There is a vigorous kikuyu recording industry, for both popular and gospel music, in their pentatonic scale and western music styles. Gikuyu kikuyu people of kenya african studies oxford. If they were put together they are complete as a circular container, womb made of old and new, mother and child. Kikuyu rites of passage search this birth customs search this funeral customs and rites search this death search this rites and ceremonies search this call number. The attitudes of kikuyu women toward polygyny are varied. At a population of 8,148,668 as of 2019, they account for 17. The hooves of the the ram are eight as each leg has a pair. After kenyattas death, daniel arap moi, a kalenjin, succeeded the nations founding father, putting an end to gikuyu elite socioeconomic and political privileges until his forced retirement in 2002. The purpose of this chapter is to examine how families deal with bereavement in kenya. Like many other aspects of kenyan culture, modernization continues to water down traditions that were held in high regard. Aug 19, 2014 the main rafters holding up the kikuyu cone roof were always eight. Our discussion is based on the constructivist assumption that bereaved individuals and families construct the meaning of the death of a loved one, shaped by the cultural context but not determined by it. The weird ways kenyan communities honour their dead.
Music and dance are strong components of kikuyu culture. According to the kikuyu culture death is not exactly inevitable. From the traditional music and cultures of kenya, a multimedia encyclopaedia dedicated to all kenyan tribes, including music and dance, history, culture, society, religion and beliefs, rituals and daily life, fables, legends, riddles and proverbs. Apr 27, 2017 the tragedy of the war paved the way for independence under the leadership of a gikuyu president, jomo kenyatta 19631978. Firstly, it is accepted in the kikuyu community death is gods will since he is the creator and live force to human beings. Remarriage is even more rare even agter the death of one spouse. Kenyatta was the oldest of the generation of subsaharan leaders who managed decolonization. Sep 04, 20 chief waiyaki was a kalenjin ogiek whose real name was arap koiyoki. Kikuyu, bantuspeaking people who live in the highland area of southcentral kenya, near mount kenya. Using politeness theory, the paper is significant in that its findings is of great importance to parents, teachers, court interpreters, media practitioners, counselors and sex educators using kikuyu. Much of their history has been passed on from generation to generation in the form of songs and stories.
Despite their aversion to dead bodies, the agikuyu viewed death itself with equanimity and fatalistic acceptanc. This is evidenced in the food, language, and marriage rituals among others. Religion, on the other hand, is considered a process of revelation and contains the concept of the faithful who receive the message of revelation. Nov 09, 2014 kikuyu homesteads on the slopes of mt. The kikuyu believe that githuyu and mumbi gave birth to nine daughter, then they went to mt. Despite this scourge, however, the birth rate is still significantly higher than the death rate and the population continues to grow. But even in the present study of the southern kikuyu, leakeys objective was to reconstruct kikuyu so ciety as it was before the kikuyu way of life had been altered by contact with europeans beyond recognitionto use his own words p. The kikuyus are great people with very dynamic culture, and we bet youd love to know more about them. By matthew muriuki karangi thesis presented for the degree of. There are still some traditional beliefs and customs widely practiced by the kikuyu today. In the olden days, any women whon was returned lived with the stench of being a divorced man.
It is the first language to approximately20% seven million of kenyas population making them the countrys largest ethnic kikuyu has three main dialects are mutually intelligible. Farmers, the kikuyu live on family farms, growing millet, sorghum, beans, peas and sweet potatoes. Clearly the rate of polygyny in kikuyu society is lower than other ethnic groups in kenya. The second birth gucokia mwana ihuini gikuyu centre for.
Birth and death rituals among the gikuyu collections search. They believe to be the descendants of gikuyu father and mumbi mother whose origin was in mukurwe wa nyagathanga meaning a certain treemukurwe, with a certain species of birdsnyagathanga. Polygynous families in the gishiru village represented 5 out of 60 households, and the. Education is held very highly in kikuyu culture, and it is. This dish is still very common and is always served in kikuyu ceremonies be they weddings, burials, family gatherings or dowry ceremonies which are popularly known as ruracio. Age grades traditionally there was a circumcision ceremony for boys and girls by age grades of about fiveyear periods. These books are either available for free in the public domain, libraries or on sale in bookshops and ecommerce websites like amazon. This is because culture is a reality and so the churches cannot ignore it while at the same time they seek. The old calabash of the primal birth and a new calabash signified the split between the new life and the old. The kikuyu live on the highlands in the mount kenya region, just like the meru, chuka and embumbeere who share with them similar culture and way of life. Kikuyu tribe, people, language, culture and traditions.
Anyone who learns the lessons they give will acquire the wisdom they contain. The kikuyu are found in kenya and live mainly around mt. Apr 18, 2018 mukimo is a traditional kikuyu diet made of maize, potatoes and pumpkin leaves. The kikuyu as such actually came to be by around 1800, and include some families from all the surrounding peoples. Kikuyu yaden africa african clothing african jewelry. Kikuyu did not have the haunting fear of death which grips the people of. A dissertation submitted for the degree of doctor of philosophy in. Kenya and prayer for nine men to marry they daughter and this is how the kikuyu people came to existence. In a polygamous homestead the number of nyumba corresponded to the number of wives unless the widowed mother of the man was also housed in the homestead. Kikuyus believed it was their traditional god who started the kikuyu tribe by putting on earth a man and woman named kikuyu and mumbi. The story about the knee is disgusting and not accurate i foun it hard to drink my tea. The second birth gucokia mwana ihuini gikuyu centre.
As described by john lonsdale, no tribe had a unified government. Kikuyu culture is the kikuyu tribes way of life, the largest ethnic group of the kenya people. Oct 02, 2008 a once rich source of tradition and culture, passed on intact from generation to generation, was in danger of drying up without trace this study, revised and published now, some forty years after it was first undertaken, will secure this fascinating collection of information for posterity now that all the last inheritors of the old kikuyu. Divorce is very rare with the kikuyu s in spite of all the problems that women endure. Religion, primarily christianity has also impacted the way things are done. Culture heroes in creation, 316 death origin in creation, 317. He was a respected leader accepted by the three neighboring communities.
Kikuyus traditionally worshipped a single god, ngai, who was known as the provider and lived at the top of the mountain. The agikuyu are scattered all over kenya, but their ancestral territory is to be found in the. The ceremonies are all celebrated with joy except for death ceremony and they believed that these ceremonies symbolized the rights of passage. Taboo may also bring death for example in kikuyu community there are many taboos where if anyone doesnt adhere to them may result to death. One genetic line contributing to the kikuyu is the thagicu, thought to be the earliest bantu settlers in the area, perhaps around 1200 ad.
There are more than forty ethnic groups in the country. Oct 19, 2020 kikuyu culture the largest of kenyas tribes, the kikuyu tribe live in area around mount kenya where, at the dawn the colonial era, they came into violent conflict with the european settlers, to whom large tracts of kikuyu people homeland had been apportioned by the colonial government. Kenya in every gikuyu traditional homestead, the womans house, nyumba, belonged to a specific married woman for no two married women shared a nyumba. Kikuyu, 161 kiowa, 162 kodiak, 163 kokowarra, 164 kono, 165 kootenay kutanai, ktunaxa, 166. Among many tribes in kenya, death is treated as a rite of passage, that when one is dead, they are still considered to be around, at least in their spirits. Rebirth is an actual phenomenon which can even bring back the ancestors back in the form of a newborn child, happens mostly if the name of the child is the same as the ancestor. Despite such contact, the gikuyu culture and religious beliefs at the specific time and. Culture permits the selfconscious evaluation of human. Harry thuku 1895 14 june 1970 was a kenyan politician, one of the pioneers in the development of modern african nationalism in kenya. This is known as the healing ceremony in the kikuyu culture. Jan 17, 2020 below is a list of recommended books on kikuyu peoples way of life, history, and culture both in the past and present. Culture of kenya history, people, clothing, traditions. I am a member of the kikuyu tribe and even though this is great work, some of the facts are about the kenyan people and not necessarily about our culture. He helped found the young kikuyu association and the east african association before being arrested and exiled from 1922 to 1931.
Using politeness theory, the paper is significant in that its findings is of great importance to parents, teachers, court interpreters, media practitioners, counselors and sex educators using kikuyu language. The kikuyu developed from several continuous waves of migration and remigration within the area. The largest of these is the kikuyu, representing 22 percent of the population. The kikuyu ethnic group is a bantuspeaking people forming the largest group in kenya. It refers to the belief that when somebody died, hisher spirit. The folk tale of the origins of kikuyu is incorrect. Details of the kikuyu people of kenya and their culture in africa. In all these expeditions, hundreds of kikuyu were killed in cold blood. Transformations of death among the kikuyu of kenya. Respondents interviewed regarding the kikuyu culture.
Death, while unwelcome, carried some of the most complicated rituals among different tribes in kenya. Patrick gathara the evolving politics of death in kenya the. Lawren historians of east africa have generally contented themselves with the simple statement that many of the bantu tribes of kenya and tanzania have borrowed certain. From hyenas to tombs find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Request pdf on jan 1, 2011, yvan droz published transformations of death among the kikuyu of kenya. Kikuyu also known as gikuyu ubc library open collections. Sep 20, 2008 starting with a short introductory study of kikuyu social organisation and a firsthand account by an elder of his life story, he moves to a geographical and demographic description of the kikuyu country in summarised terms and a relatively brief discussion of tradition and history including contact with the white man. Reflections on the differences between religion and culture. According to the kikuyu community is a result of many things. Kikuyu fashion and those circumcised masai fashion.
Rashed, mohamed galal lecturer of anthropology, institute of african research and studies, cairo university assistant. Details of the kikuyu people of kenya and their culture in. The kikuyu also agikuyugikuyu are a bantu ethnic group native to central kenya, but also found in significantly less numbers in tanzania. The photos show that despite the wholesale culture shock that the kikuyu have undergone over the last century, some aspects of the old ways remain, so much so that in times of real need such as the 1997 drought some kikuyu still fall back on prechristian traditions, and will ask for help from the old god and the ancestors if the christian. The maasais recognized his leadership abilities, and so did the kikuyu. At the birth,initiation, marriage, and death of every gikuyu, communication. In 1932 he became president of the kikuyu central association, in 1935 founded the kikuyu provincial association, and in 1944. Culture heroes in creation, 316 death origin in creation, 317 deus faber creation, 319. Most burial cultures border on the absurd at least in the eyes of an outsider who may not comprehend a certain communitys culture. The masaai called him koiyaki ole lemotaka while kikuyu called him waiyaki wa hinga. Please read, facing mount kenya by jomo kenyatta, it will give you all you want to know about the gikuyu people.
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