THE AKIKUYU PEOPLE
Living quite near to the Masai, but differing from them in very many
ways, are the Akikuyu, whose territory near Mount Kenia could be
reached by a long train journey from Mombasa toward Nairobi, followed
by several hundred miles of travelling on foot.
For centuries the Masai and Akikuyu have been bitter enemies, and in
the old days the former used to punish their neighbours for selling
captives to Arab slave traders. The Masai are a pastoral people
depending entirely on their herds, which must have abundant pasture;
while, on the other hand, the Akikuyu are tillers of the soil. In
order to make a tract of land clear for sowing, they are in the habit
of burning large tracts of forest, a practice which annoys the Masai,
because herds of cattle shelter under the trees, where they find fresh
grass, when all the country exposed to the sun is parched and withered.
In warfare these two tribes, the Masai and Akikuyu, employ many
different methods, for whereas the former are always bold and open in
attack, the latter are cowardly and treacherous, always preferring
to lie in wait for small bands of enemies, who may be taken at a
disadvantage.
When reporting on the Akikuyu tribes, Mr. Hinde, the British
Commissioner, says:
“They plant gardens with bananas and Indian corn, and live almost
entirely on vegetable food, their flocks being inconsiderable. Honey
forms a staple element of their diet. This they collect by hanging
oblong honey boxes, made of the hollow trunk of a juniper, in the
trees, and smoking the bees out.
“They till and cultivate the ground, but, as it is not manured, the
soil is quickly exhausted, and the burning down of large tracts of
forest is resorted to as a means of procuring fresh land.
[Illustration: A KIKUYU MAN.]
“The Akikuyu are a well-built people, with the broad Negro type of
countenance and feature. Occasionally they wear their hair long, but
more often it is twisted into a sort of fringe about three inches in
length. The young men cover their person with mutton fat and red clay,
which renders them exceedingly offensive. It has of late years become
customary for them to carry both shields and spears; the former they
have copied from the Masai, the latter are of their own design, and
have a leaf-shaped blade about a foot in length and four inches broad,
tapering to a point. The handle is wooden, with an iron spike about six
inches long at the other end. The Akikuyu carry swords, and use bows
and poisoned arrows. They grow tobacco, which they mix with potash and
use as snuff; this they carry in a small bottle suspended by a chain
around the neck.”
Shaving the head is a custom copied from the Masai, but although
Akikuyu women wear many beads, they do not, like Masai women, decorate
themselves with large quantities of iron wire and chains.
[Illustration: A KIKUYU GIRL, SHOWING EAR ORNAMENTS.]
Unlike many African tribes, the Akikuyu do not keep poultry, for they
have a theory that the crowing of cocks at night has in time past
revealed to an enemy the position of their village.
These villages are by no means easy to find, and so securely are they
enveloped by the bush, that a traveller might pass quite near without
knowing that human beings were dwelling close at hand. Both the Akikuyu
and Wakamba tribes have learned that seclusion in the bush is the best
way of avoiding onslaughts by the Masai warriors, and this secrecy has
also made the task of the British Government very difficult.
It is a mistake to suppose that in all parts of Africa there is an
abundance of wild fruit. The Akikuyu live almost entirely on vegetable
foods, such as millet, maize, and bananas, but these they have to
cultivate, the women of the tribe being responsible for all the hoeing
and hard work in the fields, in addition to the grinding of the grain
with heavy stones. Other tasks borne by women include the cooking of
all foods except meat, bringing home produce from the fields, and
collecting large bundles of firewood. Baking of pottery, too, is an
occupation for females, who appear to do all the hardest and most
important work of the tribe.
Mr. Routledge gives a list of foods commonly found among the Akikuyu
people, whom he has closely studied. The vegetable foods consist of
maize, beans, or the tubers of the arum lily, and its green stems. A
favourite food for carrying on a journey is a cake made by boiling
together various kinds of grain; and as a raw food, a grain very like
canary seed is used. The Akikuyu like sweet foods, so honeycomb and
sugar-cane are very popular. When meat is used it is generally made up
into sausages, which are tied with the inner bark of a bush. Native
beer is manufactured by allowing sugar-cane juice to ferment.
Huts are circular, with pointed roofs, and as a rule there is no
opening but a small door, so that lighting and ventilation are not
enjoyed. As the roof is thatched, smoke from the fire can filter
through, so there is no need to provide a special hole for its escape.
In bridge building the Akikuyu are very expert, and in a short time a
stream is crossed by a suspension bridge of creepers, cleverly arranged
so as to be hidden among foliage, and so screened from the view of
enemies.
Fire is produced by means of rapidly twirling a hard shaft of wood,
the lower end of which rests in a hole formed in a soft piece of
wood, the dust from which forms the tinder. Dry grass is placed on
the tinder, ignited by friction; and, as a rule, two natives, one
twirling a fire stick while the other blows the tinder, will produce a
flame in three-quarters of a minute. In order to avoid repeating this
fire-making process too often, smouldering brands are carried during a
journey.
[Illustration: FIRE-MAKING BY TWIRLING.]
Among the important industries are iron smelting and string making
from bark and animals’ tendons. The former industry is of very great
antiquity, and in the oldest legends and stories there are references
to articles made of iron.