Okiek Tribe

The rite of passage ceremony for the Okiek Tribe is similar for the boys and for the girls ages 14 to 16, even though the genders are initiated separately. First the initiates are ceremonially circumcised or excised. After this they live in seclusion from adults of the opposite sex for four to 24 weeks. They then paint themselves with white clay and charcoal in order to appear as wild creatures. Certain secret knowledge is imparted by the same sex elders. The most important knowledge concerns the cemaasiit, which is just another way of saying a mythical beast, which during their initiation haunts them while in seclusion. At night a roar can be heard, and the initiation is complete when each youth has seen and held the instrument used for producing the roar and then produce the roar themselves. After they do this then they would be separated from the opposite sex anymore.