Night-runners are perceived as faceless, evil people who run naked in the darkness, thereby wreaking havoc in otherwise peaceful rural villages. This paper investigates the origins of night-running, the mysteries associated with it, the benefits and harms of night-running, and the impact of indigenous knowledge (IK) stigmatisation on this practice. Indigenous knowledge is the body of unique beliefs, attitudes, skills, and practices possessed by communities in a specific geographic setting. In spite of its potential value, scholars point out that indigenous knowledge has been neglected, vindicated, stigmatised, legalised, and suppressed among the majority of the world’s communities due to ignorance and arrogance. Night-running is one of the indigenous practices in Western Kenya that has been stigmatised. Given this, little is actually known about night-running. This study was designed as an ethnographic research through which the views of the residents of Homa Bay County on night-running were investigated, collated, and interpreted as a means of demystifying this indigenous practice. The findings of the study indicate that night-running is intrinsically a harmless practice. However, evil persons such as witches sometimes masquerade as night-runners and can hurt or kill people.

夜行者被认为是不露面，邪恶的人，他们在黑暗中裸奔，从而在原本和平的乡村中造成严重破坏。本文调查了夜间跑步的起源，与之相关的奥秘，夜间跑步的利弊，以及土著知识（IK）污名化对这种做法的影响。土著知识是社区在特定地理环境中拥有的独特信念，态度，技能和实践的主体。尽管它具有潜在的价值，但学者们指出，由于无知和傲慢，土著知识在世界上大多数社区中被忽视，维护，污名化，合法化和压制。夜间跑步是肯尼亚西部的土著习俗之一，已被污名化。鉴于这种，关于夜间跑步，实际上鲜为人知。这项研究的目的是作为一项人种学研究，通过调查，整理和解释霍马湾县居民夜间跑步的观点，以此来揭开这种土著习俗的神秘面纱。研究结果表明，夜间跑步本质上是无害的。但是，诸如巫婆之类的邪恶人有时会伪装成夜行者，并可能伤害或杀死人。