own income,” he said.

 Entry fee is 10/= for a Kenyan school student and 20/= for adults while foreign school students pay 100/= and a foreign adult pays 200/=

He is still in the process of collecting more artefacts. He is also renovating the archetypal Kipsigis hut attached to the museum. He says that a curio shop will also soon be part of this project.

“I trust that my effort is worth it in that our people, especially the youth, have something that helps them to spend their free time constructively instead of gambling and wasting away in alcohol,” Tum said.

Prof. Tum, 69, teaches at Moi University’s Kericho town campus where he also serves as the assistant director. He is happy that he will have something to keep him relevant when he retires next year at 70. He is a father of six grown children- three sons and three daughters.