Sakuye_people
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The Sakuye are people living in Marsabit, Tana River, Mandera and Isiolo counties, as well as the Northern Frontier District.
Clans
• Arsuwa
• Dhelle/ Ilani.
• Hora
• Kurno
• Madharbah
• Miigo
• Warsua
• Warfura
Population
The 1979 Kenyan census reported this group had 1,824 persons in Kenya, but Günther Schlee believes this number to be "definitely too low". The 1969 census gave 4,369 as their number, and the apparent decrease is not due to biological factors. In the 2019 census, they numbered 47,006.[1] Because of their language and their inter-locking settlements, many Sakuye would probably have identified themselves Boran or “Kenyan Somali” when asked for their tribe.[2]
Language
According to Ethnologue, Sakuye is a dialect of the Afaan Oromo language, though it has some significant differences.[3] The Sakuye people who speak Afaan Oromo are mostly found in Kenya.
Their name is derived from the name of one of the traditional divisions of Oromo territory, Saaku, which is an area north of Marsabit. Thus, Saaku-ye means "from Saaku" or "of Saaku" in Afaan Oromo. When a group of Rendille moved north from Marsabit, their Borana neighbors referred to them as the "Saakuye".[4]
Notes and references
- ^ "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics". Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ Schlee, "Interethnic Clan Identities among Cushitic-Speaking Pastoralists", Africa, 55 (1985),p. 21
- ^ Oromo, Borana-Arsi-Guji, Ethnologue.
- ^ "The Sakuye of Kenya" Archived 2007-10-04 at the Wayback Machine, The College of New Jersey