ABSTRACT
Among the Maa-speaking families and patrilineages that claim extraordinary skills, the Loonkidongi are the most prominent, and have come to dominate this esoteric niche among the Maasai proper.According to myth, their dynasty stretches back to Kidongoi, a boy with uncanny powers of divination who came down from the sky, and was found by some Maasai moran and adopted into the Laisir clan. Kidongoi’s descendants claim to have inherited some of his power, and although this has progressively attenuated over the generations, they retain the ability to discern things that are hidden from the sight of ordinary Maasai.The Loonkidongi are diviners (il-oibonok – those who divine), based on their skill in manipulating oracles.They are literally ‘those of the oracles’, Il-oo-nkidongi.
