MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS
Adoption into a New Clan (Kikuyu).—This is a proceeding which sometimes
takes place in Kikuyu, but which rarely comes to the notice of European
observers. It is called njama ya ruoro kucharua, which means “the
assembly or council of the knife to change,” and, expanded, means “the
ceremonial gathering of the knife at which a man changes his clan.” The
word ruoro means the knife used for branding cattle.
The candidate first makes an arrangement about the matter with the
senior elder of the clan he wishes to enter; a day is fixed for the
ceremony and the elder summons the other elders of his clan and the
candidate brings his brothers. A number of elders belonging to other
clans are also invited as witnesses.
The candidate presents a razor (ruenji), some castor oil, butter
(ngoromo), and a ewe lamb (mwati) to the elders of the clan he wishes
to join, and the elders of that clan provide a bullock. The bullock is
slaughtered and the skin is dried, this being for the parties to sit on
during the ceremony. The candidate and the senior elder of the clan he
wishes to enter then sit on the bullock’s hide, and the elder’s senior
wife comes and shaves both their heads. When this is completed, they
anoint each other’s head with the castor oil and the butter. Each man
collects and takes away the hair cut off and carefully hides it so that
no evilly disposed person shall pick it up and make medicine with it.
Henceforward the man is considered as adopted in the new clan, and his
children belong to that clan. If he is a young man and wants a wife,
the senior elder of his new clan will buy him one, and if he is killed
in a tribal fight the elder claims the blood money.
If, after this ceremony, the elder was to commit adultery with the wife
of the adopted man he would surely die.
If a daughter of the adopted man is married, the elder gets five goats
from the bridal price received for the girl; these goats are called
ugendi and possibly have reference to cases in which the elder has paid
the bridal price for the wife of the adopted man.
A Kikuyu native does not, however, change his circumcision guild by
entering a new clan.
Njama ya Kikende.—The ceremony of adoption is closely connected to a
ceremony performed between great friends; this is a form of ceremonial
brotherhood, but the man who makes the alliance does not change his
clan, and if he is killed the blood money would go to his own clan. In
this case the elder kills a ram or he-goat (thengi), which is skinned,
and a piece of the skin of the chest is cut off, whilst another elder
cuts out a bracelet of the skin and places it on the elder’s right
wrist and on the wrist of the man who wishes to join in brotherhood
with him.
The man who desires the brotherhood then presents a gourd of beer to
the elder; the beer must be of two kinds, viz., sugar-cane and
honey-beer mixed. The elder who cuts the bracelet also receives a gourd
of beer from the man.
On Bee-Keeping.—The A-Kamba are great bee-keepers. When Europeans first
visited the country they found the industry fully established; as at
the present day, logs of wood were hollowed out and hung in trees for
bees to hive in. They periodically collected the honey, brewed mead,
and then threw away the comb. The Government Officers have since taught
them to boil down the wax into cakes which can be sold, and a large
quantity is annually exported.
In Kitui when a man makes his first beehive he does not hang it in a
tree himself, but gets his uncle to do so; he believes that if he
omitted to do this the bees would not settle in it.
The owner of the beehive cannot cohabit with his wife until he sees
that a swarm of bees has settled in the hive and is building there. Two
nights after he is satisfied that this is the case, he may resume his
marital relations.
If on his first visit of inspection he finds the hive occupied, he
brews beer and pours some on the ground as a libation to the aiimu, or
ancestral spirits.
In a season when there is a dearth of honey the owners of the hives go
to the woods in which they have put their hives and sacrifice a goat;
the meat is eaten, and the blood, mixed with beer, is poured on the
ground as a propitiatory libation to the aiimu to secure a good honey
crop. Among the Ulu A-Kamba the ceremonial varies and is apparently
more elaborate.
When a man has hollowed out the log of wood which forms the beehive he
takes a shaving or chip of the wood which is called ikavu, and gives it
to his mother, who then cooks beans, pigeon peas and maize in a pot and
places the chip, ikavu, in the fire under the pot to assist in cooking
the food. If he has lost his mother the ikavu is given to his wife, who
cooks the ceremonial meal.
When the food is boiled the villagers are summoned to eat it. The
beehive is then hung in a tree, and when it is full the owner collects
the honey and brings it to his village. Before the honey can be mixed
with water to make beer or mead the owner of the hive must present his
mother with some of the raw honey.
When the first brew of the mead is ready the father of the owner of the
hive buys it for a goat, which may not be killed. On the second night
after the purchase, the parents of the owner of the hive must cohabit;
this in speaking to each other they refer to as kuzya mbui, and if
talking to another person, the term kulunga mbui is used.
They believe that the consumption of the beer and the succeeding
ceremony ensures that the hive will always yield a good supply of
honey, and that there will always be plenty of people to buy succeeding
brews of mead made from the honey. The whole proceeding may therefore
be considered as a magical fertility ceremony.
If a man has lost his own parents, he sells the first brew of mead to
his uncle, presumably as head of the family.
Among the Dorobo hunting tribe of the Kikuyu escarpment when a man
makes a new beehive, beer is made and the old men and women drink it
before it is hung in a tree. They then ceremonially spit on the hive
and next morning place it in a tree; the inside of a hive is also
smeared with beeswax to attract the bees.
The first crop of honey out of a new hive is only eaten by the children
of the village, or perhaps by very old women. The reason of this is
said to be that if a young woman were to eat any and then misconduct
herself with a man, the honey crop would be spoilt and the bees would
not enter any of the hives hung up on that day.
It is a well-known fact the natives always mark their beehives before
suspending them from the trees, and the marks are generally of two
kinds, one being that of the clan and the other that of the owner. Mr
A. C. Hollis states that on the Southern Aberdare Range in the bamboo
forest between Karanja’s and Enjabini he saw two musaiti trees (camphor
wood, Ocotea usambarensis) from which the Kikuyu make their honey
barrels or beehives. Although still standing, they were both marked
with the same designs one sees on beehives.
The trees, it would appear, are earmarked by certain persons for the
manufacture of beehives while still standing. Sketches of these marks
are given below. At first sight it seems curious to put the clan mark
on beehives, but the object is to warn a would-be thief that if he robs
a hive he will have to reckon with the whole of the clan to which the
owner belongs. Further, if a would-be thief found a hive belonging to
his own clan he would be very unlikely to rob it, as he could always
obtain honey or honey-beer from his blood kin.
Infectious Mania among the Kamba People.—In “Ethnology of A-Kamba,” p.
10, reference was made to a peculiar kind of infectious possession or
mania which appears periodically in Ukamba country, and in 1906 many
young people in Machakos district were seized with it at the sight of a
European hat. In a few months, however, it passed away, but in 1911 a
similar epidemic recurred. This took a different form, and was called
Engai ya mweretu, or the spirit of the girl. The spirit of a girl who
was said to have died mysteriously was supposed to enter into people in
various parts of the district—generally old women—and speak. The whole
district rapidly became disturbed; the spirit, through its oracles,
demanded that bullocks should be slaughtered; the order was implicitly
obeyed, for anyone who refused was supposed to be doomed. As a result,
several thousand bullocks were slaughtered and consumed in a week or
two. Great dances, at which the meat was eaten, were held. Very soon
the oracles became seditious, and plans were being made for the
abolition of European government and attack on the Government station.
The whole thing was kept secret at first, but eventually it all came
out and a company of troops had to be sent to the district to calm the
excited people; the elders, who felt sore at the loss of so many
cattle, rallied to the support of law and order and the country
gradually regained a normal state.
The phenomenon is also known in Kitui, but is said to have been
introduced from the Machakos district. Mr C. Dundas has investigated it
in the former district and states that when people wish to misrepresent
the nature of any dances held in this connection they refer to them as
kilumi. Now kilumi is an old Kamba dance which is periodically
performed at ithembo all over the country with the object of warding
off epidemics, but the Engai dances are carried on at villages to cure
an individual possessed by the form of mania known as Engai. Fez caps
and other unusual ornaments and clothing worn at Engai dances are not
worn at kilumi dances. The word Engai appears to be loosely used in
this connection, but this is possibly due to the fact that the
individual organising the dance is supposed to be a person possessing
occult powers, a person, in short, who knows the inner mysteries or who
would not otherwise possess the “medicine” which is supposed to come
from Engai.
As far as is known, this Engai possession appears to be almost entirely
confined to women. A woman becomes mysteriously possessed; the medicine
man cannot account for it. A woman who understands the affection is
therefore called in and orders the appropriate dance to be performed.
The performers become worked up and wildly excited, and many of them
become affected and the disease spreads, although the afflicted person
for whom the dance was convened may be cured. When the people are
worked up to a pitch of frenzy, the leader of the dance then demands a
bullock, beer, and a goat from the head elder, and these are consumed
by the performers.
Women who organise these dances have been seen and interviewed by the
writer and they generally appear to be stupid and half-witted, and one
would not suspect that they were capable of influencing the people as
they undoubtedly do. When they have worked themselves up into a kind of
hypnotic state they may possibly be different. One great idea at these
dances is that everyone must shake hands with the woman, and for this
privilege she is given sixpence or more. The people believe that if
this be omitted, they will be permanently afflicted with a spirit; they
do not apparently mind temporary possession, but fear its becoming a
permanency. The payments appear to be peculiar to Kitui.
The elders do not approve of these dances, but are generally too
frightened to intervene. The reason of their disapproval is not far to
seek; every woman who becomes possessed is told to demand something
from her husband or the mania will not leave her. The women generally
ask for fez caps and clothes which are worn at subsequent dances; one
elder told Mr Dundas that his wife had demanded the tails of ten white
cows. They dress in white and red clothes, consisting of deep bands
worn round the waists, and have fez caps on their heads and cows’ tails
suspended from their arms. The women who conduct the ceremony are
termed Siekitundumu; the meaning of kitundumu is thunder. One of the
chants sung on such an occasion was translated as: “We have come from a
comet and one day we will return there to stay with Siekitundumu.” When
a woman shakes hands with the leader she is seized with a kind of
convulsion and says, “I am Siekitundumu.” The speeches of the women
appear to be devoid of meaning; they will attempt to use English words
in particular, calling out “Yesu,” and So-and-so is said to be the
children of “Yesu,” or one will be asked who she is and she will
mention the name of some European or other. “Yesu”—Mr Dundas thinks—may
be either a corruption of the English “Yes” or it may be a contraction
of “Jesus” as pronounced by the German missionaries, or it may be a
corrupt pronunciation of the Swahili word “kisu,” which means a knife,
and which the A-Kamba are inclined to pronounce “kyesu.”
It is also said that those who participate in the dance must keep their
eyes fixed on the ground; they are otherwise supposed to be liable to
fly up to the heavens.
The woman called the Siekitundumu has a chondo (string bag) full of
medicines carried in small gourds. No one may look at these magical
properties without paying. The medicines are said to be made by a kind
of ghoul who has only one hand and one leg and who lives above. These
mysteries work the credulous and susceptible women into a state of
frenzy, when they cease to be responsible for their actions. One chief,
with some pathos, stated that women who have been to one of these
dances often go back home and beat their husbands.
The principal Siekitundumu in Kitui is said to be one Monge wa Muli.
She and her husband assembled all the people at the village of the
chief Muli and told them to collect food and other gifts. The elders
had to pay a bull and a black goat. On a certain day the bull was
killed and its blood poured into a large hole in the ground and mixed
with meal, milk, and grain. Monge then announced that she would
transfer the Engai to a particular village. She selected certain
able-bodied women, who ran into the bush with a fowl, shouting that
they were sending “Engai” to Muli’s village, the fowl being left in the
bush. A few days later a woman in Muli’s village was, of course, seized
with the Engai mania and the dance had to be performed there. Thus the
affection is spread throughout the district. After a time, either the
Government or the combined elders take steps to stop it by drastic
measures and it dies down for a while, possibly for a year or two, but
at any time it is liable to recur and it is then necessary for the
administration to keep a sharp look out for its appearance.
The whole phenomenon rather reminds one of the ancient accounts of
demoniacal possession. According to Goodrich Freer a peculiar kind of
possession, called bonda, is said to attack women in Abyssinia. Here
again all their demands for dress, food, and trifles of any sort must
be strictly attended to. They sometimes mimic a hyæna.
SUNDRY BELIEFS
Slaughter of Pregnant Animals.—The A-Kamba may not wilfully kill an
animal heavy with young when hunting, and certainly would not slaughter
a domestic animal in this condition. Should, however, such an animal
happen to be killed by mistake, the uterus is opened to discover the
sex of the fœtus. In cutting up the uterus the hunter will hold a few
blades of grass in his hand, together with the knife, at the same time
grasping the wrist of the hand holding the knife with the other hand.
If there are two men, the second man will grasp the wrist of the other
while he cuts open the uterus.
If the fœtus is male it is unlucky, and if female it is lucky. The
killing of the mother in this condition must, however, have been done
unwittingly.
This curious custom appears to be common to all the Kamba people.
Eclipses.—These are said to be the work of Engai (or the high god) and
to be an omen of a sickness in the land. The head of each village has
to take two children and a goat, which is lead round the outside of the
village, and when it reaches the gate, an elder cuts a piece out of one
ear and lets the animal return to the village. They then smear it with
ia (Kamba) ira (Kikuyu), or white earth—on its face, along its stomach,
and along its back to the tail.
Lunar Changes.—The Kikuyu people have no theories as to the nature of
the sun or moon, but believe that the sun and moon are constantly at
war with each other and that the moon is always beaten and driven away.
After a time she regains her strength and returns to the fight.
Food (Kitui).—The Kamba of Kitui state that they cannot eat the meat of
hyæna, jackal, serval cat, hunting dog, crocodile, snakes, kites,
vultures, marabou stork, ducks, geese, crows, rats, or even eggs. A few
will sometimes eat a little of the flesh of lions and leopards,
probably on the grounds of sympathetic magic, i.e., with the idea of
assimilating the strength and agility of these beasts. Baboon, monkey,
and donkey meat are also eaten by some.
Food Ceremonial (Kikuyu).—If an ox is killed for a feast and a member
of the same clan, who happens to live at a distance, puts in an
appearance, he must be given a piece of meat, although he cannot claim
to share in the feast.
If an ox is killed on the occasion of a wedding, the members of the
clan living in the neighbourhood are always invited to participate.
Women eat separately inside the huts and out of sight of the men, but
can drink water or beer in the presence of men.
Small children naturally feed with their mothers, but once the boys are
circumcised they no longer eat with women.
A curious custom was recently noticed during a journey among the
Kikuyu. The desiccated carcase of a cow or ox was noticed in the
branches of a tree by the roadside, a little distance from a village,
and it appears that if cattle are lodged at the village of a friend and
one should die, the owner is informed, and is asked to come over and
see it and remove the meat. If for some reason or other he does not
come the carcase is hoisted into a tree so that all may see it. The
object of this is that people may know that the beast was not
surreptitiously killed and eaten by the people of the village, and no
claim can then be lodged against them by the owner.
Names Among the Kikuyu.—Every Kikuyu child receives two proper names.
If a male, his first name is that of the paternal grandfather, thiga,
and if a female that of the maternal grandmother, chuchu. In the case
of a male the second name is that of the father.
In addition he generally receives another name at the time of
circumcision; this is considered as a nickname, and generally refers to
some peculiarity of character, habits, or physique.
For instance, a boy will be called kichuru because he was said to drink
a large amount of gruel as a child. If the lobe of a man’s ear is
broken he is called kachuru; if he happens to break a finger he is
called kara.
The names are derived from animals such as nugu—a baboon, njovu—an
elephant, hiti—hyæna, ngui—a dog.
From names of natural objects, such as kamiti—trees, kegio—a wild
hibiscus used by the Kikuyu for making fibre, higa—stone, meriwa—a
thorn, wa-rui—a stream, kirima—a hill.
From names of weapons such as kitimu—a spear (used of a tall thin man),
kahiu—a sword, njuguma—a club.