i'm fascinated by legend, folklore and myths esp. when it includes our serpent friends. not always good, not always bad but there are a number of cultures and religions that revere snakes or have snakes play a role in their ancestral history. u got the Ouroboros, Jörmungandr, Quetzalcoatl, Naga sheltering Buddha from the storm, hot snake handlers and worshippers in Appalachia and the Southern US, etc. i've read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 2 or 3 times and i reflect back to how the village of Umuofia had a local holy python that the people respected and welcomed to their homes. it seems that this was pan-Africa, as Things Fall Apart/Umuofia was set in Nigeria (or West Africa) and python worship stretched east towards Kenya on the opposite of the continent on the Indian Ocean. you see, the people there also welcomed big pythons including the great Omieri.

Omieri was a 16foot python from Nyakach. they believed that Omieri lived in Lake Victoria and brought rain to the dry lowlands. there the big python oculd bring w/ it relief or drought. so the people fed it goats and chickens to keep it happy. unfortunately in 1987, Omieri suffered burns from a brush fire and the Kenyan government tried to save it. Omieri still passed on, but her remains were preserved. villages have waged lawsuits for the right to bury her remains on their soil but she remains in government custody. good news for the people tho! the government intermittently displays Omieri to the joy of the public and will be doing so again at the Kenya National Museum!

story here: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018...death_c1820907
Exalted python Omieri on display 30 years after death

After more than 30 years, Kisumu residents will have the opportunity to view the remains of famous python Omieri, which was taken to Kenya National Museum headquarters in 1987.

The remains were taken to Kisumu for the five-day Kenya National Commission for UNESCO third national cultural celebrations at Kenyatta Sportsgrounds.

Omieri died many years ago while undergoing treatment in Nairobi following severe burns it sustained. Its remains, well preserved, will be taken to Nyakach subcounty - homeland - for three days before being moved to Kisumu National Museum until the end of October, then back to Nairobi.

Hundreds of Kisumu residents yesterday flocked to sportsground to view the remains of Omieri in a newly built traditional grass-thatched hut.

Ruoth Ogai, an elder in Nyakach Jack Okong’o praised the government for allowing Kisumu people to see the python. Omieri is a snake rooted in Luo mythology. According to ancient Luo folklore, Omieri, a large snake that lives in Lake Victoria, appears periodically on land in times of drought to summon rain.

The villagers do not kill pythons near their homes as the snake is revered. “Omieri” is the Luo name for the female African python that was found in 1987 in Wasare village, Pap Onditi in Nyakach subcounty, Kisumu along the shores of Lake Victoria.

It was found by a man identified as Ongere and his wife, in their farm where it was brooding. It measured 5.3 metres long and weighed 58kg.

The people of Nyakach fed Omieri on goats and chicken as it was deemed sacred. They developed more interest and curiosity in the python as they believed it would bring their community good luck.

That year, Nyakach recorded the highest amount of rainfall ever and there was plenty of harvest.

For the community, Omieri was a symbol of change, an ancestor and decisive power promising a better future. Many people travelled from far away to see the python before the government took it away for conservation and research.

They paid fees which would be used to fund the snake’s diet. For some traders it was a rare business opportunity that enabled them to sell food to the people who visited.
here's another neat article: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017...useum_c1678221


there have been other sightings of Omieri by locals between 2003 - 2006 in the wild. i hope she returns to bestow plentiful rain upon the land. long live Omieri!!