There was once a woman called Tapkendi who lived near the river on the border of Maasai and Nandi territory. She is thought to have been widowed but is known to have had two sons. This was during the time when the Maasai occupied some grazing grounds that belonged to the Nandi in ancient times.
One day she conceived a plan to retake the traditional lands of the Nandi, she took off her clothes, tied grass round her body, and fastened bells to her arms and legs. She then went to the Maasai kraals and danced like a mad woman.
Everybody in the kraals believed she was mad and laughed at her, but the warriors on the grazing grounds hearing the bells ran to see what the cause of the commotion was. As soon as the cattle were left unprotected, the woman’s son’s dashed out of their hiding place and drove the animals into the hills where they were joined by friends and the Maasai warriors dared not pursue them.
The woman at the same time slipped off the bells and made good her escape. This was the first check the Maasai received at the hands of the Nandi, who eventually succeeded in driving them out of their lands.
