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Title: Bantu Beliefs and Magic
Author: Hobley, Charles William
Language: English
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BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE KIKUYU
AND KAMBA TRIBES OF KENYA COLONY;
TOGETHER WITH SOME REFLECTIONS ON
EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR
BY
C. W. HOBLEY, C.M.G.
M. R. Anthrop. Inst., C.M.Z.S., Assoc. M. Inst. C.E.
(Late Senior Provincial Commissioner, Kenya Colony)
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
SIR JAMES G. FRAZER, F.R.S., &c.
LONDON
H. F. & G. WITHERBY
326 HIGH HOLBORN, W.C.
1922
PREFACE
It is often said that the longer one knows the native the less one
knows, and the less one understands him. This expression is doubtless
comforting to persons who have not the patience to systematically study
him and his views on life, but it could with convenience be replaced by
a saying to the effect that the more one knows of the native the more
one realises how much remains to be learnt.
The spirit of this is in accordance with the true attitude to all other
branches of knowledge, for the more one learns, the more the map
unfolds, and one gradually realises the vastness of the country to be
explored.
During long years of service in East Africa my work has brought me into
close contact with the native tribes from Lake Victoria to the coast,
and I early realised that their administration could not be
intelligently conducted without close inquiry into their social
organisation and religious beliefs, and in this connection I would here
like to express my indebtedness to the kind advice and stimulating
assistance which I have received from Sir W. Ridgeway, Sir J. G.
Frazer, Professor Haddon and others. I particularly wish to thank Sir
J. G. Frazer for his kindness in consenting to write an introduction to
this work.
My first researches in this field were conducted among the tribes of
Kavirondo, and when some years later I left the Nyanza province for
Ukamba I became interested in the people with whom this work mainly
deals.
In 1910 I published a small work styled “The Ethnology of the A-Kamba
and Other East African Tribes” which was mainly intended as an aide
memoire for colleagues working among the people referred to; the study
was continued and certain matters were dealt with in papers
communicated to the Royal Anthropological Institute and the British
Association.
Further research has, however, brought to light a great deal of
additional material and has enabled me to piece together the work, and
I venture to believe that the light which it attempts to throw upon the
inner life of these important tribes may stimulate further inquiry, and
help both official and colonist in his relations with them.
It has long been the fashion to look upon such research as being of
only academic value; this view, however, is year by year becoming
dimmer, and I would ask all those who are interested in Africa to
abandon it.
The late war has forcibly demonstrated the importance of understanding
the psychology of our enemies, and if that is admitted I would claim
that it is quite as important for workers in Africa to endeavour to
understand the psychology of the Africans, whose friendship is of vital
necessity to all progress in that country.
In presenting this work to the public, I would like to emphasise the
belief that the field is by no means exhausted; all that I have been
able to do has been done amidst the insistent rush of official duties,
and I have often longed for the chance of being able to concentrate my
attention for a year or two solely on researches of this nature.
The language difficulty is one of the greatest obstacles with which a
European is faced; native languages are numerous and an administrative
officer rarely has time to learn one before he is removed to another
area and therefore another language. The elders rarely know much
Swahili, the language which is the lingua franca of East Africa.
Interpreters are often a snare, and an investigator has to work with
one for some time before being certain that he has fully realised the
spirit of the research, especially when dealing with religious beliefs:
indeed many interpreters never grasp the spirit of the inquiry. I had
working with me for some years a remarkable interpreter—Juma bin
Hamis—who became deeply interested in the subject under investigation,
and was of the greatest assistance. When any point was obscure he would
go off and unearth an elder who was known to have particular
information on the point at issue. Unfortunately, however, I have to
mourn his loss, for he died at Nairobi in 1911. Such a man is difficult
to replace; his speciality was Kikuyu political organisation and
customs, and, although a coast native, he was deeply esteemed by all
the people of Southern Kikuyu.
I would here like to express my indebtedness to several of my
colleagues and friends, particularly the Hon. C. Dundas, G. H. Osborne,
and the late S. W. J. Scholefield, who, living for a long time in the
native reserves of Kikuyu and Ukamba in close contact with the people,
have given me the greatest assistance upon special points. I am also
grateful to Miss du Cros for her kind assistance in revising the MSS.
of this work.
With the Hon. C. Dundas’s permission, I have inserted an interesting
memorandum by him on Kikuyu dances and certain magical phenomena. He
collected the information while in charge of the Kikuyu district.
I also express my gratitude to the many elders who have so fully given
me information about many customs and rites which they do not care to
discuss with the man in the street. The Kikuyu in particular welcomed
my interest in their beliefs. They even urged me to become a recognised
elder of the tribe, so that they could impart full information without
violation of the rules forbidding the divulging of the ceremonial of
their grade to those not initiated to that grade. This election has
been of great value, for recognition as an elder in Kikuyu franks one,
so to speak, among the Kamba, and the elders of that reticent tribe
talked freely to me on their rites and beliefs.
Finally I must express my indebtedness to Professor Robertson Smith’s
illuminating work on the “Religion of the Semites,” and to Campbell
Thompson’s book on “Semitic Magic.” I have referred to these from time
to time, as they throw light upon the principles underlying many of the
African ceremonies which I describe.
Any description of the languages spoken by the tribes under review
being outside the scope of this work, it has been considered
inadvisable to complicate it by the adoption of the modern system of
phonetic symbols in the native names. The use of the symbols, though
based on sound principles, unfortunately renders unintelligible to the
ordinary reader many native words.
As the war has occurred since the bulk of this work was written, I have
considered that it might not be out of place to add a chapter of a
general nature dealing with the position of native affairs after the
great upheaval, for Africa has not escaped its effects any more than
other parts of the world, and the future of the relations of black and
white needs most thoughtful consideration.
C. W. H.
INTRODUCTION
The author of this book, Mr C. W. Hobley, has long been known to
anthropologists as one of our best authorities on the native races of
British East Africa, or Kenya Colony, as it is now called, where he
resided as Provincial Commissioner for many years. The time he could
spare from his official duties he wisely devoted to studying the
customs and beliefs of the tribes whom he was appointed to govern, and
through the knowledge and experience thus acquired he was able to make
a valuable series of contributions to ethnography. In the present work
he has resumed and largely supplemented his former studies of two
important tribes, the Kikuyu and Kamba, enriching his previous accounts
with many fresh details and fruitful observations.
The result is a monograph replete with information of great variety and
of the highest interest for the student of savage thought and
institutions. But the book has a practical as well as a scientific
value. Placed in the hands of British officials engaged in the
maintenance of order and the administration of justice among the
natives, it must prove of real service to them in their task of
affording them an insight into the habits and ideas of the people, and
thus greatly facilitating the task of government. Indeed, without some
such knowledge of the native’s point of view it is impossible to govern
him wisely and well. The savage way of thinking is very different to
ours, and Mr Hobley is right in insisting that it is by no means
simple, but, on the contrary, highly complex, and that, consequently,
it cannot be understood without long and patient study. To legislate
for savages on European principles of law and morality, even when the
legislator is inspired by none but the most benevolent intentions, is
always dangerous, and not seldom disastrous; for it is too often
forgotten that native customs have grown up through a long course of
experience and adaptation to natural surroundings, that they correspond
to notions and beliefs which, whether ill or well founded, are deeply
rooted in the native mind, and that the attempt to discard them for
others which have been developed under totally different conditions may
injure instead of benefiting the people. Even when the new rules and
habits, which government seeks to force upon the tribes, are in
themselves, abstractly considered, better than the old, they may not be
so well adapted to the mental framework of the governed, and the
consequence may be that the old moral restraints are abolished without
the substitution of any equally effective in their room. To this danger
Mr Hobley is fully alive, and he gives a timely warning on the subject
to those well-meaning but ill-informed persons at home who would treat
the native African in accordance with the latest political shibboleths
of democratic Europe. Such treatment, which its ignorant advocates seem
to regard as a panacea for all human ills, would almost inevitably
produce an effect precisely the opposite of that intended: instead of
accelerating the progress of the natives, it would probably precipitate
their moral, social, and even physical decline. In practical life few
things are so dangerous as abstract ideas, and the indiscriminate
application of them to concrete realities is one of the most fatal
weapons in the hands of the moral or political revolutionary.
Among the mass of interesting topics dealt with in Mr Hobley’s book it
is difficult to single out any for special mention in an introduction.
The subjects to which, on the whole, he has paid closest attention are
natural religion and magic. In respect of religion the author again and
again notes the remarkable similarities which may be traced between
East African and Semitic beliefs and rites, and he raises the question
how these similarities are to be explained. Are they due to parallel
and independent development in the African and the Semitic races? Or
are they the consequence of the invasion of Africa either by a Semitic
people or at all events by a people imbued with the principles of
Semitic religion. In my book “Folk-lore in the Old Testament” [1] I had
been similarly struck by some of these resemblances, and, while
abstaining from speculation on their origin, had remarked that the
hypothesis of derivation from a common source was not to be lightly
rejected. On the other hand Mr Hobley thinks it safer, in the present
state of our knowledge, to assume that the resemblances in question
have arisen independently, through parallel development, in the African
and Semitic areas. He dismisses as highly improbable the idea that the
ancient Semitic beliefs should have originated in East Africa and
spread from there to Arabia. Yet recent investigations in this part of
Africa, particularly with regard to the native veins of iron and gold,
tend in the opinion of some competent inquirers to show that East
Central Africa, including the region of the great lakes, was an
extremely ancient seat of a rudimentary civilisation, the seeds of
which may have been carried, whether by migration or the contact of
peoples, to remote parts of Europe and Asia. In regard to iron, which
has been wrought in Central Africa from time immemorial, Mr Hobley
quotes Professor Gregory who thinks it probable that the art of forging
the metal was invented in tropical Africa at a date before Europe had
attained to the discovery and manufacture of bronze; he even suggests
that the ingenious smith who first fused tin and copper into bronze may
have borrowed the hint from the process of working iron which he had
learned in Africa.
Among the many curious superstitions recorded by Mr Hobley none is
perhaps more interesting and suggestive than by the name of thahu or
thabu, and which presents points of similarity to the Polynesian taboo.
Mr Hobley thinks that the idea involved in it is best expressed by the
English term “curse.” But to this it may be objected that a curse
implies a personal agent, human or divine, who has called down some
evil on the sufferer; whereas in many, indeed in most, of the cases
enumerated by Mr Hobley there is no suggestion of such an agent, and
the evil which befalls the sufferer is the direct consequence of his
own action or of a simple accident. Thus it would seem that “ceremonial
uncleanness” answers better to the meaning of thahu than “curse.” Be
that as it may, deliberate cursing apparently plays a prominent part in
the superstition of the Kikuyu and Kamba; but it is significant that
they give it a different name (kirume, kiume) from that which they
apply to ceremonial uncleanness. Great faith is put in the
effectiveness of curses, especially the curses of dying persons; and as
these latter curses often refer to the disposal of the dying man’s
property after his death and are intended to prevent the alienation of
land from the family, Mr Hobley is led to make the ingenious suggestion
that in some curses we may detect the origin of entail and of
testamentary dispositions in general.
Not a few of the customs and beliefs described by Mr Hobley remind us
of similar practices and ideas in the religion and mythology of
classical antiquity. Thus the warriors who, armed with swords and
clubs, dance or hop from foot to foot at the time when the mawele grain
is reaped, are curiously reminiscent of the Roman Salii, the dancing or
leaping priests of the war-god Mars, who, similarly accoutred with
swords and staves, danced or leaped, while they invoked Saturn, the God
of Sowing. Again, the strange sort of madness which from time to time
seizes on Kamba women and under the influence of which, wrought up to a
state of frenzy, they caper about with cow’s tails suspended from their
arms, offers a parallel to the Greek legend of the daughters of Prœtus
and the other Argive women, who, oddly enough, were said like their
African sisters to have been healed of their infirmity by dances and
the sacrifice of cattle. [2] The study of such hysterical and
infectious manias among primitive peoples opens up an interesting field
of inquiry to the psychologist.
Such are a few specimens culled from the rich collection of East
African folk-lore and religion which the author has presented to his
readers in this volume. The facts recorded by him provide much food for
thought and suggest many lines of investigation for inquiries in the
future. For, as he reminds us, with equal truth and modesty, the field
of inquiry is far from being exhausted. Let us hope that it will yet
yield an abundant harvest to others, who will follow in Mr Hobley’s
footsteps and imitate the example he has set them of patient and
open-minded research.
J. G. FRAZER.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Preface 3
Introduction 7
PART I
NATURAL RELIGION
Introductory 19
I. Spirit Beliefs 27
II. Sacrifice 40
III. Sacred Stones or Village Shrines 69
IV. The Firstfruits of Harvest and Planting Ceremonial 73
V. Circumcision Ceremonial 77
VI. Death and Burial Ceremonial 97
VII. The Curse and its Manifestations—
(a) Thahu and its connection with circumcision rites, etc. 103
(b) Purification and blessing 134
(c) The dying curse 145
VIII. Superstitions regarding Children and Women 154
PART II
MAGIC
Introductory 165
I. The Guild of Smiths in Kikuyu and Ukamba 167
II. The Evil Eye 177
III. Kikuyu Magic and Magicians 184
IV. Miscellaneous Magical Practices 192
PART III
MISCELLANEOUS
Introductory 207
I. The Constitution and Working of Councils 209
II. Laws of Compensation for Murder 230
III. Ceremonial Oaths 239
IV. War and Peace 244
V. Miscellaneous Customs and Beliefs 250
VI. Legends 262
VII. Dances 266
VIII. Women as Factor in Tribal Organisation 274
IX. Some General Remarks 281
X. East Africa after the War 286
L’Envoi 303
Glossary 305
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Kamba Chief, Kitui Frontispiece
Typical Muthuri ya Ukuru Facing 37
(Elder of Grade of Priest)
Kikuyu Muthuri or Elder 65
(Prognathous Type)
Scenes at Mambura (Circumcision Festival) 81
(1) Sugar canes over village gates
(2) Eating ceremonial food
(Photos by A. C. Hollis)
Climbing the “Mugumu,” fig tree 87
(Photo by A. C. Hollis)
Kikuyu Circumcision Feast
(1) Male candidates 113
(2) Female candidates
A Dorobo Elder, Torori 183
(Photo by T. A. Dickson)
Kamba Elder with Kithito 241
Kikuyu—Beehive Marks on Trees 254
(Woodcut in Text)
Kivata Dance at Kyambu, Kikuyu 267
(Photo by Hon. C. Dundas)
Kikuyu Circumcision Shield with Anthropomorphic Figures 273
Kikuyu Methods of carrying the circumcision Shield
(The young men parade the country with these some weeks
before the ceremony)
PART I
NATURAL RELIGION
INTRODUCTORY
The main objects of this work are to place on record the results of
investigations made among the native tribes in British East Africa,
particularly among the Kikuyu and Kamba people, and to endeavour, from
a study of their ceremonial with regard to sacrifice and taboo, to
obtain a better insight into the principles which underlie the outward
forms and ceremonies of their ritual.
It has long been customary, partly through narrow-minded prejudice and
partly through ignorance, to class as Pagans all native tribes which
have not yet embraced one of the great positive religions, such as
Christianity or Mohammedanism. But the time has now come when such
negative definitions, if seriously applied, will have to be abandoned.
It must be admitted that all savages have a natural religion which is a
survival of, and is analogous to, a stage of belief which existed among
the ancestors of the civilised peoples of the present day. The
admission is inevitable, however distasteful to those who are dogmatic
in their religious beliefs and loath to admit that religious thought
and the conception of a deity have passed through an evolutionary
process and, furthermore, a process which has not ceased. For, after
all, the development of mental and moral ideas is a part of the
evolution of the living being as much as the development of limbs,
cranial shape, or body markings. No positive system of religion
descended from heaven as a completely new concept of the deity and with
an absolutely novel code. Such a system could never have survived. Any
new religious teacher could not fail to be, to a great extent, a
creature of his environment and of the age in which he was born. He
must necessarily graft his scheme on to what went before. As Robertson
Smith so truly says, “a new scheme of faith can only find a hearing by
appealing to religious instincts and susceptibilities that already
exist in the audience.”
In East Africa, various tribes remain in a stage of belief very similar
to that which prevailed in Arabia and Assyria from about 1500 B.C. and
onward, and which continued till a dogmatic uniformity was forced on
the bulk of the people by the teachings of Mahomed about A.D. 650.
Asiatic beliefs were introduced to Abyssinia by the Sabæans or
Himyaritic invaders a few centuries before the Christian era, but it is
doubtful whether they spread to any extent. For ancient religious
influences on Central Africa, we must look more to the channel afforded
by the Nile valley which had become a route of exploration as far back
as the time of the Pharaohs. Although, however, we know that Egyptian
influence was spasmodically exercised for a long distance up the Nile
valley, little evidence of any spiritual effect has as yet come to
light. This is natural, for the ancient expeditions were at long
intervals and were not missionary enterprises, but were in search of
material gain.
The only case of permanent settlement which appears to be beyond doubt
is the invasion into Uganda, Unyoro, and Ankole, of a light coloured
race, now known as the Ba-Hima or Ba-Huma. Some consider that these
people came from the Abyssinian highlands; Sir Harry Johnston, on the
other hand, believes them to be descendants of ancient Egyptian
settlers; according to Dr Seligman they are probably descendants of
what he terms Proto-Egyptians—the latter description being a more
concrete definition based upon careful researches in the Nile valley,
the result of which was not available when Sir H. H. Johnston made his
suggestion.
But whatever the origin of the Ba-Hima, there appears to be no trace of
this infusion of northern blood anywhere east of the Rift Valley,
except, possibly, among the Masai who are believed to have migrated
south-east from the valley of the Upper Nile. The Nandi, the Lako and
Savei of Elgon, the Lumbwa and Elgeyo also came from the north-west,
but did not cross the Rift.
The Kikuyu absorbed some Masai blood from time to time, and also
intermixed to some extent with the aboriginal Oggiek, but they are
mainly Bantu in blood and constitution. The Kamba people, whose
ancestors flowed into their present habitat from the south and
south-west, are believed to be pure Bantu.
We have, therefore, no evidence as to where the ancestors of the Kikuyu
or Kamba lived about two thousand years ago, and, further, whether they
were affected by Semitic culture in remote times.
It is, moreover, highly improbable that the ancient Semitic beliefs
should have originated in East Africa. We must, therefore, decide
whether such similarity as we find to-day is merely a case of parallel
and unconnected development, or the result of an ancient invasion of a
Semitic race or possibly of a race which had adopted Semitic beliefs.
In the present state of knowledge it will be safer to assume that this
similarity is due to parallel development, many examples of which may
be found in other parts of the world.
It is, however, necessary to make it clear that if there should have
been any Semitic influence it cannot have been derived from the Arab
settlements on the East Coast of Africa, founded during the last few
hundred years. Their political hold of the country never extended much
beyond the tidal waters, and their only social influence was the slight
one exercised at intermittent intervals by a slave raiding or ivory
trading expedition. No ancient trace of Mohammedanism can be found
among the people under consideration, and their present stage of
culture is pre-Islamic in point of time.
The religious beliefs of the tribes of Kikuyu and Ukamba generally
consist of a rudimentary conception of a high god, corresponding more
or less to the old Hebrew concept of Jahveh. To the bulk of the
peasantry this idea is naturally very vague and practically
subconscious. But the elders of what may be termed the “high place” are
believed to have a clear conception of it, and their deity is
apparently of the kind which can be influenced and appeased by material
attentions. The belief in ancestral spirits—ngoma or aiimu—is the
predominating spiritual factor in the minds of the great majority of
the people. These are ever present, and the relations between men and
spirits are in accordance with the actual patriarchal state of society.
The spirits must not be ignored, for are they not of the blood kin? If
neglected, they will be angry and punish their children. But naturally
no rancour is felt when such punishments are inflicted. There is a
total absence of religious intolerance about this cult; failure to
worship or failure to contribute to a sacrifice brings its own
retribution, and the spirits are swift in detecting a delinquent.
These spirits are not necessarily evil, but there is little doubt that
the character of the spirit is believed to reflect to some extent the
character of the person from whom it came, and the power of the spirit
is intimately connected with the position of the person in the tribe.
This explains to some extent why an ordinary person is cast out at
death, whereas an elder, qualified to take part in sacrificial
ceremonies, receives burial. The burial is probably pleasing to the
spirit, and the spirit of an elder possesses more power than that of an
uninitiated common person. All spirits, however, appear to be
relentless and malignant when neglected, and remain so until they are
appeased. At times they are said to assist their clients, and, through
a suitable medium, to warn the people of an impending raid.
In old Semitic records the evil spirits or jinn loom very large; they
are usually referred to as devils in the Old Testament. They have no
continuous or fixed personal relations with mankind, but have their own
particular haunts in desert places, caves, and so forth. They are, so
to speak, outlaws; they appear to man either in human or animal form,
and if one is killed, a solid carcase is believed to remain. Among the
ancient Semites, the belief became very elaborate and survives to this
day in out-of-the-way places. These unwholesome creatures were even
classified more or less definitely as jinni, ghouls, mared, lilith,
sedim, and so forth.
Among our African tribes this cult, however, has fortunately not
developed to any great extent. It may, of course, have been forgotten,
or it may have disappeared, but there are still a few traces of it
left. A Kamba story, for instance, tells of two girls who took shelter
in a cave during a storm. A centipede came in while they were there and
the girls threw it outside. But the centipede was an evil spirit and
revenged itself by closing up the entrance to the cave, so that the
girls were starved to death. This story might have come straight from
Central Arabia and be that of a jinni, the sedim of the Talmud, who
were supposed to assume any form they wished. The deity or the
ancestral spirit is appeased by means of sacrifice or libations,
carried out either privately or communally according to the
circumstances. A considerable amount of detailed information concerning
these has been collected, which it may be interesting to compare with
similar practices described in the Old Testament and other ancient
literature.
The aiimu ya Kitombo referred to in “Ethnology of the A-Kamba” (p. 89),
and the unnatural creature said to be seen at Manyani (p. 87, op.
cit.), should also very probably be placed in this class.
The widespread prevalence of “taboo” among these tribes is very
surprising, as it is a subject which is rarely mentioned and certainly
never openly discussed. It has, nevertheless, reached a pitch of
considerable elaboration. The reason for many of the prohibitions is
obvious, but that of others is extremely obscure.
The tribes under review have a very definite idea of prayer. Their
appeals to the deity take place regularly at the sacred place, either
on the occasion of sacrifice or when pouring out libations to the
spirits. Examples of these are given later. This form of supplication
is probably much more common than we are inclined to think. But it is
no easy matter to induce people to give a definite enumeration of minor
rites which they perform constantly and as a matter of course. The
A-Kamba, for instance, when on a journey, and when leaving a spot where
they have camped, throw a firebrand on their path and pray that the
party should reach its destination in safety and proceed together in
amity. This is done by the head of the party, the next man throwing a
few leaves on the firebrand and stepping on it. It is a pretty custom,
although a European of the present day might consider it a somewhat
strenuous method of expressing gratitude! But when people are
constantly travelling through parts of a country infested with lions,
and when their only protection from wild animals is a small camp fire,
one can perhaps understand that they should think it advisable to keep
on the right side of the deity.
At Kikuyu, a man was once seized with a sudden fit. When he recovered
consciousness, he was given a little water. Before drinking it, he
promptly poured a few drops in front of him, then on his right side,
then on his left. This was meant as a kind of silent prayer of
thanksgiving for recovery. He stated that it was his muungu who had
attacked him thus.
Charms are also very common. Many of them are in the nature of
sympathetic magic, whilst others are merely a form of perpetual prayer,
or rather, of materialised prayers. A German missionary, named Brutzer,
gives a good example, and describes the charms worn by a Kamba friend;
one was worn round his neck to protect him against witchcraft in
general; on his wrist was a bracelet containing a charm which would
warn him should there be poison in any beer which might be offered to
him; if his hand shook on raising the gourd to his lips, it would be a
sign of poison. From his elbow two pieces of wood were suspended to
protect him from snake bites. And hanging from his waist was a chain to
ensure riches.
There are also charms against infection; these are carried by a man
when visiting a sick friend. There are charms worn when going to war,
charms worn when love-making, to ensure the return of affection. The
charms usually consist of powdered wood, roots and herbs. The advice of
a medicine man is sought and he recommends a certain plant or tree.
Grain is taken to the plant or tree indicated, and six times a single
grain is thrown at the tree, the remainder of the grain being thrown
the seventh time only. This possibly signifies a sacrifice to the
spirit of the tree. The plant is then dug up, or a piece of wood cut
off the root of the tree and dried and powdered. Sometimes a firebrand
and water are taken to the tree; in this case, the water is placed on
the ground, and the supplicant, closing his eyes, walks six times round
the tree, then stands under it, facing east, and prays, with eyes still
closed: “Tree, I have a favour to ask—I have a sick child or wife or
brother”—as the case may be—“and know not the origin of his sickness,
as he has no trouble with anyone. I come to ask a favour. I come to
you, O Tree, to treat him for it that he may be cured.”
According to some of the missionaries, the natives believe that the
fate of each individual from birth to death is decided beforehand; they
believe, in fact, in predestination. I myself have discovered no trace
of this. A native will sometimes say of a bad character, “Oh, he was
born a bad lot,” but this seems to me too vague a statement to serve as
the basis of a theory. Conscience does not loom very large as a rule.
The Reverend Hoffman, who lived for many years in Kitui, however,
quotes a saying which undoubtedly shows that the natives have some
faint notion of the meaning of it: “Aka nwa Engai” or “God will find
him.” Thus do the Kamba refer to an evil-doer.
The Kamba account of creation is very vague. The first man is said to
have been produced by the high god Engai out of an ant-hill by the sea,
and from him all men are descended. He is referred to as imuuma ndi (he
who came out of the earth).
According to the Reverend Hoffman, there is a saying that “the bird was
created on the fifth day, and the imundu mwei on the sixth day.” No
further explanation of this curious saying is given. The ordinary
meaning of mundu mwei is “man of power or wisdom,” and it is used of
the medicine man. But in the saying above quoted, it probably refers to
mankind generically as opposed to other animals.
Generally speaking, the tribes under consideration attribute the
existence of the world and of its inhabitants to creation by Engai.
Very little abstract spirituality is to be found in their religion.
Almost everything is concrete, and, according to their point of view,
strictly logical. The same is probably true of all religions
appertaining to human beings on a similar plane of culture.
This aspect of religion is a great snare to the European student. Being
the product of a far more complex environment and having been brought
up under the influence of religions of a higher type, he finds it
extremely difficult to avoid either reading more into a ceremony than
actually exists, or, on the other hand, he is apt to overlook some
apparently trivial point which may be of deep significance to the
worshipper.
CHAPTER I
SPIRIT BELIEFS
Ancestral Spirits.—The belief in the vitality of the ancestral spirits
is very strong among both the Kikuyu and the Kamba peoples; the former
call them Ngoma and the latter Aiimu (singular Imu). The A-Kamba
declare that the life breath ngo becomes the Imu. Curiously enough, the
disembodied spirit was called Edimmu by the ancient Assyrians
(according to R. C. Thompson in “Semitic Magic”), and they also
believed that the soul could return to earth and that ghosts were
responsible for many body ills.
Under ordinary circumstances, when a person died and was duly buried
his soul entered the underworld, “the house of darkness, the seat of
the god Irkalla, the house from which none come forth again.” This
would seem to correspond to the Sheol of the Hebrews.
The Assyrian word Edimmu (the root of which is immu) is practically
identical with the Kamba word for the same conception, but there is no
evidence to show that the identity is anything but accidental.
The belief in the ancestral spirit is merely a form of the belief in a
soul, with the difference that the present-day religions of the
civilised world would not admit that the spirits of the departed could
interfere with the life of man. We still find traces of this belief in
Europe in the Feast of All Souls, and in curious ceremonies which take
place in some countries on St John’s Eve.
The Yezidis of Mesopotamia believe that the spirits of the good inhabit
the air, whilst the Kikuyu believe that the ancestral spirits live
underground, and the Kamba that they inhabit certain sacred fig trees.
This latter belief would seem to be particularly widespread. It is
prevalent all over India, and examples of it are to be found at most
places along the east coast of Africa.
The Kikuyu will tell you that there is only one ngoma or spirit for
each person, and that women as well as men possess it. Cattle are said
to have no ngoma, but sometimes they may become possessed with that of
human beings, and an evil spirit will now and again enter their body in
the hope of destroying the poor beast. An animal so possessed is easily
recognised by its peculiar behaviour; it goes about shaking its head,
and tears stream from its eyes. This spirit may be of the same nature
as the evil demons of Semitic mythology. The Kikuyu declare that it can
be driven out by getting the possessed animal to sniff the smoke of a
fire made of the dry fruit of the tree known as Kigelia musa. They
believe that the high god Engai can control the actions of the ngoma,
and they sometimes go to a sacred fig tree, mugumu, and beseech Engai
to protect the people from evil spirits.
It is said that the ngoma of a murdered man flies straight back to his
father’s village and, as a rule, hovers around it; but, should the
murderer run away and hide, the ngoma of his victim will often pursue
and haunt him or else influence events in such a way that the guilty
one will be discovered and handed over to the authorities, who will
deal with him according to tribal law.
I endeavoured to find out from the elders whether the spirit or soul
was supposed to be present in the body during life. But they declared
that all they knew was that ngere, the life breath, was present during
life, and between this and the soul they seemed to make no difference.
They believe, however, that it is dangerous to wake a man suddenly, as
his ngere is away, and, in this semi-conscious condition, he is very
apt to strike you if he should happen to have a weapon at hand.
They have quite a clear conception of the ngoma or spirit of the
departed, the character of which is said to be similar to that of the
person during his or her lifetime.
Unlike the people of Kavirondo, they have no fear of treading on a
man’s shadow.
There are no particular customs connected with suicide, although
suicide is certainly not unknown among them. When people hang or stab
or drown themselves they are supposed to have been possessed by a
malevolent spirit.
The general attitude of the people towards the ancestral spirits has
been described in the introductory chapter, and many concrete examples
will be found in the accounts of the various ceremonies given later.
The influence of these spirit beliefs among the Kamba people has been
very clearly set forth by the Hon. C. Dundas in his paper on Kitui,
R.A.I.J., Vol. xliii, 1913, page 534 et seq.
A quotation from an Assyrian tablet some three thousand years old,
which R. C. Thompson refers to in his “Semitic Magic,” shows how slowly
man changes:
“The Gods which seize (upon man)
Have come forth from the grave.
The evil wind gusts
Have come forth from the grave
To demand the payment of rites and pouring of libations.
They have come forth from the grave,
Have come like a whirlwind.”
The author goes on to say: “Now if the attentions of its friends on
earth should cease and the soul should find nothing to eat and drink,
then it was driven by force of hunger to come back to earth to demand
its due.” This psalm-like utterance might equally well have been made
by a Kikuyu or a Kamba of the present day.
The intense desire of Africans for offspring is probably due to the
fact that children are expected to sacrifice to the spirits of their
dead parents, and the ghost of one who has left no posterity is
therefore in a piteous plight. The spirits generally manifest
themselves through certain women who, falling into a trance, give
utterance to the message with which they are charged (“Ethnology of the
A-Kamba,” p. 86). This reminds one of Saul going to Endor to visit a
woman with a familiar spirit (Sam. xxviii. 7).
Spirits are also said to manifest themselves and give messages to men
in dreams.
The Kitui people say that sometimes when a snake, crawling outside a
hut, is attacked, it will suddenly vanish, and they then know that it
was the imu of a deceased person which had either assumed the form of a
snake or entered the body of a snake. A few days afterwards, a woman
will become possessed and fall into a state of semi-trance, and the imu
will speak through her mouth and say: “I came into the village the
other day, and So-and-so wanted to strike me.” Whereupon the people
think it just as well to sacrifice a goat to sooth the feelings of the
injured spirit.
The Kamba people, unlike the Kikuyu, do not believe that spirits enter
into kimbu or caterpillars.
When a hyæna comes and howls near a village, it is looked upon as an
evil omen and as a token of death, and the beast is generally driven
away and killed, if possible. They very probably believe that an evil
demon has assumed the shape of a hyæna. In the Assyrian tablets mention
is made of a spirit called Alu which slinks through the streets at
night like a pariah dog and harms people.
There is a curious custom in Ukamba which throws some light on the
spiritual beliefs of the people. If a young unmarried man is killed
away from his village, his imu or spirit will return there and speak to
the people through the medium of an old woman in a dance (see p. 86,
author’s work on the A-Kamba), and say, “I am So-and-so speaking, and I
want a wife.” The youth’s father will then make arrangements to buy a
girl from another village and bring her to his, and she will be
mentioned as the wife of the deceased, speaking of him by name. She
will presently be married to a brother of the deceased, but she must
continue to live in the village where the deceased had his home.
If at any time the corporeal husband beats or ill-treats her, and she
in consequence runs away to her father, the imu of the deceased will
come and pester the people of the village and they will have bad luck;
it will probably ask, through the usual medium, why his wife has been
ill-treated and driven away. The head of the family will then take
steps to induce the girl to return for fear of the wrath of the spirit
of his deceased son.
To those who wish to obtain full insight into the sociology of these
people, it is of the utmost importance to have a clear understanding of
the native’s point of view, and to bear in mind that the ancestral
spirits are a very real and vital thing to him and have a very deep
influence upon his life.
The leaders of psychical research allege that the survival of human
personality after death has been scientifically proved, and that, under
favourable circumstances, communications from the dead have been
received. If this be so, might it not be said that races on a lower
plane of culture are possibly more sensitive to such influences and
that their belief in the activity of the ancestral spirits is therefore
not wholly unreasonable? The evidence for this, however, is at present
quite insufficient to satisfy most, although we think that the question
is one which deserves further consideration.
Tree Spirits.—When clearing a forest to make a cultivated field, the
Kikuyu people generally leave a large and conspicuous tree in the
clearing. Such a tree is called murema kiriti and is believed to
collect the spirits from all other trees which have been cut down in
the vicinity. We have here an interesting example of animism, the
spirits so collected being most emphatically declared to be tree, and
not human spirits. Now if this tree shows signs of decay and is liable
to be blown down, they decide to fell it. Before taking this step,
however, they sacrifice a red ram at the foot of the tree, the ram
being, as usual, killed by suffocation. The tree is then cut down, and
when this is done, the elders take branches from two sacred bushes,
mukenya and muthakwa, and plant them on each side of the stump of the
fallen tree; two elders cut the mukenya, and two the muthakwa. The
elders then say “Nitukuria muti tutemeti,” which means “We pray for
this tree we have cut down,” and pour the melted tail-fat of the ram
over the stump, smearing the tatha or stomach contents of the animal
over the trunk of the fallen tree. The wood from such a tree can only
be used by a senior elder, by a very old woman, or for the making of
beehives. If young people were to use this particular fuel, they would
become ill or die; old people are supposed to be ordinarily immune
against the operation of most curses or thahu. It is believed that when
a tree is cut down the spirits leave it and settle in another big tree,
and, if the above ceremonial is observed, they are not angry and do not
vent their spite upon the people, or, as they say, no thahu falls upon
them. If such a tree blows down, the spirits are supposed to avenge
themselves on the elders, who are held responsible for not having taken
the necessary precautions, and they are very apt to die.
There is great similarity between this and the lore concerning the
spirit of the oak, mentioned by Professor Frazer. And, from a different
point of view, it may also be considered as an example of the slaying
of the divine king, expressed in terms of trees: fear that harm may
befall the spirit or spirits of the tree, and the consequent ceremonial
killing of the tree and arranging for the comfortable and formal
migration of the spirits to another tree, or to a new dwelling place.
The A-Kamba of Kibwezi have a similar belief: before cutting down a big
solitary tree in a clearing, an elder and a very old woman must pour
beer and corn at its foot. The man pours out the beer, and the woman
the corn. The tree is then felled, and, taking a branch from it, they
place it against another tree some little distance away, and declare
that the spirit of the fallen tree will then go quietly into its new
abode.
In Ukamba of Ulu, Mr Osborne states that his people told him that to
fell an ithembo tree would, of course, be considered absolute
sacrilege, and according to tradition it was the felling of an ithembo
tree on the Iveti Hills by an official of the I.B.E.A. Co. which gave
rise to the attacks by the A-Kamba on the Government Station at
Machakos in about 1892.
Large trees, however, which are not ithembo trees appear to have a
certain sanctity, and when, for reasons of utility or safety, the
felling of such trees becomes necessary the following ceremony is
practised:
The trunk of the tree to be felled is plastered with the sap of the
waithu shrub as a ngnondu.
A small branch of the tree is broken off and placed against some
smaller tree in the vicinity.
Some earth at the foot of the tree is also taken and placed at the foot
of the smaller tree.
The elders then assemble with some beer at the tree to be cut down, and
a little of the beer is poured out at the foot of the doomed tree,
accompanied by some such prayer as—“We give this beer as a gift to the
Engai, if one lives here, and ask him to go to another tree.”
The rest of the beer is then drunk by the assembled elders.
The larger parts of the tree are taken by the elders of ithembo to
manufacture into honey barrels, whilst the rest is carried off as
firewood by the women entitled to sacrifice at the ithembo.
Non-observance of this ceremony is supposed to bring death on the man
who cuts the tree down, and on all who make use of the timber.
Miscellaneous Spirit Worship.—There are some traces of the belief in
river spirits. For instance, at places where there are waterfalls like
on the Chania and Thika, the elders, in passing, will spit into the
river or throw a little grass into it.
There is a sacred rock near Thembigwa, close to a stream called
Kichii—a tributary of the Ruaraka—where the natives pluck tufts of
grass as they pass by and throw them on the rock.
If a tree has blown down and fallen across the path, grass is again
placed on the fallen trunk. Sometimes, too, stones are laid on a fallen
tree. When people come upon the skull of a dead elephant in the bush,
they also place grass on it.
The origin of all these customs appears to be lost.
Certain plants are believed to be maleficent, and are possibly thought
to be connected with bad spirits. There is a creeper called mwinyuria,
which is said to possess sap like blood; the story is told how one day,
near Kirawa, three men named Nbota, Kigondu, and Kacheru, cut one of
these plants which was growing near a sacred fig tree, and died the
same day. When cut, the released end is alleged to spring out like the
lash of a whip. This creeper is rare in Kikuyu, but is said to be
common in the Kibwezi bush.
The Scapegoat.—The Kikuyu have a ceremony which appears to be an
undoubted example of a belief which may be grouped with the Semitic
doctrine of the scapegoat.
If a serious epidemic visits a village, the elders take a ram, a
he-goat or a ewe lamb which has not yet borne, mwati, and slaughter it
at the village. They cut pieces of meat from the carcase and impale
them on wooden skewers, ndara or njibe. The men and women of the
village then each take a piece, walk away some distance from the
village and throw it into the bush. They firmly believe that the
disease will be carried away with the pieces of meat.
The remaining meat is roasted at a fire and eaten by the villagers; the
bones are collected at the place where the meat was roasted and are
broken up and the marrow extracted and eaten. Beer is prepared, and
next morning at dawn, some is poured on the bones and the hyænas come
and carry off the fragments.
When they pour the libation of beer on the place of the fire, they pray
as follows: “Twa oria ichua twa oria murimu utika choke muchi”—which
means, “We put out the fire at the place where we roasted the meat, we
put out the sickness so that it cannot return again to our village.”
Everyone must be awakened before the beer is poured out. The beer is
put into an ox-horn and into a piece of gourd, ndayi, the former being
held in the right hand and the latter in the left. The beer in the
right hand is poured out first to appease the male ngoma, that in the
left to appease the female ngoma.
From the ceremony taking place at the village it is clear that the
people believe that the ancestral spirits alone require to be
propitiated.
The Scapegoat Idea in Kitui.—If a village is afflicted by a serious
sickness, the headman will call in a medicine man who concocts some
medicine by grinding up the roots of the following plants: muthumba,
kiongoa (an aloe), mulema, nthata, kivumbu, and mutaa. A small boy and
girl are then chosen from among the inhabitants, the villagers all
congregate together, and the small boy leads a goat twice round the
group, followed by the little girl and led by the medicine man; the
party then passes through the centre of the group of people. The
medicine man next makes an incision in the right ear of the goat, and
the blood from this is allowed to drip into a half gourd containing the
above-mentioned magical concoction, mixed with water. The villagers
then form up into a procession and, led by the medicine man, run for
some distance into the bush towards the setting sun, no one being
allowed to look backwards. The medicine man then stops and throws the
mixture of medicine and blood in front of him, and the people return.
This ceremony is performed in the early afternoon, after two p.m. That
night, the village head must cohabit with his wife. This point is
considered a matter of such importance that the elder has to take the
kithito oath that it has been done.
A Kikuyu Oracle.—There lives in South Kikuyu-land an elder named
Kichura or Thiga wa Wairumbi wa Kaumo of the Kachiko clan and the
Njenga generation or rika, who is credited with the extraordinary power
of being the recipient of messages from the Supreme Being, and in
consequence possesses the gift of prophecy. He was interviewed and
cross-examined by the writer, and stated that at intervals, about twice
a year, during the night, he falls into a deeper sleep than usual, a
trance in fact, and that while in this condition he is taken out of his
bed and statements are made to him by a voice, but he cannot see who
gives him the message. The trance always occurs at night, and he is
generally taken outside his house while in this cataleptic condition,
but says that he never remembers being able to distinguish the huts or
any familiar objects in the village. The interior of the hut appears to
him to be lighted up, and the message comes with a booming sound which
he understands.
He stated that one day when visiting an elder named Kibutu, he was
seized during the night and taken bodily through the thatch of the
roof, and was found on the top of the hut next morning. On another
occasion a young man of the warrior class, mwanake, belonging to his
village, was sleeping alongside him in his hut when he was temporarily
carried off, and the young man’s hair all came off as if it had been
shaved, and in the morning it was found lying in a heap on the floor by
the bed, the owner having no idea how this had occurred.
He does not sleep in an ordinary hut with his wife, but in a thengira
or bachelor hut with another elder. When he is seized with one of his
trances the other elder will wake up and find he has gone, but does not
see him go or return.
The day following one of his seizures he collects the elders and
delivers his message. He states that after one of these seizures he is
very exhausted, and for three days cannot rise from his bed. His father
and paternal grandfather had this gift or power. His father told him
that his paternal grandmother had three breasts, two on her bosom and
one on her back, but he did not say whether he considered that this had
any connection with the other phenomena.
He stated that he believed the gift came from God and not from the
ngoma or ancestral spirits, and that if he did not deliver to the
people the messages he received he would be stricken with sickness. He
says that he was invested with this power when he was a stripling, soon
after he had been circumcised. One morning he woke up with his two
hands tightly clasped, and he passed blood instead of urine for nine
days. A big medicine man named Wangnendu was then called in, a goat was
killed, and the medicine man tied rukwaru bracelets of the skin on to
the patient’s wrists. The hæmaturia then stopped, and his hands
relaxed, and he was able to open them, and it was found that he had
fifteen mbugu in each hand. These are white stones such as are used in
a medicine man’s divination gourd. The medicine man then brought a
small medicine gourd and placed the mbugu therein.
Kichura still has the gourd with the thirty mbugu, and relates how on
one occasion his hut was burnt down and his gourd was destroyed in the
fire, but that the mbugu were found quite uninjured in the ashes. He
was asked whether he considered that his powers were intimately
connected with these stones; he declared that he did not believe he
could lose them, but if by some mischance, however, they should be lost
God would give him some more, and that even if they were lost he would
receive oracles as before.
He gave examples of the kind of messages he received. On one occasion,
some time before the advent of Europeans, he was told that the Masai
would be severely stricken with small-pox, and that subsequently many
would settle among the Kikuyu, and shortly afterwards it happened
accordingly. On another occasion he was told that a white race would
enter the country and that they and the Kikuyu would live side by side
in this country, and now it has come to pass.
He was seized before the great famine of 1900 and foretold its arrival.
Later, he was told to inform the Kikuyu to sacrifice a white sheep, a
red sheep, and a black male goat at the mugumu, sacred fig trees, and
that the chief Kinanjui was to sacrifice a mori, white heifer, at the
head waters of the Mbagathi River. These orders were obeyed, and the
famine and small-pox were lifted from the land.
Early in the present season he was told that the maize and other grains
would be lost by drought, and that the food now being planted (April,
1911) would come to a good harvest. He was also told that during the
present year the young people would suffer greatly from dysentery, and
that they were to sacrifice sheep at the sacred fig trees, and that the
women and children were to put bracelets from the skins of the
sacrificed sheep on their wrists. Many have done so, and those who have
obeyed will escape the visitation. After this he says that small-pox
will come from the west of the country, and attack people from Karuri’s
(east slopes of Nandarua Mountain) to Limoru. The disease will
gradually work its course eastward and decrease in intensity. When he
delivers one of his oracular utterances the athuri ya kiama, elders of
the council, bring him a sheep and a gourd of beer. He kills the former
and eats it, and the beer is returned to the elders to drink.
He says that sometimes when rain does not come he is accused of
stopping it, but that such accusations are due to ignorance, as he is
merely the unconscious and involuntary agent for utterances from a
Supreme Power, and that all he can do in such cases is to take a sheep
to a sacred fig tree, sacrifice it there, and pray for rain, just like
any other elder who is qualified to do so.
In Ukamba, many years ago, a famous medicine man, Kathengi by name, is
said to have prophesied the coming of the white men and their
domination of the country.
CHAPTER II
SACRIFICE
Although this rite has often been referred to and described in a
somewhat desultory way by various writers, it seems to have received
very little serious attention. The subject is, however, one which
undoubtedly contains many features of great interest and is certainly
deserving of special examination and study. There is little doubt that
if we can only fully understand the relations of a people to their gods
we have advanced a long way towards a realisation of their moral and
intellectual development.
It is first proposed to examine the Kikuyu ceremonial.
Among this tribe sacrifice is of two kinds:
(1) The sacrifice at the sacred fig tree, or mugumu, which is always
intended as an act of communion with a deity or high god called Engai.
This sacrifice may be either a communal rite, or it may be a personal
matter for the head of a village.
(2) The other sacrifice is carried out in a village and is intended as
an offering to the spirits of the ancestors who are supposed to live
underground. This may be either a communal or an individual act.
Dotted about Kikuyu are numbers of great wild fig trees (Ficus
capensis), many of which are used from generation to generation as
sacred shrines or places of sacrifice, called mugumu or muti wa Engai.
Certain big medicine men like Njau wa Kabocha have special trees; it
appears that the original choice of a tree as a sacred place devolved
on certain notable medicine men, and if a sacred tree happens to fall
owing to age, the elders assemble there and sacrifice a ram and a male
goat; they eat one half and leave the other half of each carcase at the
tree and pour the fat over the stump of the fallen tree to appease the
deity.
It is then the duty of the local magician and the elders of ukuru to
choose another tree. They sacrifice at the new tree, and if their
prayers are answered they know that it is acceptable to Engai, but, if
after several trials no result is obtained, they dedicate another to
the service of Engai.
The idea of sacrilege is very marked. If, for instance, an impious
person cuts a portion of a sacred tree, dire results are believed to
ensue, and the elders make the offender pay a ram and a male goat.
These are sacrificed at the tree, and the elders apply a strip of the
skin to the place where the incision was made in the tree and anoint it
with fat and the tatha or stomach contents. The breast of the ram is
cut off and hung in the tree, and the remainder of the carcase and the
whole of the carcase of the goat, eaten by the elders.
No beast or bird can be killed or shot in a sacred tree. The sacred
tree and its environs is often called Kithangaona cha inja, which means
the “sacred place of the ceremonies.” On the occasion of a sacrifice
the elders of ukuru send word to the elders of Athamaki or Athuri ya
mburi nne or elders of four goats and any senior to that grade, saying
tuthieni mutini—“Let us go to the tree.” No elder whose father is alive
can attend. No elder must go to the tree in a state of anger; no one
must display anger with a wife, child, or even a stranger the day
before he attends at the tree.
Elders of both of the circumcision guilds go together to the sacred
tree and also elders of all clans.
If two elders, or their people, have a blood feud they are not allowed
to attend or take part in a sacrifice at the sacred tree until the feud
is at an end; if they do, they are supposed to die.
A person who is alien to the tribe, but who has been formally admitted
to it, may attend a sacrifice.
Oaths or ordeals are not administered at the sacred tree.
Strict celibacy must be observed the night before they go to sacrifice
and the night after. The night before, they sleep in their usual huts,
but the night after, they sleep in the thengira or goat hut. The
morning following the sacrifice they go and bathe in a river and then
resume their ordinary life.
A departure from this rule of celibacy by anyone present will entirely
spoil the efficacy of the sacrifice, and, if an offender is discovered,
he will have to pay a fine of two goats, and the elders will spit on
him ceremonially and sacrifice afresh on the following day.
Arms must not be taken to the sacred tree. The elders wear their usual
garments.
The following things are collected on the day before the sacrifice at
the village of the elder who provides the sacrificial ram, and that
night they stay at his village:
2 gourds of honey beer.
2 gourds of sugar cane beer.
1 cooking pot.
1 half gourd.
1 small knife for skinning the sacrifice
and making the incision to bleed it.
The sacrifice is always a ram, and it is called ngorima. One year it
will be black, but if that particular year the seasons are not
propitious they consider that the deity is displeased and therefore
change the colour, choosing either a red or a white one.
In former times a he-goat was said to be sacrificed before going to
war. The ram must have the clan mark on its ears, and must also have
had its tail cut.
The provision of the sacrificial animals is settled by the elders, who
pick the donors by rotation. At a specially important sacrificial
ceremony, however, an important medicine man is called in and decides
who shall provide the ram.
The proper time for a communal sacrifice is about two p.m., but private
sacrifices take place at nine a.m.
It is said that the later time is usual for a communal sacrifice
because it takes some time for elders who live far away to reach the
place.
When the assembly arrives at the tree, one of the elders lifts up the
ram into a standing position on its hind legs, facing the tree. This is
called Kurugamia ngorima mugumuini—“To stand the ram before the tree.”
The idea is probably to show the sacrificial animal ceremonially to the
deity.
Only senior elders are allowed to go to the actual foot of the tree,
and the elders of the four goat grade collect the wood for the ichua
fire.
A gourd of honey and one of sugar cane beer are then poured into the
ground at the base of the tree and the elders call out: “Twa kuthaitha
Engai twa kuhoia mburi twa kuhoia indo chiothi”—“We pray to God, we
sacrifice a goat, we offer all things.”
It is curious that they use the word mburi, which really signifies a
goat, whilst the Kikuyu use the word mburi in a collective sense,
which, in this way, often refers to sheep as well as goats.
The sheep is then suffocated by clasping its muzzle. As soon as it is
insensible, but before it is actually dead, its throat is pierced by
the sacrificial knife and the blood is collected in the half gourd
called kinga, mentioned above. The blood is then poured out at the foot
of the sacred tree, cf. Exodus xxix. 10: “And thou shalt slay the ram
and thou shalt take his blood and sprinkle it round about upon the
altar.” The animal can be strangled by any elder present, and it does
not appear to be the duty of any particular person to pierce the
animal’s throat. It is said that the animal is strangled so that its
life breath should not escape. A sheep killed for food is also
strangled, but an animal which has its throat cut can also be eaten.
Should an ox be killed, it is stabbed at the back of the neck, but an
ox is said never to be offered as a sacrifice.
The right half of the carcase is then skinned, that portion being cut
away and removed, and the left half wrapped in the skin and placed at
the foot of the tree and left there. This is believed to be eaten by a
hyæna or wild cat which is moved to do so by the deity.
A fire is then lit at a little distance from the tree and the pieces of
meat from it are stuck on skewers, roasted and eaten by the elders. In
olden times this fire was always supposed to be kindled from new fire
made by friction, but nowadays a firebrand is often brought from a
village, or better still from a fire in a garden.
The place at which this sacrificial fire is kindled is called ichua.
The meat is laid on the branches of certain sacred trees, viz:
1. Muthakwa.
2. Nahoroa.
3. Muthigio.
4. Mugumu.
5. Mararia.
which are collectively termed mathinjiro. The skewers used for roasting
the meat are called ndara, and must be of muthakwa and muthigio wood.
The branches and the skewers have to be burnt in the sacred fire on the
same day as that on which the meat is cooked. The burning of these is
said to be in the nature of a prayer to Engai, and it is specifically
stated that this is not done for fear of anyone using these branches
and skewers as fuel as everyone would dread touching them.
When the meat is cooked, it is eaten by the elders, who each drink a
horn of beer. The fat of the ram is boiled down in the cooking pot
provided for the purpose, and one of the elders climbs into the sacred
tree, and pours the liquid fat on to the main stem of the tree. The
breast of the ram is often cut out and also hung up in the tree. Cf.
Exodus xxix. 26: “And thou shalt take the breast of the ram and wave it
for a wave offering before the Lord.” The bones of the portion of the
sacrificial ram eaten by the elders are each broken into two parts and
placed at the foot of the tree, the marrow not being extracted. Not a
single piece of the meat may be taken back to the villages. The elders
then retire some little distance away and chant as follows: “Tathai
Engai mwangi utue mbura”—“We Mwangi elders pray God to give us rain.”
If, of course, the sacrifice is for another object the prayer is
varied. After the prayer no man must look back at the tree. Each man
returns to his village. Next morning the principal wife of each elder
goes to the tree and deposits at its foot offerings of uncooked bananas
and various kinds of grain.
If, however, they notice that the sacrificial meat is untouched they do
not deposit their offerings, but retire to some distance and call out
to their husbands, telling them that Engai has refused the sacrifice.
The elders assemble and send the women back with their offerings. They
then select another elder and direct him to provide a fresh ram, which
is sacrificed as before. They pray to Engai and beg him not to refuse
their sacrifice a second time, as they have brought a fatter sheep.
Their exhortation is: “Tiga Engai kutumbia”—“Beg God not to refuse.”
The women come again on the following morning, and, if the meat is
eaten, they leave their offerings and return to their villages,
chanting a pæan of joy as they go. The chant is called Ngemi, and is a
form of what is usually known as “ululuing.”
They sacrifice at the sacred trees to invoke rain, and they also
sacrifice to check the progress of an epidemic, when they say: “Kurinda
murimo utikaoki muji”—“To stop the sickness that it may not come to the
village.”
They sacrifice and pray for relief from famine: “Kuoya mugumuini
ngnaragu ithire”—“To pray at the mugumu tree that the hunger may
finish.”
Here again a ram is sacrificed, but before the animal is killed an
important magician pours medicine into its mouth, and also squirts beer
from his own mouth into that of the ram.
Unlike other tribes, they neither shave their heads nor deposit
offerings of hair at the sacred tree. It is said that sometimes lights
are seen at night in a sacred tree, and the following day they hasten
to sacrifice there. Every season, when the maize is just coming up, the
elders summon the important medicine men to go with them to the sacred
tree to sacrifice. One of the magicians pours medicine into the mouth
of the sacrificial ram before it is killed, and also pours it on the
fire on which the meat is roasted. The bones of the animal are then
burnt in the fire. These are supposed to be burnt so that the smoke may
ascend into the sacred tree and be pleasing to the deity. “It is a
burnt offering to the Lord: it is sweet savour an offering made by fire
unto the Lord” (Exodus xxix. 18).
The blood is caught in a half gourd, njeli or kinga, and then placed in
an ox horn; one half is poured at the foot of the sacred tree, the
other half being mixed with tiny pieces of intestinal fat and placed in
the large intestine of the sacrificial ram. This is roasted over the
fire and eaten by the senior elders of ukuru. The mixture is called
ndundiru.
Near the time of the harvest, when the crops are ripe, but before they
are cut, the elders take a ram to the sacred place and slaughter it.
They pour the blood at the foot of the tree and pray: “Engai twaoka
kukui enyama tutikarware enda twa getha iriu wega”—“O God we have to
bring meat so that we may not get ill, for we have good crops and are
glad.”
The elders then eat the meat. After the feast, they take the tatha or
stomach contents of the sacrificial ram and sprinkle it over the ripe
crops, and also sprinkle some over the mukumbi or big wicker bottles in
the grain huts and over the big gourds in which grain is stored. It is
believed that if the elders failed to do this, the people would suffer
greatly from diarrhœa. The last two rites are evidently rudimentary
forms of the ancient Semitic ritual of the offering of the firstfruits,
or cereal oblation. The sprinkling of the crops and of the grain
receptacles with tatha indicate either a conservation of the crop for
human consumption, or a purification of it from all influences which
might be harmful to the consumers. The latter is probably more in
accordance with their line of thought.
On the particular day when sacrifices for rain are offered, no one may
touch the earth with iron; not even a spear or sword may be rested on
the ground, as the sacrifice would then be useless.
The Kamba have a somewhat similar belief, and think that to till the
soil with iron drives away the rain.
Among the Kikuyu, however, the ground on such days must not be struck
by anything, and an elder may not even strike his mithege staff into
the ground in the usual way.
Sacrifices for good crops are also made at the mugumu trees by medicine
men. On the same day, a mwanake (a young man of warrior age) patrols
the whole district (ridge) with a torch, which he finally throws on the
ground. No one may then come from another ridge or leave the ridge to
go to another.
Sanctuary.—The ancient idea of a sanctuary at a holy place is known to
the Kikuyu. If a murderer, or a person who has committed a serious
crime, runs to a sacred place and touches the tree, he is safe from
vengeance. The criminal cannot, of course, stay indefinitely at the
tree or he would starve, but the elders come and take him away, and his
life is safe. He cannot, however, re-enter a village, and his clans-men
have to go to the tree and sacrifice a ram, which they are supposed to
offer in exchange for him. He is smeared with the tatha, and a line of
white earth, ira, is drawn from his forehead to the tip of his nose by
a senior elder, of ukuru. After which he is tahikia, or ceremonially
purified, and can return to his family. All the meat of the sacrifice
is eaten by the elders, and none is left at the tree. Some of the
tatha, however, is sprinkled at the foot with the object of purifying
the spot where the criminal stood. In a case of this sort the criminal
does not pay blood money himself, but his blood relatives have to pay
for him. If in war an enemy were pursued and took sanctuary at a sacred
place, he could not be attacked whilst he was there, but would probably
be seized and killed at some distance from the sacred place.
If, again, a man should kill a tribesman, he can run to the house of
his victim’s father and, by confessing his crime, obtain sanctuary
there. The father will then kill a ram and place a strip of skin on the
right wrist of the homicide, who must have his hand shaved and be
ceremonially purified by a medicine man—tahikia, as it is termed. He
will henceforth become as the son of the deceased’s father.
Private Sacrifice to the Deity.—The head of a village usually has a
private sacred tree at which he sacrifices to the deity for good
fortune or for assistance in times of trouble.
The ceremony described by Routledge—“A Prehistoric People,” pages
232–734—is a private sacrifice to the deity.
As we have said before, women are not allowed to attend a sacrifice to
the deity at one of the regular sacred trees. But at a private
sacrifice for good fortune, carried out at a sacred tree belonging to a
particular village, the village elders attend with their wives and
children, their cattle, sheep and goats.
The sacrificial ram is killed, and the whole family, as well as flocks
and herds, are smeared with fat. The party then returns home, uttering
the usual African cry of joy, sometimes called “ululuing” which the
Kikuyu term ngemi.
The women and children are not actually allowed to come near the tree,
but must remain some little distance away. The people belonging to the
Masai circumcision guild use muzigio, mutumaiyu (Olea chrysophylla), or
mugumu trees for their private sacrifices. They would probably begin
with a mutumaiyu or muzigio tree, and if the luck was not good they
would change to a mugumu. Those belonging to the Kikuyu guild use
either mugumu or muthakwa trees.
In a private sacrifice, the skin of the sacrificial ram is taken back
to the village and presented to the head wife of the elder, but this is
never done at a public communal sacrifice.
The night before the sacrifice, the elders of the village sleep in
their own huts, but must observe celibacy. The night after, they sleep
in the goat hut or thengira.
For two days before and after a sacrifice, no stranger is allowed to
sleep in a village; nothing is sent out of the village to sell, and
nothing is allowed to be carried away. If a stranger comes, he can be
fed, but he must eat the food there and not take it away. At both a
public and private sacrifice the eyes of a ram must be very carefully
removed from the carcase, for it is considered an extremely bad omen if
an eye should burst during extraction, and a fresh sacrificial ram then
has to be provided.
Two days after a private sacrifice, ceremonial beer drinking takes
place at the village, the men drinking together in the goat hut, or
thengira, and the women in the hut of the principal wife; this is
called a kithangaona ya muchi. During the ceremony they pray to the
deity: “Twa thuitha Engai utue endo chiothi chiana na mburi na
ngombe”—“We pray thee, O God, that you will give us all things,
children, goats, and cattle.”
On the morning of the day following a private sacrifice the wives go to
the sacred tree and deposit offerings of grain, bananas, and other
things.
Sacrifice to Ancestral Spirits.—In addition to the sacrifice at the
sacred trees to the deity Engai, the Kikuyu sacrifice to the ngoma, or
ancestral spirits. These rites, however, never take place at the sacred
trees, but in a village, close to the village shrine.
The animal sacrificed is a ram. It is killed in the same way as those
sacrificed to the deity, the carcase being laid upon branches from
certain sacred trees, viz:
Mukuyu—Ficus sp:
Mutumaiyu—Olea chrysophylla.
Muthakwa—Vernonia sp:
Mutare.
Mugumu—Ficus capensis.
The branches are called mathinjiro.
Four skewers, ndara, are cut from each of the above species, and the
pieces of meat which are eaten are impaled upon the skewers and roasted
at a fire specially kindled for the purpose, called ichua and muzigia.
Mutumaiyu or makuri wood must be used.
The branches on which the meat has rested, as well as the skewers, must
be burnt the same day in the fire on which the meat was cooked. Early
next morning, before sunrise, beer is poured on the spot.
The ichua fire was formerly kindled on the spot from new fire made by
friction, but nowadays it is supposed to be brought from a village.
These sacrifices generally take place at about nine a.m.
An elder usually sacrifices a ram every three months or so at the grave
of his father. He pours blood, fat, and beer upon it and leaves the
skin there.
If the father died away from home, on a journey, the son proceeds some
distance along the road by which the father left and sacrifices a ram
by the roadside. The son and his wives eat the meat of the sacrifice,
but a wife married after the father’s death, as well as the man’s
children, are not allowed to touch it.
The sacrifice must take place before sunrise. This would seem to be a
very common feature in many ancient sacrifices, and some authorities
consider that it may be in some way connected with the worship of
Venus, the morning star. It is, of course, a difficult question to
settle, but I would venture to suggest that it is more likely to have
some connection with the idea that ancestral spirits are more active at
night, and therefore more appreciative of attention, and that they
lapse into inaction with the sunrise.
There appears to be no particular day in the month for the celebration
of these sacrifices.
If, on the occasion of a sacrifice at the sacred tree, the elders
chance to see a snake, they say that it is a ngoma, or ancestral
spirit, which has taken the form of a snake, and endeavour to pour a
little of the blood from the sacrificial ram on its head, back, and
tail.
If the owner of the village should meet a large caterpillar, called
thatu, near the gate, he pours a little fat and milk in its path; if it
turns back, all is well. If, on the other hand, it should walk round
the spot where the fat, and so forth, was poured, and still come on
towards the village, the people know that it is a spirit which has
assumed the form of a caterpillar, and a ram is sacrificed in the
village. If one of these caterpillars is found in a food hut, a ram is
again sacrificed for the same reason.
Should anyone set fire to the grass or scrub on the spot where the dead
are thrown out, spirits of the departed are supposed to be heard
calling out. When this happens, the person who lit the fire gives a
ram, which must be killed on the spot, and the elders of ukuru sprinkle
the tatha all round to appease the ngoma.
Sometimes a spirit will come and call in a peculiar way outside a
village at night. The people believe that it is hungry, and next day
sacrifice a ram.
The elders, when they eat, always throw a little food to the spirits
before commencing their meal, and at a beer-drinking always pour a
little beer on the ground to propitiate the spirits so that they may
not harm them. Women, too, when they are cooking porridge or gruel,
invariably throw some on the ground for the spirits.
Description of a Sacrifice at a Sacred Fig Tree in Kikuyu. (Witnessed
by the Author.)—The elders first took some sugar cane and poured a
little on each side and in front of the tree, praying at the same time.
The sacrificial ram was then strangled, held up before the tree, and
its throat pierced. The blood was collected in a cow’s horn and a
little poured out on each side of the tree and allowed to trickle down
the trunk. At this stage of the proceedings another prayer was uttered.
A strip of skin and fat running from the throat of the carcase down to
its belly, and including the genitals, was then cut off and hung up on
a small branch projecting from the tree. The elders now prayed again.
After this the ram was dismembered and the feast took place.
If the head of a village notices the appearance of disease among his
flocks and herds, or among his people, he sacrifices at his own sacred
tree. But he first of all consults a mundu mugo, or medicine man, to
find out whether the affliction comes from the high god or is due to
the offended ngoma, or ancestral spirits. The medicine man throws his
stones, and if, after sorting them into little heaps, the balance left
is eight, he knows the trouble comes from the high god; if, on the
other hand, the balance is seven, the trouble is attributed to the
ngoma or ancestral spirits.
For a man, the heap consists of five stones, and for a woman three.
The sacrificial ram is obtained from a neighbour.
If a bad storm comes and damages the crops, or if there is too much
rain or a drought, a large assembly of elders is convened. They meet
and sacrifice at the communal place of sacrifice, called the big
mugumu.
Sacrifice among A-Kamba.—We will now examine the ceremonial connected
with sacrifice among the A-Kamba, and principally among those of Kitui.
These people have two kinds of sacred places, or mathembo (singular,
ithembo).
(1) Sacred places for the whole country, or rather for each big
division of the country, at which they pray and sacrifice to Engai or
Mulungu for rain, and in the event of a pestilence among human beings
and cattle.
(2) Sacred places for a group of two or three villages, where they pray
to the aiimu, or ancestral spirits, on the occasion of sickness among
people or cattle.
The holy places are almost always at a tree. For the first-mentioned a
fig tree of the species known as mumo is chosen. For the village
shrine, on the other hand, the tree may be either a mumo, fig tree,
another variety of wild fig called mumbo, or a mutundu tree.
The mode of procedure of a sacrifice for rain at an ithembo of the
first kind may be taken as an example, and the following description
was given by a couple of leading elders:
On the day settled for the ceremony, the elders of ithembo assemble
early in the morning, and at about nine a.m. proceed slowly to the
sacred place, taking with them an nthengi, or male goat, usually black
in colour, as well as milk, snuff, and a small quantity of every kind
of produce which is grown.
The following were specified: mbaazi (cajanus), mawele (millet), mtama
(sorghum), bananas, wimbi (penicillaria), sugar cane, beans, sweet
potatoes, cassava, and pumpkins; also some sugar cane beer (honey beer
is not allowed), red trade beads and cowries, the leaves of a sweet
smelling plant called mutaa, butter and gruel.
The men lead the goat and carry the milk, gruel, snuff, and beer, each
one putting a little butter in the milk, whilst the other items are
carried to the tree by the old women.
The women are not allowed to approach the tree, but dance together some
distance away; as mentioned above, the ceremony commences at about nine
a.m., and goes on till about two p.m., when the actual sacrifice takes
place. The proceedings are not hurried, as some of the elders have to
travel long distances before reaching the spot.
Six senior elders and six old women are selected, and all proceed to
the tree; they can wear their loin cloths, but their blankets are taken
off and left some distance away. The men go first and taste a little of
the milk, gruel, and beer, which they spit out at the foot of the tree,
and then give way to the old women who go through the same ceremony.
The men again return to the tree and pour the balance of the milk and
so forth at its foot. Each elder now puts some of the snuff in the palm
of his hands, takes a little, and deposits the remainder. The women
again come up and pour the foodstuffs at the foot of the sacred tree,
the butter being smeared on it.
When the offerings are deposited, the officiating elders—one can almost
call them priests—pray as follows: “Mulungu chao ya nekeu twenda nbua
na aka machisi na ngombe kisia na mbui kisia engai tupiengea muimu andu
ma kakwe”—“Mulungu, this is food. We desire rain and wives and cattle
and goats to bear, and we pray God that our people may not die of
sickness.”
The sacrifice of the goat comes next, but before this is done, they
take the roots of two trees called mriti and muthumba, grind them
together, mix them with water, and make the animal drink the mixture
with a view to sanctifying it. This done, they lead the goat up to the
tree, stand it on its hind legs before the tree, or, as they say,
“show” it; its throat is then pierced and the blood allowed to flow
over the offerings previously enumerated. The carcase is skinned and an
incision made from the throat to the stomach. The upper portion of the
skull with the horns is cut off and buried at the foot of the tree. The
leg bones, however, must not be broken, but carefully disarticulated at
the knee-joints and elbows. Small pieces of meat are cut from every
part of the carcase and from every internal organ and deposited at the
foot of the tree. The meat is then divided, the left shoulder and part
of the back is given to the officiating old women, whilst the elders
take the rest. (Cf. Exodus xii. 46: “The bones of the meat of the
passover feast must not be broken.”)
Each party, male and female, lights a separate fire and eats, the
selected officiating elders eating with their fellows. The fire must be
made of the wood of a mumo tree, not that of the sacred tree, but of
another of the same species. The six men and six women each impale a
fragment of the meat on a skewer of mumo wood, roast and eat it. This
is a ceremonial meal, and when it is over the remainder of the meat is
divided up, and any kind of firewood can be used for cooking it.
The actual sacrifice of the goat is called kutonya ngnondu, to pierce
the sacrifice. The mere word sacrifice, however, hardly expresses it,
for the word ngnondu really implies purification, or perhaps expiation,
the underlying idea being that the goat is an expiatory gift offered
with the object of relieving the country from the effects of the
deity’s displeasure and of the consequent drought.
No work is done on the day following the sacrifice, and no cultivation
is undertaken, neither any house building. A man may stroll over and
see a friend close by, but he is not allowed to go on a real journey.
The night before the sacrifice the elders must observe celibacy, as
well as on the six following days, the day on which the sacred meat was
eaten counting as the first.
No elder can participate in this ceremony if he has the stain of death
on him; that is to say, if his wife or child has died, and the
purification ceremonies connected with the event have not been
completed; or again if he, or one of his men, has killed someone and
the ceremonies for removing the bloodstain are not over. Any fighting
or quarrelling or fighting among the people would also be likely to
destroy the efficacy of the ceremony.
If a man breaks a stick from the sacred tree the elders at once fine
him, and a bull or goat is sacrificed. The wound in the tree is
anointed with butter, and milk is poured at its foot. Lights are
sometimes seen at night in mathembo, but people very rarely go out to
them while it is dark; those who have tried it declare that stones were
thrown at them from the tree, and that these stones strike fire when
they hit the ground. If a person be thus attacked, it is a sure sign
that he is fitted for a medicine man.
Another account of the procedure was obtained from elders in a
different part of the Ukamba country, and as this varies a little and
contains a few additional details, it is considered advisable to
describe it.
The day before the sacrifice, the women of the neighbourhood gather
together and go to the sugar cane plantations, every woman bringing
back two or three sticks of cane and taking them to the thomi, or
village meeting place, of one of the elders, where they are crushed to
make beer. In the evening, the elders of ithembo take the beer and
place it near the sacred tree. They light a fire there with a firebrand
from the village, and the gourds of beer are put near it; a little beer
is also poured at the foot of the tree and they pray to the imu of the
person to whom the tree is dedicated, and then return home. It is
believed that the object of this ritual is to attract the attention of
the guardian spirit of the shrine, and to propitiate it and to ensure,
as it were, its attendance on the morrow as the intermediary between
the people and Engai.
In the morning, the elders of ithembo and certain very old women
proceed to the ithembo. The elders bring the sacrificial beast and
first suffocate it; they then quickly skin its throat, and the oldest
of the elders stabs it in the neck with a knife, collecting the blood
in a half gourd (nzeli). The skinning is then completed, and small
pieces of meat are cut from the tongue, ribs, and the left flank. One
kidney, one testicle, and a piece of the liver, heart, and every
internal organ are also taken, all these fragments being placed in a
half gourd. They then take a half gourd of beer, and the gourds
containing the meat and the blood, and empty them at the foot of the
tree. The old women now approach and deposit samples of every kind of
field produce—beans, maize, and so forth—and milk. Some of the food is
cooked and some is raw.
When the men deposit their offerings they pray as follows: “Engai
twaevoya mbua kuamba eyima sionthi Engai”—“We pray to God that rain may
bless all our country.”
The women merely say “Twaevoya mbua”—“We pray for rain.”
The sacrificial meat is then cooked and eaten. The first to partake of
it are the four senior elders.
The fire for cooking the meat is lit a little away from the tree, and
the fuel must consist of dry sticks picked up in the sacred grove. The
fire having been lit, a small staging is built over it, and the pieces
of meat are placed thereon to roast. The place of the fire is called
ivuvio; the wood used for the framework is muthakwa; the sticks
composing it are mbatwa, and the whole framework when completed is
called ndala.
When removing the marrow the bones of the sacrificial animal must not
be broken.
After the feast the bones are collected and placed on the fire and
covered with the stomach contents (tatha or muyo), and the smoke which
rises to heaven is said to be pleasing to Engai.
A private sacrifice is called kithangaona by the Kamba people, its
object being to purify a village from sickness. The ceremony is also
termed kuvindukia muimu—“to cleanse the place from the spirit”
(ku-indukia—to cleanse) and may possibly have an implied meaning to the
effect that the spirit must be appeased.
Sometimes a woman who goes into a cataleptic condition, which is known
as being seized by aiimu, will say that to obtain rain a beast of a
particular colour must be sacrificed. A black goat is said to be
preferable as a supplication for rain, the colour probably being
symbolical of the rain clouds.
Sheep and goats, both male and female, are sacrificed, and also bulls
and bullocks, but never a cow.
A black bullock is thought to be the most acceptable and a white sheep
comes next, whilst many of the Kamba people consider a red animal bad
for the purpose of sacrifice.
Sacred Places (Mathembo) in Ukamba.—Dotted about the country, near most
of the older villages, there are sacred trees, representing private
shrines, called mathembo. The sacrifice which takes place here is
similar to that described above, but the proceedings do not take so
long, as the assembly is smaller. There is no particular day of the
month for such a ceremony, but it should not be performed in the months
called Nyanya and Kenda (the month Nyanya in 1912 commenced on June
14th). Ikumi is suitable for a sacrificial ceremony, as it is then
considered possible to prepare the fields for planting, in expectation
of the rain which will fall as a result of the ceremony.
Four pieces of the stalk of the castor oil bush are planted at the foot
of the sacred tree. If on a certain day a man brews beer, he visits the
tree in the evening and pours a little of the beer into each of the
castor oil stems, and prays to the aiimu, saying, “I have made some
beer, and this is your share; do not come into the village and bother
us.” The castor oil stalks are meant to imitate gourds of beer. It is
customary to deposit at the tree a piece of the fruit of Kigelia
pinnata, or K. Musa (called miatini and used in producing fermentation
in beer), and the leaf of a mumo tree. They then say, “This is your
nzeli to drink the beer from,” the nzeli being a half gourd used as a
drinking cup, and the mumo leaf in this case representing a nzeli. As
these things decay, they are periodically renewed.
The people of a village utter a prayer when they see the new moon,
begging that they may go safely through the month. This bears a close
resemblance to the European habit of turning one’s money and bowing
nine times to the new moon. At the village ithembo beer is poured out,
generally on the advice of a medicine man, when someone is ill in the
village.
The sacrifice at the village ithembo usually takes place about ten
a.m., the people returning at noon. On their arrival at the village, a
mixture of tatha and water is sprinkled upon the cattle, and upon the
water pots of the village. This is called kikaela muyo and is done for
the benefit of those villagers who are not qualified to go to the
sacred place.
The women qualified to attend a ceremony at an ithembo are those who
are past the age of child-bearing and have a husband who is a mutumia
ya ithembo (an elder of the ithembo). A childless old woman may also be
allowed to go.
It often happens that during a ceremony at an ithembo a woman is
seized, or possessed, and passes into a condition of semi-trance in
which she will prophecy either that the rains are coming or that they
will fail, or, in former days, that a Masai raid was imminent. An
explanation of this was carefully sought, and, upon investigation, I
was told that the message came from the imu or spirit of the person of
olden times to whom the ithembo was dedicated and to whom it was
supposed to belong, but quite clearly, that this spirit was only an
intermediary, the message really coming from the high god Engai or
Mulungu.
A little house is always built at the foot of the sacred tree on the
east side, with the door facing the rising sun, and two days before the
time settled upon for commencing planting a pot of water and one of
food, as well as butter and milk, are placed in it. On the day
following the deposit of this offering, no work is done. These
offerings are said to be for Engai; the pot of water is a reminder that
rain is required, and the food represents the crops.
Sacrifices for Rain.—Kikuyu—If the elders go to the sacred fig tree for
rain they sacrifice the usual ram, preferably a black one. If, on the
other hand, they pray for rain to cease, the sacrificial ram is
preferably a white one, although a red one may be used. After the
sacrifice, the intestines are taken and tied round the stem high up in
the tree. The melted tail fat is then poured at the foot of the tree
and a strip of the meat and fat are hung on a branch.
Ukamba.—Among the Kamba a black goat should be sacrificed for rain; a
red one, however, is occasionally used. But whatever the colour of the
animal sacrificed, it is very important that it should be entirely of
one colour, and not spotted or parti-coloured. A parti-coloured animal
would probably be considered as having some blemish. (Cf. Deut. xviii.
1: “Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or sheep
wherein is blemish or evil-favouredness”; also Numbers xix. 2: “Speak
unto the children of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer without
spot.”)
The Kitui A-Kamba also have another curious ceremony which they perform
when their crops are in danger of being spoilt for lack of rain. They
snare a couple of hyrax (Procavia sp.) and carry them round the fields
containing the standing crops; one is then released, the other is
killed. The heart, contents of the stomach, and intestines of the
victim are then taken and placed on a fire which is lit among the
crops. The smoke of the sacrifice is said to be pleasing to the deity
(Engai). Cf. Exodus xxix: “And burn them ... for a sweet savour before
the Lord.” The carcase is not eaten.
The use of a hyrax for sacrificial purposes is rather curious, and may
well be a relic of an old Semitic belief in which the hyrax was thought
to have possessed originally the human shape. It was said that he who
eats of its flesh will never see father and mother again.
The A-Kamba, however, appear to have lost sight of any connection of
this sort, and it is therefore impossible to say whether it really
existed; the choice of this curious animal may be merely a coincidence.
General Remarks on Sacred Places and Sacrifices.—The way in which a
particular tree is chosen as a sacred place was explained to me
unhesitatingly in the following manner: In a particular locality, long
ago, there would be a woman, noted as a prophetess or seer, whose
prophecies always came true, and at her death she would be buried in
her village. After a time, a woman of that village became possessed by
the imu, or spirit, of the deceased, and, in a state of exaltation,
would speak in the name of the prophetess, saying: “I cannot stay here,
I am called by Engai, and I go to live at a certain tree” (which would
be specified). The tree thus designated then acquired sanctity. Four
elders and four old women would then be selected; taking some earth
from her grave, and one (a blood relation of the deceased) taking a
goat, they would all proceed to the tree. The earth was deposited at
its foot, the goat led thrice round the tree and then sacrificed. The
delegates then prayed: “We have brought you to the tree you desire,”
and a small hut was built on the spot. This hut is renewed from time to
time, usually before a great ceremony takes place at the tree.
The elders who build the hut must have their heads shaved next morning,
but must shave one another, as no one else is allowed to do it. They
then hide their hair. (Note.—Hiding away of hair after it is cut or
shaved is a common custom among Africans; the idea is supposed to be
that an evil-disposed person might use the hair as a medium for
bewitching the owner.)
An interesting and thoughtful paper on the A-Kamba of Kitui, by Hon. C.
Dundas, appeared in the Journal R.A.I., 1913, and on page 534 et seq.
the writer discusses the religious beliefs of these people. He has come
to the conclusion that they have no conception of a high god, and that
the terms Engai and Mulungu are merely collective words denoting the
plurality of the spiritual world. The present writer, however, is
unable to accept this opinion, for while it is recognised that great
confusion of thought may exist on the subject among the bulk of the
people, there is little doubt that the elders of ithembo, or tribal
shrines, are quite clear on the matter. Great care was taken to record
only such information on the question as was furnished by this grade of
Kamba society. And as the elders of ithembo correspond, in a measure,
to the priestly castes of more highly developed communities, their
opinion has a certain value, and we therefore feel justified in saying
that the Kamba religion contains the concept of a high god. We would
also contend that the information herein recorded contains internal
evidence of this, and every effort has been made not to read more into
the information than it actually contains. The fact that the writer was
known to have been duly recognised as an elder among the neighbouring
tribes, the Kikuyu, undoubtedly induced the elders to discuss these
questions with considerable freedom in his presence. The words used to
designate what may be conveniently termed the high god are Engai,
Mulungu, and sometimes Chua (or the sun).
It is sometimes said that Engai lives in the high mountains, Kenya for
instance, and this would appear to differentiate the great spirit from
one which has its origin in an ordinary human form. They insist also
that there is only one Engai. They say that if the aiimu, or ancestral
spirits, want to kill someone, Engai or Mulungu can stop them, their
explanation being that although the aiimu can afflict a living person,
they cannot kill him unless Mulungu concurs.
There is a saying when anyone dies, “Nundu wa chua,” which means “the
order of the sun,” the obvious inference of which is that death comes
from the high god.
They are emphatic in stating that Engai, and not the aiimu, brings the
rain. It is said that a woman will sometimes bear a child having a mark
on its body similar in position to that of a wound which caused the
death of a brother-in-law or some near relative in the village. The
deceased is supposed to have been seen by Engai, and it is he who puts
a similar mark on the new-born child. I am not sure, however, that the
term Engai is not somewhat loosely used in this case, as the imu of the
deceased might well be held responsible for such an occurrence.
Other confirmatory evidence of the presence of the concept of a high
god will be found in the account of various ceremonies.
There is no doubt about the definition of the concept of the imu, and
it can be translated as the spirit of the deceased person.
The Kitui elders stated that the sacrificial fire for cooking the meat
at the ithembo must always be made by friction, so as to avoid any such
impurity or uncleanness being brought from a house as might occur were
burning embers from a household kitchen taken to the tree.
No one who is under a thabu or tabu can take part in a ceremony at an
ithembo, nor must the muma or kithito oath be taken on such an
occasion. Inquiries were made as to whether, in olden times, any of the
spoils of war were sacrificed at an ithembo, but this was said not to
have been the case.
When, as sometimes happens, a shooting star appears to fall in an
ithembo, it is supposed to be a sign that Engai has descended to the
ithembo and demands food. Various kinds of food are then taken there as
offerings. It is, however, not usual to sacrifice an animal. The
shooting star falling on an ithembo may be compared with the story of
Jehovah appearing to Moses in a burning bush, which seemed to burn and
yet not be consumed. It is here to be noted that it is Engai who
demands food, not the aiimu.
Sacrifice apparently is only performed when the people desire to invoke
help.
One elder only from each clan, mbai, can participate in a ceremony at
the ithembo on any particular occasion, and, further, no elder whose
father is alive can go to the tree.
If in war an enemy took sanctuary at an ithembo he was allowed to stay
there unmolested, and was safe; at night he escaped. If, again, he
caught hold of an elder of ithembo, he was equally safe; the elder
would take him to his village and send one of his sons to convey him
safely out of the country. It is considered that this fact emphasises
the priestly position of the elders of ithembo, who must, at all cost,
avoid the stain of death.
If a snake is seen at a sacred place it is customary to pour milk,
butter, and gruel over it; it is supposed to be njoka ya aiimu (snake
of the aiimu).
Arms must not be taken to an ithembo, small knives to skin the
sacrificial animals only being allowed.
No bird or beast can be killed at a sacred tree in the grove which
generally surrounds it.
Should a sacred tree, of the old communal mathembo kind, fall down, the
people will still worship on the site.
If a village which possesses one of the small mathembo is moved, the
assistance of a medicine woman is sought for the selection of another
one near the new site for the village. The elders take her to the old
tree and leave her there all night in solitary vigil; in the morning
she is fetched and taken to the new tree.
When the elders return from sacrificing at a sacred tree, each takes a
small piece of the skin of the sacrificial animal and ties it on the
thorn fence near his hut. It is believed, however, that this would not
be allowed in the case of a great communal gathering to pray for rain,
such as previously described.
The sacrificial animal is provided by the elders of ithembo in
rotation.
It is said that before going to war a black goat was sacrificed at the
ithembo, and success was prayed for.
Upon returning from a successful raiding expedition, they went to the
organiser of the party, the muthiani, killed the biggest ox, and prayed
to Engai as a thanksgiving ceremony. This did not take place at the
ithembo, as, in all probability, they dared not go to the ithembo with
any suspicion of bloodstain upon them.
The Kamba belief that the spirits like to haunt certain sacred fig
trees is very widespread, and there is one factor connected with it
which is common to the whole area in which the belief is found, and
that is that sacrilegious trespassers in a sacred grove are assailed by
showers of missiles. Such incidents are often alleged to occur in
India, and, apart from native superstition, the writer has even heard
of two examples in East Africa, where European colonists, who had no
knowledge of these beliefs but had built in the vicinity of sacred fig
trees, asserted that they were periodically disturbed at night by
stones thrown on the roofs of their houses. In Phil Robinson’s
well-known book, “In my Indian Garden” (page 208), it is stated that in
Burmah to this day the Government pays a fee, called murung, to the
headmen of certain tracts for appeasing the manes of their ancestors
lodged in old sal trees.
Robertson Smith also quotes an old authority to the effect that fig,
carob, and sycamore trees are haunted by devils.
The belief in ghosts is widespread in Kitui, and people who allege that
they occasionally see the ghosts of human beings are not uncommon. They
do not appear to be terrified about it, but state that they call out to
the apparition to verify its immaterial character, and if no reply is
received they know that it belongs to the aiimu. If, however, a ghost
is seen, it is necessary for the observer to kill a ram and smear his
face with some of the purifying tatha, together with some of the ram’s
fat.
We thus see that when a shrine is established, tradition and the
continual use of it for worship sanctifies it and maintains its
position in the popular mind. As the authority previously quoted points
out: “Holy places are older than temples, and older than the beginnings
of settled life.”
It is also interesting to note how the old Canaanite high places were
associated with a tree or grove of trees. This is considered by some
authorities as an indication of an ancient cult of tree worship. There
is little evidence of the survival of such a cult among the people
under consideration, but an account has been given of a ceremony which
has to be performed when a large solitary tree in a clearing is cut
down, and certain rites have to be performed to transfer either the
spirit of the tree to a new abode or perhaps human spirits resident in
the tree.
There is, however, little doubt that the ancient altars erected under
trees were a later development of worship which originally took place
at the tree without any altar. It is said that our English maypole is a
degraded survival of the worship under trees. Generally speaking, in
ancient Arabia the gifts of the worshippers were presented to the deity
by being laid on sacred ground, often at the foot of a sacred tree, or
they were hung on it, and when libations of sacrificial blood or other
things were offered, they were poured either there or over a sacred
stone. All this might have been written of our African peoples of
to-day, and one cannot, therefore, be accused of special pleading in
inviting attention to the similarity of practice.
It is supposed that the ceremonial dedication of the foundation of a
sacred building is a direct survival of the rites which took place in
ancient times when a new “holy place” was formerly recognised and
adopted.
The ancient flavour will be detected in the following extract from the
account of the proceedings which took place a few years ago upon the
occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of a Jewish synagogue,
in British East Africa, the sacrificial nature of the rites being very
noticeable:
“Corn, wine, and oil were presented to His Excellency by three
prominent Freemasons. His Excellency strewed the corn on the stone,
and the bearer of the corn said:
“‘There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the
mountains, the fruit thereof shall make Lebanon, and they of the
city shall flourish like grass of the earth.’
“His Excellency poured the wine on the stone, and the bearer of the
wine said:
“‘And for a drink offering thou shalt offer him a third part of a
bin of wine, for a sweet savour unto the Lord.’
“His Excellency poured oil on the stone, the bearer of the oil
said:
“‘And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment
compound after the art of apothecary, it shall be an holy anointing
oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation
therewith and the Ark of the testimony.’
“Benediction—‘May the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,
shower down his choicest blessings upon this Synagogue about to be
erected for His Honour, and may He grant a full supply of the Corn
of Nourishment, the Wine of Refreshment, and the Oil of Joy.’”
Making of Fire (Kamba of Kibwezi).—The fire required for sacrificial
purposes was formerly always made anew by friction, as fire so produced
could carry no evil with it, whereas if firebrands were brought from a
hut some thabu or curse which rested on the family owning the hut might
inadvertently be brought with it, and the wood might in fact be
infected.
Nowadays, however, it is curious to note that a sacrificial fire is
lighted with matches; for they consider that these, being of foreign
origin, can bring no infection derived from Kamba spirit influence.
This gives some insight into the ratiocination of the native mind.
Fire was formerly made, and is still made, on occasion, by hunters and
others who rapidly rotate a piece of hard stick, held vertically
between the hands, in a cup-shaped cavity cut in a piece of soft wood
which is held between the toes, the friction generating enough heat to
produce sparks which light some tinder. The vertical stick is called
the male, and the other piece the female, the reasons for which
nomenclature are obvious.
It is curious to note that a woman is not allowed to make fire by
friction, the reason given for this being that a man has to squat to
make fire, and that if a woman does the same, it is unseemly, as she
thereby exposes her nakedness. It is believed, however, that there is
more in it than this, and that only a male is really supposed to
manipulate the masculine portion of the fire-making apparatus.
CHAPTER III
SACRED STONES OR VILLAGE SHRINES IN KIKUYU
When the Kikuyu people found a new village, the elder of the family
collects three stones, two being brought from the bed of a river to the
north of the village, the direction from which the tribe migrated, and
one from a river to the south of the village. The river in the north is
generally the Thika, and the river in the south is generally the
Mbagathi. The stones must not be collected from a river from which the
villagers take water for their domestic use, and it must also be a
river with a perennial flow.
These stones usually weigh from thirty to forty pounds, and are used as
a village shrine. Having obtained the stones, the people take a black
ram, sew up its left eye, and bury it in the middle of the village.
This is done with the idea that if anyone comes to bring bad magic to
the people of the village, he will, like the ram, lose the sight of one
eye. The three stones are then planted round the spot where the ram is
buried. Four people carry out this ceremony: the head of the village,
another elder of the same clan, and the two senior wives of the village
head. They break branches from the mutumaiyu, mukenya, and muthakwa
trees and plant them round the spot. If they take root, it is
considered a very good omen; if the branches die, however, they are
replaced periodically by fresh ones.
Whenever a sacrifice is made in the village, in connection with any
ceremony, the ram is killed near this spot and blood and fat are poured
into the ground between the stones. Meat for the spirits is always put
out in two heaps, one for the male and one for the female spirits. It
is believed that if the stones are obtained from strong flowing rivers,
they will help to protect the village from nocturnal thieves. Moreover,
the stones from the rivers to the north of the village will stop the
entrance of bad ngoma or spirits coming from that direction, and
similarly, the stones from the south will form a protection against the
evil spirits from that direction.
The stones are not supposed to possess a spirit, but if a stone is
stolen it is looked upon as a terrible crime. The thief is said to
have, by its possession, the power to inflict a serious curse upon the
village, whenever it was stolen. When the stone is missed, the head of
the village collects the kiama, or council of elders, and presents them
with a fee of a ram and a bullock, which are killed. They tell the
owner to wait three days, and if by then the stone is not returned,
they bring him the kithathi on which to curse the thief. In all
probability, the stone is secretly returned by night; if not, the owner
curses the thief on the kithathi, and some time afterwards it will be
found that two or three people have died mysteriously in a certain
village and the stone is brought back. The owner of the stone will then
kill a sheep, and place strips of the skin, rukwaru, upon the right
wrist of all the men, and upon the left ankle of all the women in the
thief’s village. After this, they all go to a river and are purified on
the bank of it by a mundu mugo, or medicine man. They then bathe in the
river and are marked on their foreheads by a vertical mark made with
ira, or white earth, and return home. The owner of the stones now
presents a ram or male goat to the elders of kiama, to show that the
trouble is over. It is said that no theft of this kind has occurred in
recent years.
The sacred stones are called Kithangona ya muchi, which may be
interpreted as “village shrine” or altar. The Swahili equivalent is
Mathbah ya Kafara ya miji; mathbah is evidently the same as the Arabic
masseba. It is believed to be associated particularly with the ngoma,
or ancestral spirits, and has no connection with the deity. They may
perhaps believe that the stones form a resting-place for the beneficent
ngoma of their ancestors, or that they indicate a spot where the
villagers can render service to the spirits. The former interpretation
is the more likely; why, otherwise, should there be such trouble when
one is stolen? These stones must never be used as seats.
The same idea occurs in Bantu Kavirondo, where these stones are to be
found in each village. Mumia pointed out such a shrine, decked round
with white feathers, where a fowl was periodically killed and the blood
poured between the stones. The stones were said to have come from the
north of the Nzoia River, from a place whence the Wanga clan were
supposed to have migrated.
Some years ago, one of these stones was stolen by a complainant who
alleged that he could not get a hearing in a case regarding the debt of
a cow. The whole country-side was upset at the loss; the suit was
immediately heard and disposed of, and eventually the stone was
returned. The incident clearly showed what importance was attached to
these apparently insignificant objects.
If a Kikuyu village is moved, the stones are moved to the new village,
a fresh ram being buried in the new spot. Before the stones are
removed, the head of the village and his senior wife pour out
honey-beer and sugar-cane beer on the space between the stones, which
can then be removed with impunity. When a brew of honey-beer is made a
little of the honey is poured out between the stones, and when the beer
is fermented, a libation is also poured there.
The writer recently witnessed the celebration of the morning prayer at
a village shrine. The principal wife brought sugar-cane beer and poured
some into a cow horn and some into a small U shaped gourd. The elder,
who was head of the village, then poured the beer, first from the horn
on to the trees growing between the stones, and then from the gourd. He
now uttered a prayer with great solemnity, and called upon the spirits
to grant good fortune to the village and also to the visitor. He prayed
for wealth in live stock, abundance of children, safety in journeying,
and so forth. As the prayer proceeded another elder responded solemnly.
The beer from the horn was a libation to the male spirits; that from
the gourd to the female spirits. The horn had a knob carved on the end,
the origin of which might be phallic.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE HARVEST, ALSO PLANTING CEREMONIAL
It is interesting to compare all this with the Mosaic ritual laid down
in Exodus xxiii. 19: “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou
shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God.” This is the Levitical
minha or tribute.
Robertson Smith’s “Religion of the Semites,” p. 241, states: “Among the
Hebrews, as among other agricultural peoples, the offering of
firstfruits was connected with the idea that it is not lawful or safe
to eat of the new fruit until the god has received his due. The
offering makes the whole crop lawful food, but it does not render it
holy food; nothing is consecrated except the small portion offered at
the altar, and of the remaining store clean persons and unclean can eat
alike during the year. This, therefore, is quite a different thing from
the consecration of animal sacrifices, for in the latter case the whole
flesh is holy, and only those who are clean can eat of it” (Cf. Lev.
xxiii. 10–21).
Professor Robertson Smith also points out that in Hosea’s time the
firstfruits of corn were offered at the shrines of the Baalim, who had
become recognised as the giver of rain and the author of all fertility.
This principle, it will be seen, agrees as closely as possible with the
ideas of the tribes under review.
In Kikuyu, the people do not appear to take the firstfruits to the
sacred tree formally before reaping the crop, but on the occasion of
each harvest the women will take offerings of the various cereal
foods—maize, millet, and so forth (also beans, sugar cane, etc.)—to the
sacred place. They are not allowed to go right up to the tree, but pour
their gifts on the ground near by. All such food must be uncooked. This
being done, they return, and the elders kill either a young ewe which
has not yet borne a lamb, or a ram, at a little distance from the tree,
and a rukwaru, or strip of skin, is placed on the left wrist of each of
the women. The elders then eat the meat; none is actually taken to the
tree or left there. It is a kind of harvest thanksgiving ceremony.
Firstfruits in Ukamba.—It is customary to eat a certain quantity of the
maize cobs or the bean crop before they ripen. But before this can be
done a little of each kind is reaped and laid at the ithembo by an
elder and an old woman, and a goat is sacrificed. The tatha, or stomach
contents of the goat, are mixed with the green food in a cooking pot
and boiled. A portion of this is then distributed to each village,
after which the green crops can be safely eaten.
Next comes the proper harvest, but before reaping can commence the
owners again consult the medicine man whose advice was previously
sought at sowing time. They take him a present of every kind of grain,
and so forth, reaped at the previous harvest, and he gives his advice
as to a propitious day for the ceremony. The elders then gather the
firstfruits of the harvest and assemble at the village meeting-place
(thomi) of one of the senior elders and sacrifice a goat. Then, as
above, they cook samples of the various products in a big pot together
with the tatha of the goat. When the food is ready, the women from the
villages round come and receive some of it, which is placed on leaves.
It is said that were this ceremony to be omitted, the people would be
afflicted with diarrhœa, and would presumably become the victims of
thabu. But when it is concluded, they may reap and eat of the crop
without fear or hindrance.
Curiously enough, this ceremony is not considered necessary for the
mbaazi crop (Cajanus indicus or pigeon pea). The people give no
explanation of this, but it may be that the pigeon pea was introduced
from Kikuyu or elsewhere, after the belief had developed, and was
therefore excluded.
A housewife having gathered into her granary (ikumba) all her crops,
must not cohabit with her husband the night on which she has completed
her harvest.
A present of a little of the new grain has to be made to the medicine
man who advised the people where to plant.
If a woman has had assistance from her neighbours in the harvest-field
she makes a feast of all kinds of food; no men are present, as they
have nothing to do with it. There is no dancing on such an occasion.
The next thing is the threshing of the grain, and before the mawele
grain, and according to some the mbaazi pea, can be threshed,
permission must be sought from a medicine man who specialises in
agricultural magic. In Kibwezi district no one has any leave to thresh
mawele until the elders have sacrificed at the ithembo. It is said that
if anyone breaks this prohibition the particular area will miss the
mvua ya ua, or the second portion, of the next big rains. These are the
showers which bring the grain into head and fill out the seed, and thus
they will miss their crops. The first half of the rains grow the stem
and leaves, and the second half bring the plant to fruition.
Again, if a woman has the assistance of her neighbours she will make a
feast for them at the completion of the threshing.
Planting of Crops and Harvest.—In Ukamba, before the sowing of the
grain is commenced a medicine man is usually consulted with regard to
the proper season and the prospect of good rains.
When these preliminaries are settled, the elders of ithembo and the old
women are summoned to the ithembo. The men bring a goat and the women
bring milk and offerings of grain contributed by the villages of the
neighbourhood.
The goat is sacrificed at the sacred tree; some of the blood and the
beer are poured out as libations, an offering of the cereals is made,
prayers for good crops are offered, and the meat and food is then eaten
and the beer is drunk by the worshippers.
They then go away and commence to plant with a light heart. After
planting, however, a woman must not cohabit with her husband until the
grain has sprouted and appeared above ground. Should, however,
ceremonial cohabitation become necessary in connection with some other
religious observance, the woman must first go and dig up a seed of each
species of food product which has been planted and bring it back to the
village.
If any man plants before the proper sacrifice has taken place, the
elders will fine him a goat, which has to be sacrificed at the ithembo
as an atonement. Further, the grain which has been sown has, as far as
it is possible, to be dug up, collected and returned to the village. If
it is left in the ground, it is supposed not to mature, and also Engai
might be angry with the community at large.
The people of Ulu (Ukamba) again, often perform another fertility
ceremony to ensure good crops. They take the dung of the hyrax, which
is called kinyoi ngilla in Kikamba, and mix it with the powdered root
of the mulinditi tree and a weed called waithu. This medicine is then
mixed with some of the seed which they propose to plant and burnt
together with some of the dry weeds collected from the field. The fire
is made in such a position that the smoke drifts across the field. The
ashes of this fire are then mixed with the seed about to be sown. In
Kitui, however, it is said that a live hyrax is carried round the field
by a procession of villagers, the animal being then killed and its
blood and entrails scattered over the field.
CHAPTER V
CIRCUMCISION CEREMONIAL
One of the most important factors in the life history of all natives is
the formal initiation to the tribe, of which the outward sign is
usually the ceremony of circumcision. In Kikuyu these rites have
attained some elaboration, and it is important to describe them in
detail.
It will later be seen in Chapter VII how deeply the division of the
Kikuyu tribe into the two guilds, Kikuyu and Masai, [3] affects their
customs, and in the following description the rites of the two guilds
are described separately.
Before a child reaches the age of circumcision, however, a ceremony
called Ku-chiaruo ringi has to be gone through, which means “to be born
again.” It must be undergone by young children before they are eligible
for the next stage of initiation, viz., circumcision.
The occurrence of these two ceremonies, connected as they are, cannot
fail to strike one as being, in a lower stage of civilisation, the
genesis of the idea of the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. It
is said in fact that some of the missionaries do not hesitate to
explain the two Christian doctrines mentioned by reference to the two
pagan ones, and state that with the help of this key the natives at
once grasp the idea of their doctrines.
But to return to the ceremony itself—the form varies with the guild of
the parents. According to the fashion of the Masai guild, about eight
days after the birth of the child, be it male or female, the father of
the infant kills a male sheep and takes the meat to the house of the
mother, who eats it with her neighbours if they belong to the Masai
guild. At the conclusion of the feast, the mother is adorned with the
skin from the left foreleg and shoulder of the sheep, the piece of skin
being fastened from her left wrist to left shoulder; this she wears for
four days, when it is taken off and thrown on to her bed, where it
remains till it disappears. The mother and child have their heads
shaved on the day this ceremony takes place; it has no connection with
the naming of the child, which is done on the day of its birth.
The ceremony of Ku-chiaruo ringi, according to the fashion of the
Kikuyu guild, is as follows in S. Kikuyu. The day after the birth a
male sheep is killed and some of its fat is cooked in a pot and given
to the mother and infant to drink. It was not specifically stated
whether this had a direct connection with the rite referred to, but the
description commenced with a mention of this. When the child reaches
the age of from three to six years the father kills a male sheep, and
three days later the novice is adorned with part of the skin and the
skin of the big stomach. These skins are fastened on the right shoulder
of a boy or on the left shoulder of a girl. The skin used for a boy
has, however, the left shoulder and leg cut out of it, and that for a
girl has the right shoulder and leg cut away. The child wears these for
three days, and on the fourth day the father cohabits with the mother
of the child.
There is, however, one important point, and that is that before the
child is decorated with the sheep skin it must go and lie alongside its
mother on her bed and cry out like a newly born infant. Only after this
ceremony has been performed is the child eligible for circumcision.
A few days after circumcision the child returns to sleep on a bed in
its mother’s hut, but the father has to kill a sheep before he can
return, and the child must drink some of the blood, the father also
having to cohabit with the mother upon the occasion.
Owing to similarity of name it is possible that the ceremony of
Ku-chiaruo ringi might be confused with Ku-chiaruo kungi, which is of
widely different significance. This latter is an adoption ceremony, and
is said to be similar to a Swahili rite called ndugu Kuchanjiana. If a
person has no brothers or parents he will probably try to obtain the
protection of some wealthy man and his family. If such a man agrees to
adopt him he takes a male sheep and slaughters it, and the suppliant
takes another one. The elders are assembled and slaughter these sheep,
strips of the skin (rukwaru) being taken from the right foot and from
the chest of each sheep and tied round each person’s hand, while each
is decorated with strips of skin from the sheep of the other party. The
poor man is then considered as the son of the wealthy one, and when the
occasion arises the latter pays out live stock to buy a wife for his
adopted son.
The Kamba people, at any rate the Kitui section, have nothing
corresponding to the Ku-chiaruo ringi rite of the Kikuyu, but when the
child is about six months old it is moved from its mother’s bed and
thenceforward sleeps on a little bed by itself. If the husband cohabits
with his wife during this period the child has to be placed on the
mother’s back.
Circumcision.—As previously mentioned, the A-Kikuyu are circumcised
according to two systems, some according to one and some according to
the other.
(1) Ku-ruithia ukabi, i.e., Masai fashion.
(2) Ku-ruithia u Kikuyu or Gikuyu, i.e., Kikuyu fashion.
The actual surgical operation is the same, but according to the Masai
system the boys stay and sleep in the hut for four days after the
operation, and then go out, shoot birds, and wear the skins of the
birds on the head and neck. When the new moon appears their heads are
shaved, and each one then goes to his home. The head of the village
cannot sleep in the hut where the circumcised youths are staying until
they are well.
According to the Kikuyu system the youths remain in the hut for eight
days; on the day of the operation a sheep is killed, and on the ninth
day the father of the children takes them away to their homes. The head
of the village sleeps in the hut where the youths stay after the
operation has taken place.
Those circumcised according to Kikuyu fashion hold the feast called
Mambura the day before the operation; the writer recently witnessed one
of these gatherings, and so is able to describe it with some accuracy.
It was held at a village between the Mathari and Thigiri streams, and
was on the twelfth day of the moon, so there does not appear to be any
particular significance as to date. Several thousand people of both
sexes had collected to dance and take part in the festivities; the
warriors were dressed in their war paint and had their bodies smeared
with red or grey paint, and in some cases were picked out with
star-like patterns. The women were all in their best, and freely
smeared with red ochre and oil; a large collection of elders was there,
and the chief was present, as he explained, in order to keep order and
prevent the young warriors from quarrelling. Over the gate of the
village two long pieces of sugar cane were fastened, and all who
entered the village were supposed to pass underneath. The entrance of
the village was also guarded by a bag of medicines belonging to a mundu
mugo; these were supposed to prevent anyone coming into the village to
bewitch the candidates. In the morning the elders of kiama slaughtered
a big male goat, nthengi, by strangulation, and each male candidate for
circumcision had a strip of the skin fastened round his right wrist,
the same strip being also carried over the back of his hand and his
second finger passed through a slit in it. The male candidates were
nude with the exception of a string of beads or so, and a necklace made
of a creeper called ngurwa; the girls were nude as far as clothes went,
but were enveloped in strings of beads from their necks to below their
waists. Much dancing took place till a little after two p.m., when
there was a ceremonial meal. The candidates came into the village in
Indian file, the girls leading the way. They were received in front of
the hut, where they were to reside temporarily after the operation, by
a few elders who had for some time been preparing a number of strips of
a vegetable creeper, and smearing them with a black oily mixture. Each
girl first came up and had a piece of the creeper fastened round her
left ankle. The creeper is called ruruera, and each piece is smeared
with medicine made from the umu and wangnondu plants mixed with castor
oil. One of the elders then took a handful of porridge made of wimbi
and mtama meal (eleusine grain and sorghum), and placed some on a
bundle of twigs of the mararia bush and offered it to each candidate;
the candidate bit a little piece and then spat it out on the ground,
the balance was then placed in her hand and she ate it. The porridge
was placed on a flat stone used for grinding corn. The boys then came
along one by one, and the ceremony was repeated in the same manner, but
the strip of creeper was fastened on the right ankle of each boy. It
was stated that the object of this portion of the ceremony was to
lessen the pain suffered by the candidates during the actual operation.
In another part of the village a man was completing five stools of
white wood, roughly hewn out of the solid, which were intended as
special seats for the elders and old women who had to perform the
ceremony.
Immediately after the ceremonial meal was finished a great rush
occurred, and the candidates, followed by the crowd, galloped off to a
mugumu, fig tree, about three hundred yards away; as they approached
it, the boys threw clubs and sticks up into the tree, and then
commenced to climb into the branches, hacking savagely the whole time
at the leaves and twigs; each youth had a light club with the head
sharpened to a blunt cutting edge, and by dint of vigorous hacking
gradually broke off small branches which fell down among the crowd
below, and were immediately seized by the people, some of whom at once
began to strip off the bark.
The bark was supposed to be used to bind round the heads of the
candidates. The people then danced round the tree, and this ended the
proceedings. The leaves of the fig tree are collected and strewn in the
hut where the candidates sleep after the operation. They are said to be
for the purpose of catching the blood, and possibly to prevent the hut
being defiled by the blood soaking into the earthen floor. They would
never throw sticks into, or gather leaves from, a sacred mugumu tree.
The actual operation was not seen, as it took place at dawn the
following morning; it is performed in the open near the village. The
bulk of the prepuce is not cut off at all, but forms an excrescence
below the glans, a small piece of skin only being cut off; it is thrown
away, and not buried.
At the similar operation in Ukamba the prepuce is left on the leaves on
which the youth is seated during the operation and thrown away with
them.
The neophyte is placed on a bed of leaves for the operation, as it is
very bad for the blood to fall on the earth. If anyone touches the
blood it is considered unlucky and he must cohabit with his wife, and
the mother of the child with her husband, and no harm will ensue.
Mambura Festivities Preceding Circumcision According to Masai
Fashion.—The festival which precedes circumcision according to the
Masai fashion was also witnessed. It was originally to have been held
at full moon, but bad weather caused its postponement till the
twenty-fifth day of the moon, which seemed to be equally propitious.
In the morning a sheep was killed and eaten by the elders, and at about
noon the candidates had assembled. The people of the village and the
candidates passed their time in dancing until the preparations were
completed. The male candidates were smeared from head to foot with
ashes, and were nude with the exception of a belt of iron chain
(munyoro), a bead necklet (kinyata), an iron dancing bell (kigamba) on
the right leg near the knee; some wore a ring of the ngurwa vine round
their necks. The girls were decorated from neck to waist with a load of
beads as in the Kikuyu form of the ceremony.
The first proceeding was the decoration of each of the male candidates
with a bracelet made of climbing euphorbiaceous plant called mwimba
iguru.
The elders of kiama and the wives of the owner of the village, who was
one of the elders, sat round in a circle in the middle of the village
with a quantity of tendrils of the plant on a wicker tray, kitaruru, in
the centre; a small gourd of white diatomaceous earth, ira, was
produced, and each person licked a little and then smeared a small
portion of the white earth on his throat and navel; this was to purify
himself for the ceremony. A horn cup of honey-beer was then produced,
each one taking a sip, and then all simultaneously blowing it out of
their mouths in spray on to the plant; it was said that the object of
this was to purify or dedicate the plant to the use to which it was to
be applied. The male candidates then came up one by one and a bracelet
of the creeper was fastened on the right wrist of each.
After a little more dancing the male candidates were seated in a row on
ox-hides spread out on the ground; a woman, the sister of the owner of
the village, came along and poured first a little milk and then a
little honey-beer on the head of the one on the left of the line; she
smeared it over the scalp and shaved a place on the right side of his
head and passed on to the next. The shaving was merely ceremonial, as
the candidates had all been shaved on the head before coming to the
ceremony—the native razor, ruenji, being used. The milk was in a gourd
and the beer in a cow horn. The male candidates then got up, and the
same performance was gone through with the girls.
Shortly after this two great branches from the mutamaiyu tree were
brought to the gate of the village and held upright, one on each side
of the entrance; the elders said that in the ceremonies according to
Masai fashion the mutamaiyu had the same significance as the mugumu
tree had in the Kikuyu ceremonial. The candidates came through the
village dancing and singing all the time up to near the mutamaiyu
branches, and stopped a few yards away from them, still dancing and
singing. The song did not appear to have any great significance, being
to the effect that from time immemorial they always had the mutamaiyu
at these festivals, and now it had come they could proceed to
circumcise the candidates according to old custom.
They then all returned to the village, and the candidates were arranged
in the order in which they could be circumcised on the morrow. The
owner of the village divested himself of his blanket and donned an oily
kaross made of goatskin from which all the hair had been scraped; his
hands were carefully wiped and some ira (the white earth previously
mentioned) was poured into the palm of his hand from a small gourd. He
then commenced at the left of the line and anointed each candidate on
different parts of the body with smears of the white earth; he was
assisted by his principal wife and two sisters and another elder.
The boys were first touched on the tongue, and a line was then drawn
down the forehead to the point of the nose; a spot was placed on the
throat, the navel, the palm of each hand, and finally between the big
toe and first toe.
The procedure with the girls was slightly different, the tongue being
smeared first, and a horizontal line then drawn across the forehead.
The palms of the hands and the navel were next smeared, and finally a
band was drawn round each ankle.
After the candidates had thus been anointed, the elders took mouthfuls
of honey-beer out of a horn and blew it in spray over each candidate’s
head and shoulders. This part of the proceedings was a ceremony
intended to purify the candidates from any thahu which might be on
them, and to protect them from any thahu which they might possibly get
from an onlooker. The spectators “ululued” loudly during this
operation.
It was then about two p.m., and nothing further of importance took
place; the crowd, which had been gradually growing, however, danced on
till sundown.
At nightfall each candidate was said to receive a dose of the crushed
seeds of a plant called ngaita, which acted as an aperient, and in the
morning before the operation each one had to bathe in water in which an
axe head had been placed to make it cold; it was, however, stated that
if there were a large number, some would not bother about this, but
would bathe in the nearest stream.
The operation took place at dawn on the following morning, and was not
witnessed. No firewood but that from the mutamaiyu tree is allowed to
be used in the hut where the candidates live after the operation.
This custom of circumcision according to the two different systems
applies to both sexes. Both classes dance with the oval wooden shields
called ndomi before circumcision, and travel through the district
painted in zig-zag stripes with white clay.
A man circumcised according to Masai fashion can marry a girl
circumcised according to Kikuyu fashion and vice versâ; but a medicine
man and the elders have to perform a ceremony to change the girl from
Kikuyu to Masai before the marriage can take place. The ceremony is
said to be as follows: a male sheep is killed, and the small intestines
are extracted. The medicine man and the girl take hold of them, and the
elders then cut the intestines with three pieces of wood sharpened to a
knife edge and made of mathakwa, mukeo, and mukenya bushes. A piece of
intestine is cut with each knife. The girl is then anointed with the
fat of the sheep by another woman and smeared over with tatha (the
stomach contents) mixed with water.
In the case of a marriage between a couple belonging to different
guilds the man never changes; it is always the woman who relinquishes
the system in which she was brought up. A man can, however, at his own
wish and for reasons of his own, change his guild; that is to say a man
brought up Masai fashion can change over to the Kikuyu side. It is a
much simpler matter for him than for a woman; a male sheep is killed by
the elders, and a medicine man then comes and puts him through the
ordinary purification ceremony.
A man usually belongs to the guild of his father; that is to say, he is
circumcised according to the system of his father and grandfather
before him. The mark of a person circumcised Masai fashion is as
follows: a copper ring is placed in the lower lobe of each ear, and a
piece of stick with an ostrich feather on it is bound on each side of
the head; a band of sanseviera fibre, ndivai, [4] is bound round the
forehead, and on this band bird skins are fastened.
These ornaments are worn for eight days only; bows and arrows are also
carried and sandals are worn. After eight days they put off the
ornaments and give up the bows and arrows, leaving them in the village
where they were circumcised. They then have their heads shaved at the
village and return home.
Those circumcised Kikuyu fashion go through none of this, but for two
days wear a strip of banana fibre, maigoia, in the lobe of each ear.
During five days after recovery they also wear in their ears a round
plug of mununga wood whitened on the top with ira and a necklace of the
leaves of the mutathi plant. This is probably a protective magic to
preserve them from evil influence during their convalescence.
The marks just enumerated only apply to the male sex. With regard to
girls, further inquiry has elicited the following facts: a girl whose
father belongs to the Masai guild wears rings of copper called ndogonyi
on each ankle. A girl whose father belongs to the Kikuyu guild wears an
anklet of iron with little rattles, called nyara runga, attached to it.
If a girl who is Masai marries a man who is Kikuyu the ndogonyi are
taken off at marriage. If a girl who is Kikuyu marries a man who is
Masai she does not, however, discard the nyara runga.
The elaborate ceremonial of old days in connection with circumcision is
now rapidly dying out in Southern Kikuyu.
Inquiries were made as to whether the bull-roarer, which is well known
in Kikuyu as kiburuti, was used in these ceremonies, but curiously
enough it appears to survive only as a child’s toy, whereas in many of
the neighbouring tribes it and its first cousin, the friction drum, are
regularly used in initiation ceremonial.
Among the Kikuyu, two men circumcised at the same ceremony cannot go
into each other’s huts or even touch one another and neither may their
children by their first wives. The prohibition may be removed by an
exchange of goats, or beer, which both families consume together in a
hut. This prohibition does not extend to children of younger wives or
to grandchildren. It does not appear to be connected in any way with
thabu, but a penalty of a goat or two is paid for breach of the custom.
Generations of the A-Kikuyu.—The description of the circumcision may be
concluded by an enumeration of the circumcision ages of the Kikuyu as
far back as they can be traced.
In the December number of Man, 1908, the late Hon. K. Dundas gives a
list of the Rika or circumcision ages of the A-Kikuyu which probably
goes back about one hundred years or so, but this enumeration did not
go sufficiently into detail, and certain important points were missed,
so it has now been revised.
Four well-known elders, named Katonyo wa Munene, Karanja wa Hiti,
Ithonga wa Kaithuma, and Mukuria wa Mucheru, were consulted, and the
following lists are probably as reliable as can be expected, dependent
as they unavoidably are on the memory of old men. The first list was
given me by the first two, the second list by the second two. There are
slight variations, but these are almost inevitable under the
circumstances.
Morika, or Muhurika, singular—Rika, plural, is the circumcision age or
generation, and corresponds more or less to the poror among the Masai.
The Rika called Manjiri, Mamba, Manduti, and Chuma were not recognised
by either of the elders, who both commenced their count with Chiira,
which is obviously the same as Shiera of Dundas’s paper, and possibly
the farther north one goes among the Kikuyu tribe the farther back do
their legends go.
The following is the list beginning at the most remote point:
VERSION I
1. Chiira.
2. Mathathi.
3. Endemi.
4. Iregi } These three, it is said, are often
5. Kiarie } grouped as Iregi.
6. Kamao }
7. Kinuthia }
8. Karanja } The fathers of the oldest men
9. Njuguna } alive in the country belonged
10. Kinyanjui } to these ages, and are called
11. Kathuru } Maina.
12. Ngnanga }
13. Njerogi, means the orphans, Chief Katonyo is of this morika.
14. Wainaina, means those who shivered during the circumcision
ceremony.
15. Mungai, means swelled faces.
16. Kitao, refers to their eating colocasia roots after they
were circumcised.
17. Ngua ya nina, those who wore their mothers’ clothes.
18. Mbugwa or Kuchu, because the circumcision wounds did
not heal.
19. Mwiruri, name of a song they sang at the ceremony that year.
20. Mwitungu, means small-pox.
21. Kiambuthi, called Mwangi, those of the dancing place.
22. Kirira or Ngugi, because fire was on Kenya at the time of the
circumcision ceremony.
23. Mangorio, named after a sweet-smelling tree used to decorate
the youths after circumcision.
24. Rohangha, named after a girl who had decorated her ears before
marriage.
25. Wanyoiki, because they came one by one to the place of
circumcision.
26. Boro, the big stomach of a sheep.
27. Imburu, the poor people (there was a famine at the time).
28. Ngoraya.
29. Kiniti, from a song.
30. Ingigi, season of the locusts (Katonyo’s son, Thuku, belongs
to this generation).
31. Mutongu } Called Mwangi. { Time of the small-pox, probably
32. Kenjeko } { about 1895. When circumcised
{ they went to dig potatoes in
{ the fields.
33. Kamande } { Time of the caterpillar
} { plague.
34. Wanyaregi } Called Mwiringhu. { The wanderers.
35. Kanyuto } This is a name { The man-eating leopards;
} given by the { there were several about
} youths themselves { in that year.
36. Thegeni } to this age. They { The year of the cutting
} will probably be { of the iron wire.
37. Kariangara } renamed later by { They ate gruel made of
} the elders when { immature maize (Thuku’s
} the generation { son belongs to this
} is complete. { year).
38. Njege } { The porcupines.
39. Makio } { Named after a liquid
magic medicine which
was sold in Kikuyu
during the year. Those
circumcised in 1910
belong to this morika,
it will finish early
in 1911.
VERSION II
1. Chiira.
2. Mathathi.
3. Endemi.
4. Iregi.
5. Mukuria.
6. Kicharu.
7. Kamao.
8. Kiarie.
9. Kimemia.
10. Kimani.
11. Karanja.
12. Kinuthia.
13. Njuguna.
14. Kinyanjui or Kathuru.
15. Ngnanga.
16. Njerogi.
17. Ubu.
18. Wainaina } These are often
19. Kangnethi } grouped as Wainaina.
20. Kitao }
21. Mungai } Often grouped as
22. Injehia } Mungai.
23. Mairanga }
24. Marire.
25. Wangigi.
26. Ngua ya nina.
27. Wakirutu.
28. Mougwa or Kitindiko.
29. Mwitongu.
30. Mwiruri.
31. Uchu.
32. Kiambuthi.
33. Ngugi or Kirira.
34. Mangorio.
35. Rohangha.
36. Wanyoike.
37. Kinyiti.
38. Imboru.
39. Ingigi.
40. Mutungu.
41. Kenjeko.
42. Kamande.
This brings us up to the last few years, and the elders said they had
no interest in them.
The name given to the morika generally has some topical allusion to an
event which occurred during the year and about the time of the
circumcision ceremonies; these allusions are naturally forgotten in
course of time, and the derivations in many cases now appear senseless.
One morika extends over two years, or four Kikuyu seasons, called
Kimera.
The terms Maina and Mwangi as names for the rika of the last fifty
years seem to be fixed as far as one can gather, e.g.:—
The Chief Katonyo’s father was Maina.
Katonyo himself is Mwangi.
Katonyo’s children are Maina.
Katonyo’s grandchildren when circumcised become Mwangi.
His great-grandchildren when circumcised become Maina.
So apparently every person when circumcised takes the name of the
morika of his grandfather.
The word morika is used indifferently as applying to the larger group
as well as to the group of a particular year. Any young men, however,
who have been circumcised of recent years, and are still under the
class Mwiringhu, would not be called Mwangi until the group of years
was complete.
The time of the completion of a group of years is decided by the
elders, but what determined the commencement of a new group was not
ascertained.
These rika names only apply to males.
A leading Kikuyu elder named Lorigi was independently questioned on
these matters by Mr C. Dundas, and his view was as follows: The Azamaki
of to-day are practically all Mwangi, and Lorigi himself, who is among
the most senior Azamaki, belongs to Mwangi. Kamiri, and a few others,
are Maina, like the Mwangi he attends the councils. The sons of Maina
are Mwangi and the sons of Mwangi are Maina, so that a man always
belongs to the same division as his grandfather: thus Lorigi’s father
was a Maina and his son also belongs to Maina, but Lorigi himself
belongs to Mwangi as his grandson does. It thus comes about that there
are two generations of Mwangi and Maina living at the same time, and
the younger generation of either is distinguished by the temporary name
of Mwirungu (plural Irungi). When these become elders they will be
called Mwangi or Maina, as the case may be, without the addition of
Irungu.
The Itwika Ceremony.—As explained in the last section, the Kikuyu have
rika or circumcision ages, and a long list was given; these rika fall
into groups and so many form a greater rika, named either Mwangi or
Maina, which follow one another alternately. It was not clear at the
time what determined a group of rika being lumped together as Maina or
Mwangi; it now appears, however, that this is connected with a periodic
ceremony called the itwika, which takes place every fifteen years or
so. These correspond to a great extent to the eunoto of the Masai, and
are of tremendous importance to the Kikuyu; the elders, in fact, state
that they originated in Kikuyu, and were copied by the Masai during the
period when the Kapotei and Dogilani Masai were very friendly with the
S. Kikuyu and the Purko Masai with the N. Kikuyu; in the present state
of our knowledge it is, however, impossible to say whether there is any
foundation for this. [5] Probably the best test would be to inquire if
the Bari people who live in or near the country from which the Masai
are believed to be derived, possess this kind of social organisation.
The itwika has been described by Mr. Routledge as a secret society
connected with snake worship, but as far as can be discovered in S.
Kikuyu there is no foundation for this idea, elders, however, do not
care to discuss its ceremonial unless one is very well known to them;
they are not supposed to discuss it with any person of younger grade
than themselves, and the ceremonies may be considered, in fact, as a
final initiation at which only fully qualified elders are allowed to
attend.
The last great itwika ceremony was at the end of the big famine of
1898–9, and was held about the time that the Government founded Fort
Hall. [6] The gatherings were formerly held on the area between the
Thika and Chania rivers, just above the junction of these two rivers,
and the name Thika is derived from its connection with the itwika. The
last itwika was held near Kalaki’s, in the district known as Tingnanga
in Mimi wa Ruchu’s country; it is said that on account of the
decimation of the people by famine and small-pox it was decided not to
hold it at the old place. The next itwika will take place when the
grandchildren of people of the same rika as the chief Kinanjui have all
been circumcised, and the decision of the date rests with the athuri ya
ukuu of the Maina generation, this being the senior generation to-day.
This apparently corresponds to the ngaje of the Masai (vide Hollis’s
“Masai”).
An account of the last ceremony was obtained from one who was present,
and the first step is said to be the building of a huge long hut to
accommodate those who participate in the festival. This is divided into
two main divisions, one for elders of the Maina generation and one for
those of the Mwangi generation, and in addition, a small room for the
athuri ya ukuu, who may be considered as the officiating priests of the
festival. These thuri ya ukuu are always eight in number, and at the
last itwika their names were, Muthaka, Ngombwa Tutua, Kimwaki,
Kathungu, Kithenji wa Njuki, Rimui wa Kanjuku, Ngegenya and Mbura wa
Katuku, and the whole programme rested in their hands.
The principal elder of each village is supposed to attend, and often
the next in importance as well; the gathering, therefore, consists of
several thousand souls, and the proceedings continue for three months
or more. Each elder brings sheep and goats, bullocks, gourds of
honey-beer, and gourds of sugar-cane beer, and relays of food are
brought to the camp during the ceremonies by women, but no women are
allowed within the confines of the camp. A number of men are also
selected to collect firewood, but do not come inside the camp. The only
persons allowed inside the camp, except the elders, are eight spearmen,
who are told off to attend on the eight athuri ya ukuu.
It does not appear possible to obtain a detailed account of the
proceedings, but it is said that every day the eight athuri ya ukuu
instruct their juniors in the customs of the tribe and so forth, the
elders also hold “ngomas” or dances.
One man is chosen as an official trumpeter to the proceedings, and he
collects the elders for the various rites by blowing a horn of the rare
bongo antelope (ndongoro). The horn is called choro, and no one else is
allowed to blow it; this is considered a very honourable office, and
the trumpeter is paid nine rams and nine female kids for his services.
In former days towards the end of the festival the elders in charge of
an itwika sent two envoys to a certain place on a stream called Kikira,
in Kenya province, which was said to be the habitat of a mysterious
reptile called the ndamathia. It was described as being more like a
crocodile than like a snake. This beast was given beer to drink, and
when it was drunk hairs were plucked from its tail. A hairy tail is not
characteristic of reptiles, but all are agreed that the hairs were
obtained. The envoys then returned, and the hair was plaited together
with some strands of fibre of the wild date palm (Phœnix reclinata),
and then placed on the top of the itwika hut. At the conclusion of the
festival the people went in procession to a sacred fig tree (mugumu) in
the vicinity, and stuffed the hair into a crevice in the tree and left
it there. They then took the milk of a cow which had only borne one
calf, the milk of a ewe which had only borne one lamb, and the milk of
a goat which had only borne one kid, and poured them as a libation at
the foot of the fig tree; a dance round the fig tree then ensued. This
was the concluding ceremony of the itwika. Each person attending was
finally adorned on the wrist with a rukwaru or strip of skin from a
male goat, and the itwika house was broken up and they returned home.
At the last itwika held in South Kikuyu the elders did not send for the
hair of the ndamathia, but the concluding ceremony was carried out with
a big black ox, which was tied by its fore and hind legs and laid
between two poles; all the people then came along, one after the other,
and stamped on the ox, which eventually died. The ox was not eaten but
was left lying there, and they then poured libations of milk and fat at
the foot of the sacred mugumu tree and danced round it, praying to God
(Engai). After this they shaved their heads, were adorned with the
rukwaru from a male goat, and returned home. Upon reaching their
villages each elder killed a ram and placed a rukwaru cut from its skin
on every person in his village; these were worn for one day only, the
villagers then ceremonially bathed and threw them away.
These ceremonies are said to be very pleasing to God (Engai). No one is
ever allowed to cultivate on the area which has been used for an itwika
ceremony, and no one must ever cut the mugumu (fig tree) with an axe or
knife.
CHAPTER VI
DEATH AND BURIAL CEREMONIAL
Kikuyu.—Among most peoples, irrespective of their stage of culture,
definite ceremonials have to be observed upon the occasion of a death,
and before the heirs can succeed to the property. In Kikuyu land these
are somewhat complex, and like many other observances in that country,
their form greatly depends on the circumcision guild to which the
person belongs. This is the excuse for introducing the subject, as it
is submitted that this factor has apparently escaped the notice of
previous investigators, and to understand fully the life-history of a
Kikuyu native it must be clearly realised how, from his early years to
his death, he is bound down by the ritual of the guild to which he
belongs. The nearest analogy one can find to illustrate this is the
case of one child who is baptised a Protestant and another a Roman
Catholic; the main principles of these religions are the same, and
among the Kikuyu the guild to which a man belongs does not affect his
beliefs as to the ngoma, or spirits, and their influence upon mortals,
but the ritual of his religion varies throughout his life according to
the guild to which he belongs.
The ceremonial observed upon a death is called ku-hukura—the Swahili
synonym, sadaka, has practically the same meaning.
The death and funeral ceremonies of an elder circumcised Kikuyu fashion
will be first described. On the day of the death the children or heirs
take two rams and present them to the elders to pay for the digging of
the grave; every elder who has circumcised children is buried, married
women who have borne five or six children are also buried. The grass is
dug with a mubiru or mukuruwi stick, the sons of the deceased doing the
actual digging, but the elders decide the site and supervise the work;
if a son refuses to assist in digging his father’s grave it
disqualifies him from receiving a share of the estate. The
grave-diggers receive a big male goat (nthenge), or, if the family is
rich, a bullock, the bullock being slaughtered and the corpse buried in
the hide. The corpse of a male is buried on its right side with its
knees doubled up and with the right hand under the head. The site of
the grave is near the gate of the village, and the face of the corpse
is placed looking towards its hut. A woman is always buried lying on
her left side.
On the third day after the interment, the elders assemble at the
village to kill a ram to cleanse the village from the stain of death,
and the sons eat the breast of this animal and next day shave their
heads. The same day the elders bring with them one of their number who
is very poor, and of the same clan as the deceased, and he has to sleep
in the hut of the senior widow of the deceased and have connection with
her; he generally lives on in the village and is looked upon as a
stepfather to the children.
There is then a pause of six days, and on the seventh day the elders
return, a supply of beer is made ready for them, and a big male goat is
killed and eaten by all present. This is called nthenge ya noro, which
means the “goat of the whetstone,” referring to the whetstone used in
sharpening the razors with which the heads are ceremonially shaved at
the conclusion of the ceremonies. During the first four days after the
death, the married men in the village must have connection with their
wives; during the succeeding four days, however, they must observe
strict continence.
After the nthenge ya noro has been killed the property is divided.
If the deceased belongs to the Masai circumcision guild the ceremonies
are as follows:
When a death occurs the elders decide whether the person is to be
buried or not. Only elders above what is known as the “three goat”
grade are buried; these are called athuri ya mburi tatu, which means
that they have reached the grade, the entrance fee to which is three
goats; the next grade is athuri ya mburi nne or the “four goat” grade.
No elder is a fully qualified member of council till he reaches that
rank. Generally speaking, it works out that only those elders who have
grown-up children are buried. In the case of a person not entitled to
burial, it is the duty of the elders to decide the place in the bush
where the corpse shall be deposited.
Assuming that the deceased is entitled to burial, the local athuri ya
ukuu (highest grade of elders) are summoned, and the corpse is taken
out of the hut by the sons and laid on the hide on which the person
slept during life. A ram (ndorume) is then slaughtered, the fat being
cooked in an earthenware pot and some poured on the corpse, the
children of the deceased also being smeared with the fat. The ornaments
of the deceased are then removed under the supervision of the elders
and divided up among the immediate family; the eldest son has the first
choice, then the senior wife, and each child gets something. An ox of a
uniform colour, preferably all white or all black, is now slaughtered
and the hide is set aside. The elder sons dig the grave, the site
having first been chosen by the elders; it is usually situated inside
the village near the goat hut or bachelor quarters, thengira. The
corpse is then interred lying on the sleeping hide used during life; if
a male, it is laid on its right side, knees doubled up and right hand
under the head; if a female, it is laid on its left side in the same
position. The corpse is then covered with the raw ox hide with the hair
side upwards and the grave is filled in. Nothing is buried with the
body, but after the grave is filled in, the elders pour honey and
cooked fat on the grave, and say, “We give you this to drink.”
A little later in the day a male goat, nthenge, is slaughtered, the
meat being roasted on a fire near the gate of the village, and a little
of the fat is placed on every fire in the village; the smell of this is
believed to be very pleasing to the ngoma, or spirits, and any thahu or
curse that may be impending is drawn away. This act is also said to
lustrate the sons who have performed the burial.
A month, or perhaps more, is allowed to elapse, and the division of the
estate takes place. The children or heirs then take four rams, and the
women of the village shed all their ornaments and sleep together in the
same hut, which is also shared by the four sheep. In the morning the
elders arrive and the sheep are killed, the fat is cooked and then put
away to cool, while the meat is eaten by the assembled people,
providing they belong to the Masai guild. The head must be cooked and
eaten away from the village; the skin is taken by someone else, and the
viscera by yet another person.
On the following day the heads of all the inhabitants of the village
are shaved and they are anointed with the fat of the sheep. During the
ceremony the people present wear their skin garments inside out, and
these are anointed with the cooked latex of the mugumu fig tree; after
their bodies have been anointed with the fat they can once more turn
their skin robes right side outwards, and the women resume their
ornaments.
The property of the deceased is then divided up by the elders; the
principle followed is that each son takes the property which had its
dwelling-place in his mother’s hut, the goats and sheep, for instance,
and which lodge, so many in the hut of each wife. With regard to which
cattle, each son gets those which have been milked by his mother.
Strict continency must be observed by all in the village until these
proceedings are finished, and at their close the inhabitants and all
the property of the deceased are ceremonially purified by a medicine
man.
Among the Kikuyu a woman’s skin cloak is laid outside on the ground
when she dies and no one will touch it; a Dorobo husband, however,
wears his wife’s cloak after her death; hence one may at times see a
man wearing a woman’s cloak. The fear of corpses is intense with the
Kikuyu, but it appears to be much less so with the Dorobo. They will,
for instance, live in the house of the deceased, and do not seem to
mind handling the corpse, a man’s sons, in fact, anointing his corpse
after death.
Burial (Ukamba of Kitui).—Among these people the head of a village is
buried if his wife, wives, or any sons are alive. If they are all dead
the body is thrown out.
A man of importance and of high social grade is nearly always buried
and is interred at the side of his cattle kraal.
The head wife of an elder is buried.
Beer and blood are periodically poured out by the side of a grave of a
deceased medicine man, but not by that of other elders. It is essential
that this libation should be made just before sunrise, and as this is
in accordance with the practice in several other places, the custom is
probably a very old one.
In the case of deceased elders, a libation of beer and blood is poured
out inside the hut of the deceased when liquor is brewed or when a goat
is killed.
If a childless wife, who is the first wife, dies, she is buried inside
the village. In the case of a second or third wife, the body is thrown
out, but curiously enough it must not be taken through the gate; a
special opening is made in the village fence for the purpose, the
opening being afterwards closed up again. Presumably this is to prevent
her spirit from finding its way back into the village.
There is a curious custom among the Kamba of Ulu, in the event of a
member of the family being away when a death occurs in a village. An
elder measures the corpse, cuts a stick of the same length and places
it alongside the house of the deceased; this procedure is believed to
protect the absent one from evil. Upon his return, a goat is killed and
he is smeared with the contents of the stomach, muyo in Ki-Kamba, the
tatha of Kikuyu, and some is deposited at the door of the hut, and he
must tread in it before entering the hut; this ceremonially purifies
him. The stick is then taken up by a mutumia ya makwa, one of the
elders who understands the ritual connected with the removal of thabu
or makwa, and is thrown out into the bush where the corpse of the
deceased was deposited.
In Kitui if a man is on a journey and a death occurs in the village
during his absence, his wives may not cut their hair till he returns
and has performed the ceremonies necessary upon the occasion of a
death.
CHAPTER VII
THE CURSE AND ITS MANIFESTATIONS
(A) THAHU AND ITS CONNECTION WITH CIRCUMCISION RITES, ETC.
Thahu, sometimes called nzahu, is the word used for a condition into
which a person is believed to fall if he or she accidentally becomes
the victim of certain circumstances or intentionally performs certain
acts which carry with them a kind of ill luck or curse. A person who is
thahu becomes emaciated and ill or breaks out into eruptions or boils,
and if the thahu is not removed, will probably die. In many cases this
undoubtedly happens by auto-suggestion, as it never occurs to the
Kikuyu mind to be sceptical on a matter of this kind.
It is said that the thahu condition is caused by the ngoma, or spirits
of departed ancestors, but the process does not seem to have been
analysed any further.
We are now in a position to realise the attitude of the Kikuyu mind
towards thahu, and it is considered that the term curse, in its
mediaeval sense, expresses it. Everyone will remember in the Ingoldsby
Legends the pitiable condition of the Jackdaw of Rheims after he had
been cursed by the Cardinal for stealing his ring; now this would
appeal to a Kikuyu, and he would at once say the jackdaw was thahu. In
one of the cases of thahu, quoted hereafter, it is possible for a
person to lay a curse maliciously on a whole village by breaking a
cooking pot, and in another instance, a father can lay a curse on his
son for disobedience. We thus have parallel instances from both higher
and lower civilisation; in the first, the Cardinal curses the jackdaw
with the help of the supernatural powers with which he is invested by
virtue of his sacred position, and in the lower culture it is
apparently held that any person can inflict a curse by invoking the
supernatural powers of the ngoma, or spirits, of the dead ancestors.
[7]
The position has, indeed, changed but little. It would appear probable
that as the priests gained power, they arrogated to themselves the
monopoly of laying a curse upon their flock; but the freedom with which
people use the conventional formula of curses to this day is evidence,
however, that the power to inflict a curse was formerly at the disposal
of all. It is nevertheless important to realise that when curses were
believed to be effective, and in the case of malicious ones, punishable
by native law, people were more careful about the custom than Europeans
are to-day, when all belief in the power of a curse has died away.
Some people use the term ceremonial uncleanness to express the meaning
of thahu, but, as far as my inquiries go, the phrase inadequately
explains the Kikuyu ideas on this question. Acts which cause a person
to become thahu are also often found to be enumerated under the heading
of “prohibitions” and “tabus.”
The similarity between thahu and tabu is somewhat striking and worth
considering. Tabu appears usually to be applied to some act or object
by a man who often acts in the dual capacity of ruler and magician.
There is, as far as can be discovered, no record of a Kikuyu thahu
having been imposed by any known personage, but these beliefs must have
originated somewhere, and it may be that they were originally imposed
one by one by great medicine men in former times, and have thus become
incorporated in what may be termed the tribal religion.
The removal of the curse is effected by a process of lustration which,
in the more serious cases, has to be done by the mundu mugo, or
medicine man, and in others by the members of the native council, or
kiama; the latter is an interesting case of the overlapping of judicial
functions and those of a sacerdotal character.
The lustration ceremony is almost always accompanied by the slaughter
of a sheep and anointment with the contents of the stomach, the white
diatomaceous earth called ira being used in some cases. The
purification is called tahika.
In a few cases smoke is used as a purifying agent and seems to be
considered effective in some more trivial ones.
The reality of this aspect of Kikuyu life and thought may easily be
under-estimated, but it is important that all who wish to gain a deep
insight into native affairs should understand it and give the
phenomenon its true value. To give the question a practical
application, it may safely be said that no Kikuyu native who becomes
thahu during the course of his employment by a white master, will rest
until he has been freed of his curse or ill luck, and he will probably
desert with wages due to him in order to get rid of it; he cannot
afford to wait, the risk is too great.
There is another curious side to the question; a Kikuyu, when he is
circumcised, undergoes this rite either according to the old Kikuyu
custom or according to Masai custom; the physical operation and result
are the same, but the ceremonial varies, and for some unfathomed
reason, a man who is circumcised Masai fashion can do certain things or
encounter certain circumstances with impunity which would, if he had
been circumcised Kikuyu fashion, render him thahu. This is a very
curious fact, and the Kikuyu themselves do not seem to be able to give
any reason for it. The matter should, however, be made the subject of
further research, as my information is derived from the southern branch
of the tribe, and many customs which are dropping into disuse in that
area, and thus losing their inner meaning, are found to be very much
better known in Kenya Province or Mwaitumi, as they call it.
List of Thahu.—I will now proceed to give a list of thahu which I have
collected with the assistance of the Kikuyu chief Kinanjui and his
kiama, or council, of athuri, or elders; the question of the two
classes of circumcision will be discussed later.
(1) If a small child dies and the mother carries the body away into the
bush, the woman is thahu, and if the husband cohabits with her before
she is purified, he becomes thahu and the woman is cleansed. The man
carries the thahu away with him, and, what is worse, may transmit it to
his other wives. If the man becomes thahu in this way it is much more
serious for him than the woman, and a mundu mugo, or medicine man, has
to be called in: the woman has to be purified by three elders, athuri
ya kiama, and an elder woman, mwirui. For instance, if a man has two
wives and the younger had become thahu, the senior wife would shave the
head of the woman who was to be purified; a sheep is killed, and she is
smeared with tatha, or the contents of the stomach.
This thahu only falls on those who have been circumcised according to
Kikuyu fashion: if the man has been circumcised according to Masai
custom he does not become thahu.
(2) If a woman who has assisted at a birth cohabits with a man before
the end of the umbilical cord of the newly born child has shrivelled up
and come away, and before she has bathed herself ceremonially, the
infant, although not her own, will become thahu. To remove the curse
from the child the principal elder of the village kills a sheep and
smears the woman with tatha, the contents of the animal’s stomach, and
thus cleanses her.
This applies to those circumcised either according to Kikuyu or Masai
fashion.
(3) If a man touches or carries a corpse, he becomes thahu until he is
cleansed. The lustration is performed by members of the local council
of elders, athuri ya kiama, and the final purification by a mundu mugo,
or medicine man. If he cohabits with a woman before he is cleansed she
also becomes thahu.
(4) Stepping over a corpse inflicts a thahu of a very serious nature,
and the person contracts a sickness called mangu (possibly leprosy). He
is said to break out into an eruption, and the fingers come off and the
nose rots away. To remove this thahu, both the elders, athuri ya kiama,
and the mundu mugo are called in; the latter procures the bone of an
elephant, and this is placed on the ground, the athuri forming a circle
round it, and the patient then steps over the bone; the mundu mugo
afterwards purifies the man in the usual way. [8]
This thahu applies to both sections of the tribe, viz., those
circumcised Kikuyu fashion and those circumcised Masai fashion.
(5) During a marriage ceremony five goats have to be presented to the
athuri ya kiama and are killed for a feast. After they are slaughtered
the eyes of the carcases have to be removed, and if, during this
process, an eye becomes cut or broken, the bride becomes thahu, and
unless something is done will not bear children; the father of the girl
has to present a sheep to the athuri, and the girl is purified by
them—this not being a matter which necessitates a medicine man. This
applies to both sections of the tribe.
(6) On the occasion of a birth, the young men of the village kill a
sheep for a feast called mambura; if the man who slaughters it cuts his
finger and his blood drips on to the meat, he is thahu until he is
purified by the athuri ya kiama.
This again applies to both sections of the tribe.
(7) If a man, the head of the village, attends the circumcision of a
child at the hut of one of his wives, he is thahu until the children
who were circumcised in the hut are cured; a mundu mugo then comes and
purifies him and the woman in whose hut the children were circumcised.
This applies only to the men circumcised Kikuyu fashion, for in that
section it is the custom for the village head to sleep in the hut where
the circumcision has taken place, and he becomes thahu, whereas it is
the custom for a village head who was circumcised Masai fashion to
sleep in another hut until the ceremonies are quite over, thus escaping
the thahu.
(8) If one man kills another, and comes to sleep at a village and eats
with the family in a certain hut, the people with whom he has eaten
become thahu, and the skin on which he has slept is thahu and may
infect anyone sleeping on it. This is a case for a mundu mugo, who is
called in to purify the hut and its occupants.
If, however, the owner of the hut and his family have been circumcised
Masai fashion they do not become thahu.
(9) If an important elder dies he is buried by his sons and they are
thahu until purified by the athuri ya kiama. They are smeared with oil
and their heads are shaved during the ceremony; this is not considered
a very serious thahu. If they have been circumcised Masai fashion they
can be purified forthwith, but if they belong to the other section it
is necessary for them to isolate themselves until the new moon appears.
(10) When a child is born the father kills a sheep, of which a large
part is given to the woman who has assisted at the confinement, and if,
before he has pegged out the skin and divided the meat, he is summoned
away from the village on urgent business (my informant gave an example,
and said: “Suppose he was arrested and taken away as a prisoner”), the
infant is thahu and the principal elder of the village has to kill a
sheep, take a strip of skin from the forefoot of this animal, and
fasten it as a bracelet on the wrist of the infant to remove the ill
luck.
This applies to both sections of the tribe.
(11) If children are being circumcised at a village, and the owner of
the hut where the ceremony has taken place goes away to sleep at
another village before he is cleansed, and, say, on the way, meets a
crowd of people, the children who were circumcised will all be thahu.
This is a case for a mundu mugo.
This only applies to those circumcised Masai fashion as, by Kikuyu
fashion, the man does not sleep at another village.
(12) If two men who were circumcised at the same ceremony fight and
blood is spilt, they are both thahu until a mundu mugo comes and
removes it. He kills the usual sheep and the athuri or elders put a
strip of the skin of the sheep on the wrist of each of the two men.
Persons who are circumcised at the same feast are called wakini. This
holds good for both sections of the tribe.
(13) If one man circumcises his children according to Masai fashion and
another according to Kikuyu fashion, and the former should eat meat
killed by the latter, the former will be thahu and vice versâ.
(14) If a person belonging to the Mweithaga clan sleeps in the hut of a
person belonging to another rika or clan, the people of that hut become
thahu; this is a case for both medicine men and elders, and applies to
both sections of the tribe.
(15) If a man throws some earth at his wife, both become thahu; this is
a case for a medicine man, and both have to be purified. This only
applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion.
(16) If food is eaten from a cracked pot the persons eating it become
thahu and a mundu mugo has to be called in. This affects both sections
of the tribe.
(17) The wives of smiths are usually decorated with armlets made of
twisted strips of iron called mithiori. If a man enters the hut of a
smith, and cohabits with a woman so decorated, he becomes thahu. A
sheep has to be killed and a supply of honey beer provided; a strip of
skin from the sheep is placed on the wrist of the man, the woman, and
any children she may have; this bracelet is placed on the left wrist of
females, and the right wrist of a male. The purification ceremony is
performed by another smith.
This thahu affects both sections of the tribe.
(18) Persons eating food in a smithy become thahu; the smith himself
can purify one from this curse.
It affects both sections.
(19) If a bead worn on a warrior’s neck or waist falls into food, the
persons who partake of the food become thahu; if such a bead falls into
the grain store and becomes inadvertently cooked with the food the
result is the same. This only affects persons circumcised Kikuyu
fashion.
(20) If a Kikuyu has had his crops protected by magical processes
performed by a medicine man (to protect in this way is called ku-roga),
and someone takes food from a garden so protected, he becomes thahu,
and this form of thahu can only be removed by the medicine man who has
roga-ed the plantation.
This applies to both sections of the tribe.
(21) If a man has connection with a woman from behind, they are both
thahu. This is a very serious thahu and both the athuri ya kiama and a
mundu mugo are necessary to remove it, neither the man nor the woman
being allowed to eat any of the sacrificial sheep.
This applies to both sections.
(22) If a man beats his wife and draws blood, the woman is thahu, and
the man cannot sleep in her hut until she is freed from it; the elders
are called in and kill a sheep. The two persons concerned are not
allowed to eat any of the meat, and the skin is reserved as a fee for a
mundu mugo who is called in to perform the formal lustration.
This affects both sections of the tribe.
(23) If a woman is carrying a baby on her back, and it slips out of the
leather garment and falls to the ground, it is thahu; the child must
not be lifted from the place where it fell until a sheep has been
killed on that spot, and this is a case for both the elders of kiama
and a medicine man. Both sections of the tribe are affected by this.
(24) If an elder or a woman when coming out of the hut slips and falls
down on the ground, he or she is thahu, and lies there until a few
elders of kiama come and slaughter a sheep near by, and some blood and
tatha (contents of the stomach of the sheep) are rubbed on the spot
where the person fell. The elders then say, “So-and-so is dead, let us
bury him,” and they plant a sprig of the bushes called mukuria and
muthakwa on the site of the mishap. This applies to both sections.
(25) If a man marries a woman and she steals anything from a member of
her father’s clan, she is thahu, and milk will flow from her breasts
without any natural cause, and any child she bears before the thahu is
removed will be thahu. This is a matter for the athuri, or elders of
kiama; a sheep is placed on the woman’s shoulders, and its throat is
pinched until it micturates on the woman’s body, the sheep then being
killed, and the contents of the gall bladder, mixed with urine from its
bladder, poured over the leather garment of the woman, and her navel
touched with a little of the mixture. The milk that was unnaturally
flowing from her breasts will then dry up, and by this sign they will
know that the thahu is removed.
This applies to both sections of the tribe.
(26) If a man’s son commits adultery with one of his father’s wives,
and the father is still alive, the father becomes thahu and not the
culprit, the reason given being that the father takes the thahu because
he begot the son. The erring woman does not return to her husband, she
is not thahu, and can still bring food to her husband, but he does not
cohabit with her, and her hut is broken down. The son who has
transgressed in this way has to make peace with his father by a formal
present of a big male goat, nthengi. This thahu can be removed by the
athuri ya kiama; it is a very serious matter, and if the thahu is not
quickly removed from the father, he will die.
It applies equally to both sections of the tribe.
(27) If a person touches menstrual blood, he or she is thahu; or if a
man cohabits with a woman in this condition he is thahu. The person who
is contaminated will first take some cow dung and then red ochreous
earth (thiriga) and plaster it on the part of the body touched by the
blood; ochre is said to be used because it is the same colour as the
blood; the woman from whom the contamination came is also thahu. The
mundu mugo has to be called in to purify the persons.
This applies to both sections.
(28) If one woman is circumcised Masai fashion and another Kikuyu
fashion, and the child of the latter is suckled by the other woman, the
child becomes thahu: this is a case for a mundu mugo.
This applies to those circumcised Kikuyu fashion.
(29) If a hyæna comes into a hut at night, kills a goat and the owner
kills the hyæna in the hut, the hut will be abandoned, and the whole
village has to be purified by the kiama.
This applies to both sections of the tribe.
(30) If a hyæna defæcates inside a village, the village and its
inhabitants are thahu, and this is a case for the kiama to arrange; the
usual sheep is killed and must be eaten by the people of the village.
If a person belonging to another village eats any of the meat, a hyæna
will come and defile the village where he lives.
This applies to both sections.
(31) If a woman is carrying a gourd on her back and it falls and
breaks, she is thahu. This is a matter for the elders of kiama to
arrange.
(32) If a goat should come up to where people are sitting, and try to
suckle a woman’s breast, the woman is thahu, and the goat has to be
taken away and slaughtered at the village of the woman’s father, the
elders of kiama being called in to purify the woman.
This applies to both sections.
(33) If a woman is milking a cow and the calf climbs up on her
shoulders while she is so occupied, the calf is not allowed to suckle
the cow again and is forthwith slaughtered; this is a case for the
elders. The people of the village must not eat any of the meat, half
being taken by the woman to her father and the other half eaten by the
elders.
This applies to both sections.
(34) When a woman has recently been confined and the discharges are
still unfinished, it has sometimes happened that a cow has come along
and licked the stool upon which she has been sitting. In such a case
she must immediately tell her husband; if not, he will become thahu and
die, and all the other people in the village will become thahu in a
lesser degree and get ill. The cow has to be killed without delay by
the elders and eaten by them; no person of the village must eat of the
meat unless he has been circumcised Masai fashion. Three elders in
Kikuyu are said to have died from this thahu within recent years.
It only applies to those who have been circumcised Kikuyu fashion.
(35) If a cow is out grazing and its tail becomes twisted round a tree,
it is thahu, and must be slaughtered there and then; it is killed by
the owner, and the elders receive the saddle and the young warriors the
neck.
This only applies to cattle owned by persons circumcised Kikuyu
fashion.
(36) There is a white bird called nyangi (the bird nyangi is in Swahili
called furakombe); if one is seen to settle on a cow, and the cow is
not killed, the owner of the cow will be thahu and die. The cow must be
killed there and then and the meat divided up, the elders receiving the
saddle, and the neighbouring warriors the neck, whilst no person
belonging to the village must eat of the meat. The herd of cattle also
need to be purified, and the owner of the village, assisted by the
elders, must take a female sheep which has not borne a lamb, and a male
goat; these are slaughtered, and the intestines and bones of the
animals (termed ichua) are placed on a fire, which is lit to the
windward of the cattle kraal, and the smoke passing through the kraal
and among the cattle will purify the herd. Should the bird be killed
among the cattle, the whole herd would die.
This applies to both sections.
(37) If a cow’s horn comes off in a person’s hand the animal is thahu
and is slaughtered, and the meat is eaten by all. This applies to both
sections.
(38) If a bull or bullock leaves the herd when out grazing and comes
home alone, and stands outside the village digging at the refuse heap
(kiaraini) with its horns, it is known to be thahu, and is forthwith
killed by the owner. This applies to both sections.
(39) If a goat is giving birth to a kid, and the head appears first and
the body is not born quickly, it is said to be thahu, and is
slaughtered by the owner. No woman must touch the meat of such an
animal or she would become thahu; men only can eat it. Moreover, if a
goat which is in kid should die, no woman must touch it or eat the
meat, the idea probably being that her fertility might become
contaminated. This applies to both sections.
(40) If a woman bears twins the first time she has children, the twins
are thahu, and an old woman of the village, generally the midwife,
stuffs grass in their mouths until they are suffocated and throws them
out into the bush. If, however, a woman first bears a single child and
then has twins they are not thrown out.
If a cow or a goat bears twins the first time, the same practice is
observed, and a necklace of cowries is placed round the neck of the
mother. This practice is observed by both sections. Some kill both
mother and young, and a medicine man is called, who leads a sheep round
the village and then sacrifices it to remove the curse.
(41) If the side pole of a bedstead breaks, the person lying on it is
thahu, and a sheep must be sacrificed; this is a matter for the kiama
to arrange, and a bracelet called rukwaru, cut from the skin of the
sheep, must be placed on the wrist of the person, or he or she is
liable to die. This applies to both sections.
(42) A malicious person will sometimes, out of spite or in a fit of
rage, take up a cooking pot, dash it down to the ground and break it,
saying the words urokwo uwe, “Die like this.” This is a very serious
matter and renders all the people of the village thahu; it is necessary
for the people of the village to pay as much as seven sheep to remove
the thahu. This is naturally considered a crime according to native
law, and the offender is punished by the elders of kiama, who inflict a
fine of seven goats. This applies to both sections.
(43) If a son seriously disobeys his father, he can be rendered thahu
by his father rubbing ashes on his buttocks, and cursing him, saying,
“May you be eaten by my anus.” The son will have to take a sheep and
then a male goat and a jar of honey and crave his father’s forgiveness.
The father slaughters the animal, and rubs his navel and his buttocks
with the meat, and the curse is removed. This applies to both sections.
(44) If the head of a village has a quarrel with another man, wounds
him with a simé or sword, and blood is spilt in the village, the
village becomes thahu, unless the offender takes his adversary and
leads him round the outskirts of the village, letting the blood drip on
the ground as they go; the elders will then have to be called in, a
sheep is killed, and they purify the village. This applies to both
sections.
(45) If an idiot or maliciously-minded person picks up a skull, walks
round a village with it and leaves it on the “thomi,” or “place of
conference,” the village is thahu, and is in very serious danger. The
elders are first called in, and they take a sheep and drag it round the
confines of the village by the same route as that taken by the person
with the skull; the animal is killed and pieces of the intestines are
dragged round the village. The meat of the sheep is only eaten by very
old men. Six other sheep then have to be killed by the elders, and
finally the medicine man has to purify each person in the village.
(46) If a wild animal is killed among a flock or herd of animals out
grazing the beasts are thahu; they can be purified by the owner and the
kiama; a sheep is killed and the bones and intestines are placed on a
fire lit to windward of the infected flock or herd, and the smoke
cleanses them and removes the curse. Vide Tylor’s “Primitive Culture,”
Vol. ii, pp. 430–434, “Fire serves for purification in cases too
trifling to require sacrifice.” This applies to both sections.
(47) If domestic animals are attacked and stung by bees they are thahu;
a sheep is killed and the bones and intestines are placed on a fire lit
to windward of the herd and the smoke removes the curse. This applies
to both sections.
(48) If a son curses his father seriously he becomes thahu; he has to
bring a sheep, which is eaten by his father and mother, the fat is
melted and all three are smeared with it; the son then has to peg out
the skin of the sheep in front of his mother’s hut. This applies to
both sections.
(49) If a person strikes anyone who is herding cattle, etc., and draws
blood, the flock or herd is thahu; the offender must pay a sheep, which
is killed by the elders, and a strip of skin (rukwaru) is placed on the
wrist of the offender; no young person is allowed near during the
ceremony. This applies to both sections.
(50) If the droppings of a kite or crow fall on a person he is thahu;
he must shave his head and bathe at a river, and the elders kill a
sheep and fasten a strip of the skin on his wrist. The skin of the
sheep must not be pegged out to dry in the village where the person
lives. This applies to both sections.
(51) If a woman sleeps with her leather garment inside out it is
unlucky, but she is not thahu, the procedure being for her to spit on
the garment and turn it the right way. This applies to both sections,
but is considered much more unlucky for a woman circumcised Masai
fashion.
(52) When a man dies, the eldest son gives one bull or a big male goat
(according to his means) to the athuri ya kiama for a feast, and the
elders then teach him his duties (kirira). The next step is to give the
elders a male sheep (ku-hukuria), which must not be eaten by the
children, the object of this being to cleanse the village of the
deceased. Now if a son has not made these gifts nor gone through the
necessary ceremonies marking his succession, he cannot participate in
the sacrificial feast which has to take place at the sacred fig tree
after the death of an elder (called ku-hoya Engai). The principal wife
of the deceased can attend the sacrifice, but not the other wives and
their children. And should they do so they will become thahu and it is
a case for a medicine man to arrange. The women and children from the
neighbouring villages can go.
If a sacrifice is made at a sacred fig tree to invoke rain only, athuri
ya kiama can attend and eat it. No woman must go near. These rules
apply to both sections.
(53) If children are being circumcised at a village according to Kikuyu
fashion and the head of the village goes on a journey before eight days
have elapsed or, according to Masai fashion, before four days have
passed, he and those of his children who have been operated on become
thahu; this is a case for the medicine man to arrange.
(54) If a child has been circumcised and, on the first occasion after
the ceremony on which he leaves his village, the goats and sheep come
back from grazing and enter the village before he returns, he is thahu.
He cannot return to his village until it is removed and must sleep at a
neighbouring village where some of the other boys, who went through the
ceremony with him, reside. To remove the thahu, his father has to kill
a sheep and place a strip of skin (rukwaru) from the animal on his
wrist.
(55) If a father picks up one of his children and places it on his back
or shoulders, the father becomes thahu and the child will die, the
result being the same whatever the sex of the child; if he carries the
child in front of him there is no evil result. This is a case for a
medicine man to arrange, and it applies to both sections of the tribe.
(56) If a person should be bitten by a hyæna or a dog he or she is
thahu and a medicine man has to be called in; he kills a sheep and
places a bracelet, or rukwaru, of the skin on the wrist of the patient.
This applies to both sections.
(57) If a dog dies in a village it is a very serious matter; the head
of the village and his people are thahu, and the elders are called in.
The village head provides a sheep which is slaughtered, and the stomach
contents (tatha) are sprinkled round the village, which is then
ceremonially swept by the elders; the medicine man is then called in to
purify all the people of what is called the mugiro of the dog.
(Note.—The mugiro means the pollution produced by the blood of the dog
having fallen on the ground of the village or the death of the dog in
the village.) This only applies to the Kikuyu section of the tribe.
(58) The children and grandchildren of brothers and sisters cannot
intermarry. Breach of this rule is considered to be a very grave sin,
and all children born of such marriages surely die; the thahu on them
cannot be purged by any ceremonial. The parents are not affected. It
sometimes happens, however, that a young man unwittingly marries a
cousin; for instance, if a part of the family moves away to another
locality a man might become acquainted with a girl and marry her before
he discovered the relationship. In such a case the thahu is removable;
the elders take a sheep and place it on the woman’s shoulders; it is
then killed, the intestines are taken out, and the elders solemnly
sever them with a sharp splinter of wood from the mukeo bush, and
announce that they are cutting the clan “kutinyarurira,” which means
that they are severing the bond of blood relationship existing between
the pair. A medicine man then comes and purifies the couple. This only
applies to the Kikuyu section of the tribe.
(59) If a parent goes on a journey and, during his absence, one of his
or her sons cohabits with one of his father’s wives, the parents are
thahu, and upon his return will be seized with illness. This is a case
for the medicine man, who has to be called in to perform a lustration
ceremony to purify them; the offending son is not affected. Sprigs of
the mahoroa, muchatha, and mitei bushes are bound up together and
dipped in water, and the water is sprinkled over the couple, a little
being also sprinkled at the gate of the village. This only applies to
those circumcised Kikuyu fashion. It is curious to note that
practically the same custom is observed by the A-Kamba.
(60) If a Kikuyu native kills a man belonging to another tribe he is
not thahu; if he kills a man of his own tribe, but of a different rika,
or clan, to his own, he is not thahu; if, however, he kills a man
belonging to his own rika, or clan, he is thahu, and it is a very
serious matter. It can be arranged by the elders in the following
manner:
Two trunks of the plantain or banana tree (called miramba in Kikuyu)
are placed on the ground parallel to each other, and an elder sits on
each; one of them is then lifted up by another elder, and the offender
has to seat himself on the tree trunk exactly in the same place; the
other elder is then removed and the elder brother of the deceased or
brother next in age to him is put in his place.
The mothers of the offender and deceased then bring to the place food
made of every kind of field produce grown by the tribe, as well as
meat; the usual sheep is killed by the elders and a little of the
tatha, or stomach contents, is sprinkled over the food which was
provided by the mothers of the two parties.
The two elders who first sat on the plantain trunks then solemnly eat a
little of this food, and also administer some to the offender and the
brother of the deceased. Two gourds containing gruel made of meal are
then taken, and the elders put a little of the tatha in each, and one
gourd is sent to the village of the offender and one to that of the
deceased. The remaining food is divided among the assembly.
The following day the elders proceed to the local sacred fig tree
(mugumu), and kill a sheep. They deposit some of the fat, the chest
bone, the intestines and the more important bones at the foot of the
tree, and eat the rest of the carcase. They say that the ngoma, or
spirit of the deceased, will visit the tree that night in the shape of
a wild cat and eat the meat, and that this offering will prevent the
ngoma of the deceased from coming back to his village and troubling the
occupants.
A medicine man then has to come and purify the murderer and the brother
of the deceased.
This ceremony is not considered legal, and cannot be performed till the
blood money has been paid.
The above case is a good example of the two stages of the removal of a
more serious thahu; in the first place, the spirits of the deceased
ancestors, including that of the murdered man, have to be appeased, and
the personal defilement due to the spilling of blood, which falls on
both the murderer and the family of the murdered man, has then to be
removed by a separate ceremony performed by the medicine man. It is
interesting to note that only the medicine man can remove this latter.
The above thahu applies to both sections of the tribe. In giving these
details, my informants explained that according to Kikuyu native law,
the blood money for a man was a hundred sheep and goats, and nine sheep
and goats in addition for the elders. If, however, a man could not
raise a hundred goats it was the custom for him to give three daughters
in payment, plus the nine goats for the elders.
The Kikuyu were formerly only allowed to eat the following wild animals
and birds before being circumcised: partridges (ngware), pigeon
(ndutwa), and hyrax (mi-kami). Many will not eat wild game throughout
their lives, and people follow the custom they have been brought up to
observe; those that eat it probably had Asi or Dorobo ancestors. A
person who eats wild game does not become thahu. This same view is held
by both sections. The repugnance to eating this kind of food probably
had its origin in totemism, but all traces of this belief seem to be
lost in S. Kikuyu.
(61) If a tree falls on a hut it is considered extremely unlucky; the
hut, however, will not be abandoned, but it is necessary for the head
of the village to kill a ram which is led round the village before
being killed. If this were not done, the owner of the village, or at
any rate the woman who lived in the hut, would become the victim of a
thahu or curse. The owner of the village, however, may not enter the
hut until the sacrifice has been made to appease the ngoma or ancestral
spirits who inflict the thahu. This applies to both sections of the
tribe, viz., those circumcised Kikuyu fashion and those Masai fashion.
(62) If a jackal (mbwei) comes into a village and calls at night when
the inhabitants are asleep, the people say that a spirit is calling for
meat, and it is considered very unlucky. Next morning the owner of the
village will take a male goat (nthenge), lead it round the village, and
kill it at about the spot where the jackal called out. Pieces are cut
from the loin, lungs, heart, and each of the limbs, and piled up into
two little heaps as offerings to the ngoma, who are believed to have
called out through the medium of the jackal. The sex of the ngoma is
not known, and therefore to be on the safe side two little heaps are
laid out, one for any male spirits and one for any female spirits. No
bone must be broken in any meat offered to the spirits.
Next morning the elders go to the place where the two offerings of meat
were deposited and pour out a libation of beer on each. They then
address the ngoma as follows: “O ye spirits, take this meat and beer
and give us goats and cattle and children, and do not bring thahu to
this village.” The people of both circumcision guilds follow this
procedure.
(63) If a certain snake, called nyamuyathi by the Kikuyu, enters a hut,
it is necessary to pour some milk or fat on the floor for the reptile
to drink; it may drink and leave, or it may not. If it does, well and
good; if not, the owner of the village has to kill a sheep, cook some
of its fat, and pour it out in the hut, saying at the same time: “We
offer you some fat to drink, we beg of you to leave us.” It is believed
that a ngoma, or spirit, has come in the guise of a snake, and on no
account must such a snake be killed. After the sacrifice of the sheep
has been made the snake will always go, but it disappears mysteriously
and no one sees it leave. If the snake remained in the hut, the wife
who owned the hut, and her children, would be thahu.
(64) If a stranger comes to a village and dies in a hut there, the hut
is completely abandoned if the owner belongs to the Kikuyu guild; a
large hole is made in the side of the hut by taking out several of the
wall slabs or planks (mihirigo); the corpse is left inside and the
hyænas come and carry it off. The hut is then left to fall into ruin,
and no articles, such as cooking pots, beer, jars, etc., are removed
from it. The men who break the hole in the wall are even considered
unclean, as much as if they had handled the corpse, and after
performing the duty they go straight off into the bush and stay there
until they have bathed and been anointed with tatha (the stomach
contents of a sheep); finally a very old woman comes and shaves their
heads; they are then ceremonially clean and can return to their
families. A medicine man (mundu mugo) has, however, to come and purify
the whole village in the usual way.
If the owner of the village belongs to the Masai guild the consequences
are not so serious. The family leave the hut temporarily until the
corpse has been carried off by the hyænas; they then kill a goat or
sheep near the door of the hut, take a little of the fat from the
stomach of the animal, and place a small portion on the cooking fire of
each hut. This removes the thahu due to the death of the stranger and
all is well.
(65) If a new hut is built in the village and the wife enters it and
finds herself menstruating on the day she lights the first fire in it,
the hut has to be broken down and demolished the very next day. The
woman must on no account sleep a second night in it; a thahu is on both
the woman and the hut. A medicine man has to be called in to purify
ceremonially the woman and her children, a new hut is built and the
medicine man ceremonially sweeps it out with a broom made of the twigs
of the mukenya, mahoroa, and michatha bushes; he then collects the
sweepings and throws them outside the village. This custom applies to
both sections of the tribe.
This custom also has another phase which is as follows: If on the day a
hut is built, the wife, who is the owner of the hut, is away from the
village and finds herself menstruating, she cannot even return to the
village, but has to seek shelter with neighbours for three days. On the
fourth day she returns, bringing with her a gourd of water. When she
reaches the thomi, or meeting-place outside the village, she pours some
of the water into a half gourd and washes herself. She can then enter
both village and hut without further ceremony. This applies to both
sections of the tribe.
(66) When a new hut is built, the first fire to be lit in it must be
brought from a fire out in a shamba, or field, not from another hut. If
fire cannot be obtained from a shamba it is first obtained from another
village; with this a fire is lit in a shamba and burning sticks are
taken from that fire. The Kikuyu state that they are afraid to get fire
direct from another village in case they bring some unknown thahu along
with it or with the firewood; they consider it a great risk,
particularly for the children, who might get thin and ill in
consequence.
Two or three days after the first fire has been lit a male sheep has to
be slaughtered by the owner of the village. The meat is cooked in the
hut, and the blood is poured out on the village thomi, then beer is
brewed and a libation of it is poured out inside the hut near the door
and on the thomi or village green. The above applies to those
circumcised Kikuyu fashion. Those circumcised Masai fashion make the
first fire in a new hut by friction with a firestick, and the wood for
the first fire must come from two of the trees sacred to this branch,
viz., mutamaiyu and mutarakwa (juniper).
(67) Anyone can impose a thahu upon the owner of a hut by plucking out
a handful of thatch from over the door and throwing it on the ground.
The thahu apparently affects the wife who lives in the hut, and she is
apt to be attacked by a wasting disease. To remove the evil effects, a
number of elders and a mundu mugo, or medicine man, are called in; they
kill a ram or young ewe, which has not yet borne, near the door of the
hut, and sprinkle the tatha inside the hut and at the door. They then
take a rough brush made of twigs of the marario and mahoroa bushes and
sweep up the tatha. This proceeding purifies the hut. They also
sprinkle some of the tatha on the thatch over the door and put some
muthakwa and mukenia sprigs in the place where the piece of thatch was
taken.
Only the elders and the medicine man eat the meat of the sacrifice;
none of the inhabitants of the village must touch it, and even the
brothers of the owner of the hut may not eat any. If the hut is not
thus purified, it must be forthwith destroyed.
Should the thatch be pulled out unintentionally by a drunken man, he
will only have to pay a goat for the purification ceremony. If, on the
other hand, it is done with evil intent, the kiama, or council of
elders, will fine the offender five goats. The writer is indebted to Mr
Beech for bringing this example to his notice.
If a man goes to sleep at a strange village, and if the owner belongs
to the same rika as himself, he is told to sleep in the hut of one of
the wives of the owner. If this woman has lost a child and has not
performed the usual purification ceremonies after a death, the man will
return home with a thahu and will pass it on to the wife in whose hut
he sleeps on his return home.
It is necessary for the hut to be purified as in the previous case, and
then the man and his wife have also to be purified.
Again, if a wife goes and sleeps abroad and cohabits with a man who has
assisted in the burial of a corpse or touched a corpse and not yet been
purified, she will, on returning home, bring a thahu to her husband,
and the same ceremony of lustration has to be undergone.
(68) The last of the Kikuyu thahu which will be quoted is one of some
importance, as it may be, in primitive culture, the germ of one of the
beliefs which affects the life of civilised peoples: this is the ill
luck which is attached to the seventh day.
A herdsman will not herd his flocks for more than six days, and on the
seventh must be relieved by another man.
If a man has been on a journey and absent for six days he must not
return home on the seventh day, and must observe continence on the
seventh day; rather than return to his village on that day he will go
and sleep at the house of a neighbour a short distance away. If this
law is broken, serious illness is certain to supervene and a medicine
man (mundu mugo) has to be called in to remove the curse. Both sections
of the tribe are subject to it, and both male and female are affected.
Moreover, the live stock of the offender will become sick.
This belief makes it easy for the missionaries to explain to the Kikuyu
the meaning of the Christian observance of the Sabbath.
An important point in connection with thahu in Kikuyu which previously
escaped notice is that an owner of a village, if he belongs to the
Kikuyu circumcision guild, cannot enter or sleep in a hut which has
been ceremonially purified until two days have elapsed, or for two
months if he belongs to the Masai guild. This prohibition has a very
practical effect, for in cases where the whole village has to be
purified to rid it of some serious thahu the owner of the village would
naturally be homeless for either two days or two months, as the case
may be. To obviate this difficulty the purification ceremony is carried
out in two instalments: one half of the village is done first, and a
little later the medicine man returns and performs the lustration
ceremony on the other half; the people are not thus greatly
inconvenienced.
A variant of the word thahu in Kikuyu, which is often used by the old
men, is nzahu.
It appears upon inquiry that not every elder in Kikuyu has the power of
removing thahu, but only such as have lost a wife who is a mother.
If a wife dies and leaves children, the husband calls in two athuri ya
ukuu (these are the very senior elders), a muthuri ya kiama (elder of
council), and an old woman past the age of child bearing.
They kill a lamb, mwati, or a ram, and the elders then take the tatha
(stomach contents), pour them into a half gourd, njeli, dip a bundle of
leaves in the tatha and sprinkle the hut. This ceremony is believed to
remove from the father and his children the thahu left by the death.
The half gourd is then placed at the bed head of the father. A medicine
man finally comes and purifies the whole family. If his generation or
age is junior to that of the elders who come to perform the above
ceremony he cannot participate in it, but has to sit apart.
After this the father is considered to be eligible to take part in
ceremonial connected with the removal of thahu, but only if he is a
qualified muthuri ya kiama ya imburi nne or mburi ithano; that is to
say, if he has reached the grade to which the entrance fee is four
goats or five goats.
Partial Immunity of Elders from Thahu.—The elders of the highest grade,
ukuru, are as a rule proof against the incidence of thahu. They
probably acquire a certain sanctity from their communion with the deity
when they take part in the performance of sacrifices at the sacred
trees and can thus be considered as a primitive priesthood. If,
however, they assist in the burial of a corpse and cohabit with their
wives within two months, they will be stricken with illness. If they
participate in the native oath ringa thengi, they must be celibate for
four months, and if they assist at the kithathi or githathi oath
ceremony, they must remain so for five months, or nothing can save
them. In all the above cases they must, like ordinary people, be
purified by a medicine man before they can resume their marital
relations.
Thabu in Ukamba.—In Ukamba thahu is called thabu or makwa, and the
popular attitude towards it is very similar to that existing in Kikuyu,
but it does not appear to be such an important factor in the lives of
the people, and for some reason or other does not seem to have reached
such a high development. It is looked upon with awe, and people
generally dislike to discuss it. The bulk of the elders can therefore
only give one or two examples of it. They declare that the only people
who can give much information are the atumia ya makwa (elders of makwa)
and atumia ya ukuu (elders of ukuu), and these important people
undoubtedly endeavour to envelop the beliefs in mystery.
The incidence of makwa or thabu does not appear to be nearly so
frequent in Ukamba as it is in Kikuyu. The Kamba, in fact, sneer at the
Kikuyu, and say they are full of makwa. Moreover, owing to the
reticence of the Kamba on the subject, it is not easy to collect
examples. Mr C. Dundas, who has assisted in this inquiry, had to pay a
fee of a bullock for himself and a goat for his interpreter before he
could get any information on the subject. These fees admitted him to
the grade of mutumia ya ukuu. All inquiries, however, had to be
conducted in a low tone, and no one was allowed to listen. The
following are all that have been discovered up to date, but there is
little doubt that others exist:
(1) On the death of a man the village is unclean and must be purified
by the elders, and during the period of purification strict continence
must be observed by all those resident in the village. If a man fails
to observe this rule he will become afflicted with makwa; also the
woman, providing she belongs to the village where the death has taken
place. Moreover, if a daughter of the deceased who is living away from
the village visits there within eleven days of the death of her father,
she will become afflicted.
The curse is removed in the same way in either of the above cases. A
brother of the deceased must first cohabit with his wife. He then
brings a goat and the afflicted person brings some beer. One of the
elders then collects twigs of the movu, mulale, and muteme bushes;
these are pounded up with water, and the mixture is called ngnondu.
Some of the ngnondu is poured down the goat’s throat, the idea probably
being to purify the animal ceremonially. The patient then walks three
times round the goat, and the animal is lifted up by the elders. Its
throat is cut and the blood spurts over the patient’s head and body. A
piece of stick is then placed under his left arm and another between
the toes of his right foot; two elders take hold of each of these
sticks and pull them away saying, “We purify you.” The belief is
possibly that by some magical process the defilement is passed into the
sticks. Subsequently the brother of the deceased again cohabits with
the same wife, and the patient is then cured.
(2) A man may not lie on his mother’s bed, or even take any articles
from it, without becoming makwa. Upon the death of his father he
inherits, and is then entitled to use, his father’s bed, which was, of
course, also occupied by his mother, and it is therefore necessary that
he should be protected from any evil which may come from this. So the
elders make a mixture called ngnondu, and smear the soles of his feet
with it; they also sprinkle the framework of the bed. They say that if
this were not done the son would become makwa if he even put his foot
on the bed. If a son becomes makwa through transgressing this law
before his father’s death, he has to be purified as in the previous
case. It is suspected that this prohibition was devised as a safeguard
against incest, but if the theory is correct the natives seem to have
forgotten the reason. A man, moreover, may not sit on his
brother-in-law’s bed without incurring thabu.
Reference is invited to the author’s work on the “Ethnology of the
A-Kamba” (Camb. Press), p. 65, discussing the danger to a girl if a
stranger touches her menstrual blood; this is a clear case of makwa,
which falls on the girl in consequence.
Some of the prohibitions mentioned on p. 102 op. cit. are also cases of
makwa, and on p. 97 op. cit. there is an account of a man who was
suffering from thabu or makwa. At the time, unfortunately, the
importance of the phenomena had not been fully recognised.
(3) If a man dies and leaves young wives, the sons usually take them
over; but, of course, a son must not marry his mother. A son cannot,
however, succeed to one of his father’s wives until the elders have
performed certain ceremonies. If he cohabits with her before these are
carried out he will become makwa.
To remove the curse in this case the ceremonial is as follows: a
paternal uncle of the offender collects the elders and provides beer
for them; the woman concerned brings a goat. The elders make some of
the ngnondu mixture, which is handed to the patient, who pretends to
pay it to the elders. The elders then bring a branch of a tree called
muuti and tell him to pay it to his uncle. He does so by throwing it at
his uncle, saying, “I pay you before the elders.” This looks as if the
spirit of the deceased father were offended, and ceremonial payment had
to be made to the brother of the deceased, who for the time being
represents him.
A piece of wood about fifteen inches long, cut from a mukingezia tree,
is then brought. This is first inserted into the vaginal passage of the
woman, and the man’s penis is then touched with it twice or thrice. One
of the elders afterwards carries the stick away and throws it across a
river saying, “I throw this evil away.” In the evening the uncle
cohabits with the woman. The makwa is thus believed to be removed, but
the man can never have anything to do with that woman again. He can,
however, marry another of his father’s wives after the elders have
performed the necessary rites.
(4) After the death of a father none of the sons may take honey from
the father’s hives until the paternal uncle has first done so. Any who
break this law will become makwa. It can, however, be removed by the
uncle, who brings a sheep, and he, the elders, and the mother of the
patient lead the sheep three times round the patient; at the conclusion
of the third turn the sheep is lifted up and its throat is cut, and the
blood is allowed to spurt over the patient. The animal’s throat is cut
by one of the elders, whose forearm is held by the uncle and the
mother. After this ceremony the patient is believed to be cured, and he
can take honey. It may be that this was devised to prevent a son
rushing off into the woods after his father’s death and annexing any
honey he found, irrespective of whether such and such a hive would fall
to his share when the elders decided as to the division of the estate.
(5) If a woman loses a young child by death it is necessary for her to
have her breasts ceremonially purified by a qualified elder, or it is
believed that any future children she may bear will die of makwa.
(6) If a man cohabits with a married woman in the woods while the
cattle are out grazing, it brings makwa upon the cattle and they will
die. The woman, however, is generally afraid of evil falling on the
precious cattle, and confesses. The cattle are then taken out of their
kraal, medicine is placed on the ground at the gate, and they are then
driven back over the medicine, and this lifts the curse. The woman has
also to be ceremonially purified by an elder.
(7) If a woman who has borne children is forced by a man a curse is
said to fall on the children and they will die. The evil can, however,
be averted if she is purified by an elder; the man has to pay a goat
and the expenses of the purification ceremony.
(8) If a hyæna defæcates in a village during the night a makwa falls on
the village, and the elders have to kill a goat and purify (tapisha)
the village.
(9) Some medicine men have the power to place a makwa upon one of their
wives who is a particular favourite. This is done by medicine, but the
details are kept secret. If a man seduces the woman in question it is
said that death will ensue unless he can by payment induce the medicine
man to lift the curse.
(10) If a person goes to his mother’s native village and eats food
there, and if by any chance a death has occurred in that village and
the funeral ceremonies are not completed, he will be stricken with
makwa. Even if a wife goes to pay a visit to her father’s village under
the above circumstances the result is the same. This form of makwa can
only be removed by a medicine man.
The little known Thaka or Tharaka people in the Tana Valley south-east
of Kenia also believe in makwa, and use the same word for it. A few
examples have been collected by Mr C. Dundas, and are given below:
(1) If a village is ceremonially unclean for some reason or other, and
a man cohabits therein with a person of the opposite sex before it is
purified, they are both stricken with makwa.
(2) If a man belonging to a village has been absent on the occasion of
a death and at the necessary subsequent purification of the village, he
may not enter until a sheep has been killed and the contents smeared on
the threshold of his mother’s hut. If this lustration ceremony is
omitted he is stricken with makwa.
(3) After the death of the head of a family the sons may take the
younger widows to wife, but not until the brother of the deceased has
ceremonially cohabited with the principal wife of the deceased. If this
rite is not observed before a son marries one of his father’s widows,
he will become makwa.
Little is yet known of the procedure which has to be adopted to remove
the makwa, but it is said that only medicine men can do so. An elder,
seen recently, who was covered with small sores, and some of whose toes
had dropped off, was stated to be suffering from makwa, due to
infringement of the rule mentioned in example (1) above.
A new road was recently opened in Kikuyu country, and where it crossed
the Ruiru River a bridge was built. At one end of the bridge an arch,
made of bent sticks, was erected, and on this a small wicker-work
arrangement was suspended. Over the bent sticks a strip of the skin of
a sheep was entwined. This was called “rigi,” and was a miniature of
the wicker door of a hut. The Ruiru River at this place is the boundary
between two sections of the country, and the object of the model door
was to prevent evil influences, or thahu, entering the neighbouring
area by the bridge. The strip of skin was taken from a sheep which had
been sacrificed there.
There is a curious belief in Kikuyu with regard to the burning of a
hut. If a hut is burned down, the owner must not lodge the goats from
that hut in the house of a friend, the idea being that the hut caught
fire as the result of some kind of thahu, and that the goats are
probably infected with the thahu and may thus bring sickness to other
people’s animals. There was, for instance, a case where a hut was
destroyed by fire, along with several goats, but the people dare not
eat the carcases, although the meat was apparently quite wholesome.
When a burnt hut is rebuilt, a goat is slaughtered to prevent the new
hut from being destroyed by fire. The meat of the goat is eaten by the
elders, and the skin is given to an elder who has had a hut burnt. But
although he may use the skin he must not sell it.
Extinction of Fire in a Hut.—Though not definitely connected with the
thahu beliefs, the ill luck which is associated with the extinction of
fire in a hut is rather interesting to note.
If a man has several huts it is considered extremely unlucky if the
fire goes out in all of them in a single night. He must at once summon
the elders, who kill a male sheep and sprinkle some of the stomach
contents or tatha on each fireplace. If his nearest neighbours live
some little way off, he relights the fire by means of a fire stick,
mwaki ku-thegetha, but if they live near by he begs some fire from
them. When the sheep is killed they also fry the fat in a cooking pot
and sprinkle some of it in the village and pray to Engai (God)—“We give
thee fat to drink, and beg thee not to extinguish the fire again.”
When fire goes out in the hut of a medicine man it is not necessary for
him to kill a sheep like ordinary people, but he feels the ill luck all
the same. He dare not travel next day, and if anyone comes to him for
medicine or to be purified, he will not perform the ceremony until a
whole day has elapsed.
The elders who were interrogated about this were quite clear that it
was God who put out the fire and not the ngoma, or spirits.
Effects of Breaking a Tabu.—A curious case of the results of an
infringement of tabu recently came to the notice of an officer in
Western Ukamba. He was inspecting the hospital, and found there a Kamba
porter stricken with illness; his face was much swollen and covered by
a kind of congested rash, and his testicles were also swollen. On
inquiry, he stated that his affection came on suddenly after eating
some hartebeest meat, and that he belonged to the Aitangwa clan, in
which this was a forbidden meat. The officer immediately sought out an
intelligent Mu-Kamba, who knew nothing about the incident, and asked
about the Aitangwa and their tabu, or makwa, and without hesitation he
was told that hartebeest meat was forbidden, and described exactly the
symptoms from which the porter was suffering as being the result of
breaking the prohibition. It was said that the man would have to
sacrifice a goat and go through a purification ceremony to get rid of
the affliction. The final result was not heard.
These phenomena are very curious, and psychologists would no doubt
attribute them to self-hypnotic suggestion. It must, however, be
remembered that a man who breaks the clan tabu is probably, before
breaking it, very sceptical as to the evil effects, and, being
sceptical, would presumably be proof against the hypnotic
auto-suggestion.
(B) PURIFICATION AND BLESSING
Ku-tahikia in Kikuyu.—Reference has been made to purification by the
medicine man, which generally concludes the ceremonies connected with
the removal of thahu. This ceremony is the same in all cases in which
it is considered necessary; it may vary a little according to the
practice of a particular medicine man, but that is all.
The writer was recently present at one of these ceremonies, and the
procedure was as follows: The medicine man first received a sheep; he
then made a small incision between the hoofs of the right foreleg and
rubbed a little medicine into the wound. The medicine consisted of a
powder made from the mararia bush and mahunyuru, which is the epidermis
and hair of a sheep. Probably the idea underlying this was a
consecration of the animal for the purpose of the ceremony. The
medicine man then brought a number of sprigs of various plants:
Mahoroa,
Murumbai,
Uruti-Emilia?
Mukandu,
Muchatha-Emilia, sp.,
Matei or Mitei,
Ihurura, a creeping, vine-like plant.
He separated these into two bundles, and bound each at the base with
the creeper ihurura; they resembled two hand brushes of green leaves.
The mother of the patient or person who was to be purified then fetched
about a pint of water from the stream, carrying it in a couple of
banana leaves laid over each other. A small depression was scooped in
the ground, and the water, still in the banana leaves, was deposited
therein. The medicine man and the patient squatted opposite each other.
The former then put a variety of powders in the water. These were
enumerated as follows:
(1) Powder made from the stomach contents of the tree hyrax.
(2) Ruthuku made from the muhokora root.
(3) Umu, a reddish powder made from the root of a thorny plant.
(4) A powder made from the irura (papyrus) and the mahoroa plant.
He then produced the dried right black forefoot of a sheep, dipped it
in the water, stirred up the contents, and placed the wetted foot in
the mouth of the patient, who licked it vigorously and then
expectorated the liquid on the ground. This was repeated some twenty or
thirty times, the medicine man incessantly recounting all kinds of
dangers and evils in a chanting voice with a general refrain, “May you
be delivered from all these.” He then took one of the bundles of plants
and dipped the lower end in the water. The patient licked it and
expectorated, as above described, the medicine man chanting the whole
time.
The same procedure was adopted with the second bundle of leaves.
The patient then stood up; the medicine man took one of the brushes,
dipped it in the water, and sprinkled the patient’s head and wiped the
front of his body with the wetted bundle of leaves. The patient now
turned round and the back of his body was similarly treated.
The patient then knelt down and washed his face with the water and
washed each foot and leg. This done, he wiped his face, feet, and legs,
first with one bundle and then with the other. The patient then put his
finger into the water and pierced the banana leaf basin, and the water
soaked away into the earth. Thereupon the medicine man gathered up the
banana leaves and his bundle of leaves and deposited them on the
village manure heap, kiaraini.
There was still a final stage of the proceeding, viz., the anointing
with white clay, ira. The patient still stood in front of the medicine
man, who took from a small gourd some of the white earth, and smeared
it down the line of the nose, on the upper lip, under the chin, on the
right and left big toe, and on the palms of both hands. A little of the
medicines called irura and muhokora were then taken and a little placed
in the palm of each hand of the patient, who crossed his hands and,
holding them in this position, alternately licked each palm. The
medicine man then licked a little of the above medicine, and the
ceremony was finished.
The purification ceremony cannot be performed without payment; it is
otherwise of no avail.
Ceremonial Blessing by a Medicine Man (Kikuyu).—This is believed to be
efficacious, upon certain occasions, against evil and as a
purification. The medicine man gives the supplicant a powder made from
an aromatic root called muhokora. It is of a greyish brown colour; a
little is poured into his hand and he eats it. The medicine man also
eats some, with the object, perhaps, of showing the patient that
nothing bad has been mixed with it.
The medicine man then takes a long narrow gourd with tiny holes on one
side of it and shakes out, as from a pepper castor, a powder made of
the roots of the muhokora and mchanja muka plants, and at the same time
uttering a prayer. The patient receives the powder on his hands and
rubs it on his head and down the middle of his forehead. The medicine
man now takes a draught of beer and ceremonially spits a little on to
each of his breasts, first, however, spitting a little on the ground as
a libation to the ngoma, or ancestral spirits.
The general idea of the purification ceremony is of a dual character;
its first object is to cast out the contamination of an evil influence
and, this being done, to re-establish normal relations between the
worshipper and his deity. It is believed that among African natives the
idea of the evil influence is not very concrete, but among other
peoples the evil influence assumes the shape of a demon, the nature of
which may be identified by a magician and expelled by him by the use of
appropriate formulæ. The one is a higher development of the other. In
Math. xvii. 14, and Mark ix. 14, for instance, we find the founder of
the Christian religion playing the part of the magician and casting out
an evil spirit. The only parallel to this class of procedure among the
African natives under investigation is the curious Engai possession of
the Kamba and the ritual undertaken to cure persons possessed: the odd
point about those ceremonies, however, is that although the afflicted
person for whom the dances are convened may be cured, others will be
seized during the proceedings, the affliction apparently becoming
infectious.
Kithangaona cha muchi—The Purification Sacrifice for a Village (Kamba
of Kitui).—If sickness becomes prevalent in a village, the headman will
consult a medicine man, who may declare that the spirit (imu) of a
person who died long ago is bothering the people and needs appeasing,
and he will therefore order a fowl to be taken round the village
ceremonially and killed. This is supposed to be very efficacious in
restoring the good luck of the village, and is done as follows: the
village head will walk round outside the village with some ashes in his
right hand and a fowl in the left; on reaching a point opposite the
gate of the village the fowl will be released and allowed to fly
inside. It is then caught again and its throat is cut and the knife is
afterwards buried in the cattle kraal. The children of the village eat
the fowl. The village head then prays to the deity (Engai) to remove
the sickness and keep it from the village, and afterwards prays to the
imu, or spirit, of the deceased person who is supposed to have brought
the sickness. It is stated that they first pray to Engai because the
imu is believed to have gone to Engai.
The aiimu which afflict villages are said to be usually those of
deceased medicine men who, when alive, were supposed to communicate
with Engai in their dreams. They declare that they have seen someone
glowing like a fire, giving such and such a message.
There is another kithangaona cha muchi, which also deals with sickness
in a village, but differs from the previous example in which a fowl is
used. As with European physicians, the practice of medicine men varies
for individual patients.
The magician, having decided that the sickness is due to the imu of a
deceased person, will order the women of the village to grind some
mawele or wimbi flour and cook it and make porridge.
The porridge is brought to the hut of the afflicted person and some
butter is added; the people present dip their wooden spoons in the
porridge and each one eats a little and then throws some on to the
floor as an offering to the imu; the senior wife of the village head
commences and the others follow suit.
The village head then brews some beer, drinks a little, and pours some
out to the troublesome imu. Having done this he kills a he-goat, cuts a
strip of meat from the breast, cooks it, and deposits it at the door of
the hut. It is probably eaten by the village dogs or fowls, but this
does not matter.
The people then pray to the spirit and say, “We have given you food,
beer, and meat, we beseech you to allow the sick one to recover.”
Kithangaona cha mburi—The Purification Sacrifice of the Goat.—On some
occasions the medicine man will advise that the ceremony of kithangaona
cha mburi be performed. This is done as follows: The evening before the
ceremony, the head of the village puts a stone in the hut fire and
leaves it there all night; next morning he calls a small boy and girl,
and the former, accompanied by the headman, leads a male goat round the
outside of the village, followed by the girl. The goat must be all one
colour and not spotted. When the party reaches the gate of the village
the headman takes a half gourd of water and places it on the goat’s
head between the horns. The red hot stone is brought out from the
glowing embers in the hut, dropped into the bowl of water, causing the
water to boil and give off steam. A hole is now dug at the door of the
hut of the village head, who holds the stone over the hole and prays as
follows: “Engai muimu mivo nathika dikoni wao mivo nathika hivia
nathika wao pamwe nabia hii,” which, freely translated, means: “Oh God,
I do not wish to see the sickness enter my village, so now I bury this
stone and bury the sickness with it.” The goat is not killed, but is
allowed to go free. This is an unusual proceeding. It is a curious
example of a combination of magic and primitive religion.
Kithangaona cha munda—Prayers for Crops (Kitui).—When a villager sees
that his crops are suffering from drought, the ravages of insect pests,
and so forth, he will go to a river bed and cut the branch of a tree
called kindio which grows there. He will then take the egg of a fowl,
dig a hole in the ground, among the crops, and place the egg in it,
planting the branch of the kindio tree in the hole. He prays to the
deity (Engai) beseeching him to make his crops grow like the kindio, a
tree which never withers. The egg is said to be used because of its
nourishing properties, and it is also believed that no bad influence
can penetrate its shell. This is a very pretty example of homœopathic
magic.
The Dedication of the Bull—Kithangaona cha nzau—Kitui A-Kamba.—It
sometimes happens that when a man consults a magician about a
contemplated marriage, or some other matter, the magician informs him
that in his village a cow is in calf and that this cow will bear a bull
calf which will be of a certain colour, red or black or spotted. He
tells the owner that the calf must not be killed or sold in the
ordinary way, as it will be the property of the ancestral spirits (nzau
ya aiimu), or will be dedicated to them. If, however, it is necessary
at any time to kill this beast, some beer must be brewed, and the meat
must be divided among the owner’s wives. No portion with a bone in it
must be given to a stranger, but all the bones should be collected and
buried in the cattle kraal. The meat of the beast must be cooked and
offered to the aiimu, and some of the beer poured out to them. The
bones of the carcase may be broken, if so desired.
A beast thus dedicated to the aiimu will never die of disease. If, for
any special reason, the owner wishes to sell or kill such a bull, a
substitute must be found for it, and an important ceremony has to be
observed. The original animal and the substitute are tied and thrown on
their sides; the two animals are then placed touching each other. Some
hair is cut from the forehead, the chest, and the tail of the original
beast and placed on the substitute, the animals being then released.
The aiimu are addressed, and it is explained to them that owing to
pressing reasons the original beast has to be killed or sold, as the
case may be, but that a suitable substitute has been provided. Some
beer is brewed, and a libation of it is poured out in the hut of the
village head.
Old Testament Parallels.—It is considered that the principle of thahu
or thabu existed among the Israelites, and the following references to
Mosaic law may be reasonably quoted:
Leviticus xix. 8: “Therefore everyone that eateth it shall bear his
iniquity because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the Lord and
that soul shall be cut off from among his people.”
This refers to the eating of a sacrifice of peace offerings on the
third day; it may be eaten the day of the sacrifice and the following
day, but if eaten at all on the third day, inflicts a thabu on the
culprit.
Leviticus xix. 22: “And the priest shall make an atonement for him with
the ram of his trespass offering ... and the sin which he hath done
shall be forgiven him.”
This can be taken as a case of a man who has committed a crime against
tribal law, and takes a ram to the priest or one of the elders of the
tribe, who performs the ceremony of tahikia to cleanse him from his
sin.
The elaborate ceremonial laid down in Leviticus xiv. dealing with the
case of purification from the plague of leprosy might be the procedure
adopted by a Kikuyu medicine man to-day: the use of special plants, the
sacrifice of a ewe lamb of the first year. The latter is identical with
the mwati of Kikuyu practice.
It is laid down in verse 19 that: “The priest shall offer the sin
offering and make atonement for him that is to be cleansed.” This
certainly looks as if the plague were the result of evil-doing on the
part of the patient, and of the nature of a thahu, and is quite in
accordance with present-day beliefs in Kikuyu and Ukamba.
The comminatory chapters xxviii. in Deuteronomy are of considerable
interest as a parallel to the cases quoted as existing to-day in
Africa, e.g., xxviii. 45: “And all these curses shall come upon thee
and shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be destroyed.”
General Remarks on Thahu and Thabu.—It will be well to review the
results of this inquiry. It should be noted that in a number of cases,
about one-third of those enumerated, the thahu is brought upon the
offender or brought upon a third party, by the intentional act of the
offender; in other cases the person, and sometimes the live stock, are
the victims of circumstances over which there is no control.
The investigations throw a vivid light upon the complicated nature of
the life history of a Mu-Kikuyu or Mu-Kamba, and it is evident that a
native of one of these tribes cannot go through life without becoming
thahu or thabu some time or other.
Mr C. Dundas, writing on this subject, says with regard to the Kikuyu
people: “The fear of thahu is always present, a man may be subject to
it without knowing the cause. When anyone goes on a journey he cannot
tell whether he may not have contracted thahu in strange houses and
villages, and therefore when he returns he will kill a goat for
purification before he enters his village. This was done on one
occasion by a number of elders who had been on a journey with me, but
as they were representatives of the western part of the district, the
goat was killed on crossing the Kamiti River, which river they regarded
as the boundary of their country.”
Unmarried men and girls are not subject to thahu. On one occasion a
woman in hospital was said to be suffering from thahu caused by having
touched the genitals of a strange man; the symptoms of thahu were in
reality only a bed sore, but a medicine man was called in to cure her.
A case, in which a man was sued for a goat for the purification of a
woman whom he had raped, and who, in consequence, could not suckle her
child until she was purified, was tried before a kiama. The idea seemed
to be that the child would become thahu.
The thahu is, however, in nearly all cases removable by the elders and
medicine men for payment, and it may therefore be urged that the belief
has not much value as a moral restraint. This view cannot, however, be
seriously maintained for the following reasons: Take the case of a
person who commits an act which he knows will bring thahu; it must be
clearly understood that he never questions the validity of the
principle; he goes about with the burden of the misdeed on his
conscience, and this worries him so much that he gradually gets thin
and ill, and puts it down to the thahu. It therefore ends by his
confessing to the elders and begging them to free him from the curse.
It is in essence nothing more or less than the confession and
absolution of the Christian Church. Then again we have to consider the
publicity of kraal life, where very little goes on which is not known
to the neighbours; polygamy also increases this, a man confides in one
wife, she tells another wife and so it goes through the village; if one
person commits an act which inflicts thahu on himself or a neighbour,
it will gradually leak out by some means or other, and public opinion
will insist on measures being taken to remove it. No living person
would ever dream of evading the wrath of the ngoma, or ancestral
spirits. Occasions may, of course, arise when the commission of a
prohibited act may involve a third party, and the person who committed
it may preserve silence on the point, but the elders will in most cases
be in possession of complete information as to the movements of every
person in the neighbourhood, and, moreover, the demeanour of the
conscience-stricken culprit will invite suspicion, so in practice it is
but rarely that the offender is not detected.
In some of the examples of thahu which are cited above, cases will be
noted in which the hut is affected and has to be forthwith demolished
if the curse is not removed; this feature appears to be worthy of note,
and it may in some measure account for the low type of domestic
architecture among these tribes. Obviously there is but little
incentive to build large permanent structures if, owing to the
incidence of a thahu, the owner may have to demolish them at any
moment. The author’s attention was first called to this point by a
learned French missionary who has studied the Kikuyu for many years.
It must not be assumed that every native is conversant with all the
acts of omission or commission by which thahu or thabu may be incurred
and there are doubtless variations in different areas, i.e., the thahu
of Western Kenya are not identical in number and character with those
of Kyambu district. All the tribesmen, however, know a certain number,
and if anything untoward occurs to a man he will consider it advisable
to consult an elder; the elder will cross-examine him and ask if he has
done so-and-so, or omitted to do certain things. Eventually the
applicant will admit having done something which results in a thahu;
the way is then clear, and appropriate treatment must be sought in the
proper quarter. Ridiculous as most of these taboos appear, they
probably have a general value in regulating conduct in communities
where legal restraint is in an undeveloped state.
(C) THE DYING CURSE
This is a very interesting belief, which occurs in both Kikuyu and
Ukamba. In Kikuyu it is called kirume, and in Ukamba kiume. The belief
is also said to be found, under the name of ukuongo, among the Ja-Luo
Kavirondo.
It is really a thahu, thabu, or makwa which can be suspended by a dying
man over his descendants. The same idea, somewhat inverted, exists
among the Swahili, who call it rathi, or the dying blessing. If a man
does not receive his father’s blessing, he is believed to go through
life attended by much misfortune.
The general idea is that a dying person can put a curse upon property
belonging to him, or can lay a curse upon another person, but only upon
a person belonging to his own family; thus, for example, the head of a
village, when dying, can lay a curse on a certain plot of land owned by
him and will that it shall not pass out of the family, and if a
descendant sells it, his speedy death is said to follow. A case
recently came to the author’s knowledge where an elder was offered a
very tempting sum for a particular piece of land, and equivalent land
elsewhere, but refused it because the property had come down to him
with a kirume on it. This is a very interesting revelation, because
when one comes to consider it, in all probability it is the genesis of
a last will or testament. Furthermore, it is the rude beginning of our
principle of “entail.” It shows, moreover, that these people have
almost reached the stage of individual tenure in land, or at any rate,
of tenure by the family, the head of the village being the trustee for
the family, and it is his duty to see that the gethaka rights are
preserved intact. The gethaka is the portion of a ridge owned by a
particular family, title being obtained by an ancestor by purchase from
the original occupiers, the Dorobo hunting tribes.
If the head of the family feels that he is nearing his end he assembles
his sons, and to the eldest he will probably say, “The goats belonging
to such a hut shall be yours”; he will then call another son and say,
“The goats of such and such a hut shall be yours, and if any of you
break these wishes he shall surely die.” He will then mention a certain
shamba (cultivated field) and say, “Such and such a shamba, shall not
be sold, and if this wish is broken the one who sells it shall die.”
This operates as an entail on the property which will be passed on from
generation to generation; such is the strength of the belief. Upon
inquiry, examples may be found all over the country.
Another case quoted was that of a man who had a ne’er-do-well son who
was in the habit of pilfering the neighbouring villages; the custom is
for those who have suffered to collect and seize the equivalent of
their losses from his father. If this continues, the father, in the
end, becomes so annoyed with his son’s misdeeds that he will put a
kirume on him when on his death-bed. There is quite a mediaeval flavour
about this action.
Sometimes, too, a man, when he is very old, entrusts a son with charge
of his live stock, and the son may abuse the trust and let the flocks
and herds melt away. Cases have been known where an old patriarch on
his death-bed has put a kirume on his son to the effect that he shall
neither grow rich nor have wives, but to the end of his life shall be
condemned to perpetual poverty.
Again, a daughter may be a trouble to her father; she is, say, married
to a husband who has paid the required dowry to her father; she runs
away, repeatedly misbehaves herself, and so forth, and the father will
then be subject to continual worry, owing to the husband’s demands for
the return of the dowry. The father may eventually become so weary of
all this worry that he will put a kirume on her and condemn her to
perpetual barrenness.
Another case quoted was that of two brothers, one rich and one poor;
the poor man may be envious of his brother and hate him in consequence.
One day they go to drink beer, and, excited by the liquor, the poorer
one brutally attacks his brother and grievously injures him. When the
injured man recovers consciousness he will call his brother and say,
“You have always been jealous of my wealth, and now I shall probably
die from treatment received at your hands, but when I am dead if you
attempt to seize any of my property you shall only be able to look at
it, for if you touch a single head of stock you will die, and if your
son comes to take any of my beasts he will also die.”
If a dying man calls out to a man of his own clan, muhirika, or morika,
and makes a request such as, “Give me water,” and the person refuses,
the dying man can impose a kirume upon the one who refuses.
A man is, generally speaking, only able to lay a kirume upon a person
belonging to his own muhirika, or clan, which really means that a
kirume will only affect one with a common blood tie.
There are, however, two exceptions to this:
If a man of one clan marries a woman of another clan (as is the rule)
he can, if necessity arises, place a kirume upon the family of his wife
if they live in the village of his father-in-law, because they have, as
the expression runs, “Eaten of his property,” referring to the live
stock he has paid over to his father-in-law for his wife.
The converse can also happen, for if a man has married a woman and has
not paid his father-in-law the full amount agreed upon, the
father-in-law when he dies can impose a kirume upon his son-in-law, and
such kirume may also extend to his daughter, the idea probably being
that the daughter has not sufficiently worried her husband to pay the
balance due.
The power to impose a kirume is apparently not altogether confined to
elders, for it is said that if an incorrigible child is driven away
from home, becomes starved and dies in consequence, it can, before it
dies, curse its parents and say, “You have treated me like this, and
therefore you shall not have any more children.”
It is said that if a person hears that someone of his own clan is
threatening to impose a kirume on him, he can take steps to prevent its
infliction. The procedure was described as follows: If a person hears
that, say, a brother intended to place a kirume on him, he at once
takes a male goat or sheep to his village and kills it there; he offers
some of the fat, some milk and beer to the dying man, who cannot refuse
to forgive the suppliant, and who ceremonially spits into his hands and
rubs a little saliva on his forehead, navel, and feet. The threatened
person then departs in peace, free from any danger of a kirume from
that person. This applies to both guilds.
One curious case of kirume which was described deserves notice. It is
probably very rare, but it possibly carries evidence of the ancient
origin of the belief and dates back to matriarchal times.
Suppose a dying mwanake, or member of the warrior age, lays a kirume
upon his maternal grandfather, what course would he pursue to rid
himself of the dangerous infliction? If he was unable to get the one
who imposed it to spit on him as above described, he would have to seek
a grandson by another daughter, take or send to him a male goat, some
beer, the milk of a cow and seed of the various kinds of grain grown in
the country, and beg him to come to his village. The grandson would
then come accompanied by the elders; he would taste the meat, beer,
milk, etc., and ceremonially spit them out on the grandfather, and this
would relieve the old man of all danger from the kirume imposed by his
other grandson. There is a word kigao, which is intimately connected
with kirume, and is often confused with it, but inquiry seems to show
that kigao means the neglect of a dying father’s wish with regard to
the disposal of property, and the result of kigao, is, therefore,
kirume, cause and effect being often very closely allied in the mind of
a native.
The fear of kirume seems to be much greater in the section of the tribe
circumcised Kikuyu fashion, for a prominent elder of the Masai guild
stated that when those circumcised Masai fashion succeed to their
father’s property they are invested with the brass bracelet worn by
elders on their right wrist, and upon their mother’s death they wear
the iron bracelet worn by her. These are called kigao, and once an
elder has been invested with them he is quite safe from the effect of
any kirume from his parents. The younger sons receive pieces of the ear
ornaments, ichui, which are made into finger rings and fulfil the same
purposes as the bracelets. This probably accounts for the greater
popularity of the Masai guild among the Kikuyu people. At the same time
the elder admitted that it would be bad to squander the flocks and
herds left by his father, and that if they became depleted he would
probably sell a portion of the landed property to make the flocks and
herds up to their original strength.
If a man hears that a near relative is very ill he makes a point of
going to see him, and takes the precaution of getting him to spit
ceremonially on his hand and rub his visitor on the navel.
If a man goes to see his sick father or mother he takes a piece of
mutton fat, and the sick parent ceremonially spits on it and the
visitor rubs the piece of fat covered with saliva on his navel.
A married woman can impose a kirume, but not on an unmarried woman. The
following is an example of a case in which a married woman may invoke
this curse:
If a married woman has for a long time been systematically ill-treated
by a brutal husband she can, when dying, put a kirume on her father for
having forced her to marry such a bad man, and also upon her husband
for his brutality.
The kirume is looked upon as the severest form of thahu or nzahu known;
in most cases of thahu the subject rarely dies, because it is slow in
its action and the patient has an opportunity of making reparation and
seeking relief from the prescribed medicine man or elders, but in the
case of a kirume the curse is very swift in its action, the patient
rapidly sickens, breaks out into ulcers and often dies before he can
arrange to take measures to arrest its onslaught; his live stock will
also die mysteriously.
It is believed that the effective power of the kirume is derived from
the spirit (ngoma) of the deceased person by whom it is imposed,
assisted by the ngoma of the ancestors of the family.
It is said that there is no poison without its antidote, and the same
applies to the kirume, but the antidote must be applied in good time
and the only persons who can effect a cure are certain persons called
athuri ya ukuu. The athuri ya ukuu compose a grade of elders above that
of athuri ya mburi nne (elders of four goats—referring to the fee they
pay for initiation to the grade). They are always old men and rich, and
have to pay to their fellow elders of the grade a bullock and a male
sheep or goat as initiation fees.
While the athuri ya mburi nne form the ordinary kiama, or council of
elders, the athuri ya ukuu constitute a native court of appeal, but
they do not admit appeals except in very important cases, when it is
within their competence to revise a judgment and, if they consider fit,
reduce the amount of compensation. It is also the duty of the athuri ya
ukuu to instruct the heir in the customs of the tribe when he succeeds
to the property after his father’s death.
The athuri ya ukuu do not treat ordinary cases of thahu but have to be
called in for cases of kirume.
The ceremonial connected with the removal of a kirume is as follows; it
is called ku-tahikia kirume in Kikuyu, which means “to purify from the
kirume.”
The athuri ya ukuu are summoned to the patient’s village, and the day
before the ceremony the elders catch a mole-like rodent called huku
(Tachyoryctes sp.), put it alive in a cooking pot with some sweet
potatoes, and cork up the mouth of the pot. The huku must be caught
near the patient’s village. Next morning the athuri ya ukuu arrive with
a medicine man belonging to another clan and a male sheep is killed;
the elders then take the huku out of the pot and make passes all over
the patient’s body with the live animal and now take the huku and
samples of various kinds of native food, beads, etc., and proceed to
the place where the corpse of the person who imposed the kirume has
been buried or thrown out. Another sheep is taken with this party and
also a small cooking pot; upon reaching the spot referred to the second
sheep is killed and some of its fat is cooked in the pot. They then dig
a hole and pour the fat in it, also milk, honey, beer, etc.; they smear
the huku with the tatha, or stomach contents of the sheep, and the
medicine man ties a tiny piece of meat to the right and left foreleg of
the animal with a string made of mugeri (hibiscus) fibre, then
fastening it up in a rough net made of the roots of the ruriera plant,
and cuts the face off the sacrificial sheep, leaving the eyes intact,
and places them all in the hole saying, “Go back to your burrow and
take with you the spirit of the person who left this curse.” The hole
is then filled in. The medicine man eats the remainder of the meat and
afterwards returns to the village and purifies it.
The huku is said to personify the person who imposed the kirume, and
the eyes of the sheep are to watch the huku and see that it does not
return to the village. The huku is chosen because it lives below
ground, and the ngoma of deceased persons are believed to live below
ground.
After this ceremony the affected one is believed to recover; some say,
however, that it only alleviates the effect of a kirume, but does not
remove it completely. The elders stated that this would not affect a
kirume placed on a piece of land forbidding its sale, and what may be
called the kirume of entail could not be lifted.
The lustration from a kirume by the huku ceremony only applies to the
Kikuyu guild.
Altogether this is a very pretty example of what Sir J. G. Frazer terms
“homœopathic magic.”
If a young woman has been abused or vilified by the young men (anake)
of her particular rika or generation, it is a serious matter for her,
but nothing is done about it until the girl is about to be married. The
father, however, then takes a ram and makes a feast for the anake of
the same rika or circumcision generation as his daughter, and they
assemble and ceremonially spit on the girl. She can then be safely
married and bear children. In fact, as a precaution, this is generally
done even if there is no record of a quarrel between the girl and the
young men of her rika. A medicine man is called in, a ewe is
slaughtered, and he ceremonially purifies the girl before her marriage.
Ukamba.—As was mentioned before, the doctrine of kirume or the dying
curse is found among the Kamba people and is there called kiume.
Elders, atumia, and young married men, anthele, can impose a kiume
among the A-Kamba but not among the warrior class, anake.
A man is able to place a kiume upon the people of a village to the
effect that they shall not refuse food or good treatment to a
particular person, the friend of the dying man; this friend may even
belong to another tribe.
A person cannot impose a kiume on anyone outside his immediate family.
A married woman can place a kiume on her father’s village if she has
reason to do so.
An eldest son can place a kiume on a particular thing in the village
from which his mother came, a common case of this being when a man
places a kiume on the people of his maternal grandfather’s village,
contingent on the disposal of a beast which was paid by his father to
his mother’s people as part of her marriage price. The reason of this
is that an eldest son has a claim to a heifer, the progeny of the
marriage price paid by his father to his maternal grandfather for his
mother, and he can, when dying, will this beast to any particular
person, and if anyone prevents this bequest being carried out he will
die; the kiume generally falls on the head of the village. The formula
used is: “If you do not carry out this wish you will not be able to eat
meat, to drink water, to drink milk to eat maize, to eat millet, and so
on—and you will surely die.”
As in Kikuyu, a dying elder in Ukamba can place a kiume on a cultivated
field, forbidding its sale out of the family.
If a Mu-Kamba breaks a dying wish and incurs a kiume, he can generally
be freed from the consequences if he goes to an elder of his father’s
village or to a near relative of his father and takes a bullock; the
beast is killed and the elders spit water and milk on his face—this
saves him from the worse effects of the kiume, viz., death. The
ceremony is called kuathimwa.
There is little doubt that much more remains to be learnt about the
ritual of kiume in Ukamba, but these things are more difficult to work
out in that district and the details have to be dragged out bit by bit.
CHAPTER VIII
SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING CHILDREN AND WOMEN
Regarding the Birth of Children, etc. (Kikuyu).—In former times, if a
child was born feet first it was suffocated and thrown out.
If a child touches the ground at the time of its birth it is considered
very unlucky. A ram, a mwati (young ewe) or an arika (young female
goat) is killed, and a bracelet made of the skin is placed on the
mother’s wrist. This is done for the sake of the child. The skin of the
animal sacrificed is used for carrying the child on its mother’s back.
It is again very unlucky when an infant cuts its upper teeth first, but
the child is not killed, and is merely sent to its maternal
grandmother. This only refers to those belonging to the Kikuyu
circumcision guild. The child is termed kingu. To avert the ill luck, a
friend is asked to cohabit with the mother for a month, after which the
husband returns to his wife.
The birth of twins is a great misfortune either in human beings or
domestic animals, but only when it occurs the first time a woman or
animal bears.
It is believed that the father will die if he cohabits again with the
mother; a case was cited of a man who did so and was killed by a train
a few days later.
Formerly twin infants were always suffocated, and in such cases were
thrown into the bush by the old woman who assisted at the birth. This
probably still occurs in the remoter parts of Kikuyu, but the elders
stated that in the more civilised parts they are no longer killed but
are given to a member of the clan of the father to rear.
In order to free the mother from the curse, the husband hands her over
to another man called a mundu rohiu, and when she has borne to him, her
husband takes her back. A ram has to be killed and the woman adorned
with a rukwaru before she is taken back.
This only refers to those belonging to the Kikuyu circumcision guild.
If a person, who is a twin, crosses a river, he or she must stoop down
and fill the mouth with water and, facing downstream, spit it out into
the river, saying, according to their sex: “May I not beget (or bear)
twins as my father (or mother) did.”
Anyone seeing this ceremony might well mistake it for a propitiatory
offering to a river spirit, and the error indeed has occurred. The root
idea, however, is that the flowing water may carry away the kind of
thahu which results in such an unlucky tendency as that of bearing
twins. They can give no explanation as to why twins should be of such
ill omen if they happen to be the first children of a married couple or
of a domestic animal. They do not appear to believe, as in some
countries, that twins have any influence over the weather. If a woman
bears twins a second time, one of the children will be given to another
man to bring up.
The Hon. C. Dundas made some inquiries on this point in Kyambu
district, and he states that in S. Kikuyu the birth of twins is
considered unlucky excepting in the case of a woman who has borne other
children; the younger the woman the more unlucky the occurrence, and if
the first birth is of twins, no medicine man can remove the evil, and
the only course is to throw the twins into the bush or to give them to
another man of a different tribe or clan. In Kenya Province it is said
that twins are sold to other tribes, but in Kyambu district the elders
held this to be a bad custom. The foster-father becomes sole owner of
the twins and if they are girls receives dowry for them. In such case
if the twins were the first birth of a woman, the father can accept no
part of the dowry, but if they were second or subsequent births, he
receives the whole dowry from the foster-father and returns ten goats
to him.
At Ngenda Mission, a twin was handed over to the missionary, and the
father agreed to give them the customary ten goats out of the dowry
when the child should be married. No reason for this belief is known,
but the custom is rigorously followed to this day. No one can sleep in
the hut in which twins were born until they are disposed of, and the
mother must cohabit with a stranger who is then called mwendia wa rohio
or mundu rohiu (man of the sword). [9]
A short time ago a case of triplets occurred. The mother had first
borne one child, then twins, and finally triplets. In this case only
one of the triplets was given away to a man of another clan, for, as
the woman had borne several times before, the triplets were not
considered unlucky, and the giving away of the one was said to be due
solely to the mother’s inability to suckle all three.
On the birth of a child a sheep is killed and a strip of the skin is
worn on the mother’s wrist, rukwaru, and her head is shaved; the fat of
the sheep is prepared and given to the infant to eat, being put into
its mouth with the finger. This must be done before the child is
suckled, and the same ceremony, in respect to the mother, is performed
by the foster-mother in cases where a twin or other child is handed
over to a family of another clan.
In every case where a child is handed over to foster-parents it will
belong to the clan of its foster-parents and not to that of its real
parents, but if the child is a girl she can marry a man of the
foster-father’s clan provided he does not live close to the
foster-father, while marriage with a man of her real father’s clan is
prohibited to her.
There is an undoubted widespread belief that the only satisfactory way
of dealing with twins is to suffocate them, as they are unlucky. It is
believed that the practice of giving them away is a later adaptation to
the custom followed when a woman dies in child-birth, the child,
whether twin or not, being always, in this case, given away to a man of
another clan.
Among the Kamba of Ulu, the same general idea as to the unluckiness of
twins, if they are the first-born, prevails. The twins, however, are
not killed or put away, but within a day or two of their birth the
mother is returned by her husband to her father and the marriage price
of the woman is paid back to him. If the husband cohabits with the
mother of the twins after their birth it is believed that he or the
children will die. It is therefore quite clear that the curse or ill
luck is only immanent in the woman. Upon the birth of an ordinary child
a string made of the bark of the ithaa tree is ceremonially tied round
its neck, but this is not permitted in the case of twins. After the
mother of twins has been returned to her father, she may be married to
another husband without the latter incurring the same risks as the
first husband, but the second husband must be of the grade of an elder
of council. It is an interesting point, as a man, on reaching this
grade, is not so subject to the incidence of a curse as a young man. It
would therefore appear that the woman is still to some extent
dangerous. The second husband becomes the adopted father of the twins
and carries out the ithaa ceremony mentioned above; one of the twins
must be named Mbatha, the name of the other one being of no
significance. At the feast of the ithaa, he kills two rams or two male
goats, one for each twin. It is said that twins are not killed at
birth, as among the Kikuyu, because the woman’s second husband would,
under native law, sue the father for the value of the children.
As the twins grow up, each child must be treated exactly alike; if one
has a present, the other must receive the same. A wife must be found
for each at the same time, and the same marriage dowry must be paid for
each. In the case of boys, when sufficient live stock has been paid
over to the prospective father-in-law to induce them to part with their
daughters, both brides must be brought to their husbands on the same
day. If one of the twins is a boy and the other a girl, and the latter
is being sought in marriage by a young man, it is the custom for the
brother to take his sister to her lover’s village for a visit. They
stay there two days and return home on the third day, the girl being
given a goat by the young man.
The Kamba of Ulu do not believe that twins have any influence on the
rain or the weather generally. In Kitui, as in Kikuyu, it is most
unlucky for twins to be born if they are the first children of the
marriage. In former times one was buried alive, but this cruel custom
has apparently died out. It is, however, still believed that if they
are girls and both live, the mother will die, and if the twins are boys
and they survive, the father will die. It is supposed that the evil
effect can be mitigated to some extent if, three days after their
birth, the father cohabits with the mother; the parents also kill a
goat and are smeared with the tatha, or stomach contents.
If a cow bears twin calves at first calving they are invariably both
killed.
As in Kikuyu, it is lucky for a child to be born head first; it is
unlucky to be born feet first, but the infant is not killed. There is,
however, a curious belief that such a person must never step over
anyone lying on the ground, and if he forgets this prohibition, he must
at once step back over the recumbent person. The stepping back is
called njokela, “to go back,” and is supposed to reverse the ill luck
which would be transmitted.
In Kitui, if a cow bears a dead calf the children can eat it but not a
woman, as it is believed that the next time she is pregnant she will
have a still-born child. Women are also not allowed to eat the meat of
a beast which dies.
If a cow bears a deformed calf it is buried, for if it is allowed to
live lung trouble is said to appear among the cattle.
There is no particular taboo on crippled children, but the people say
that the infant is the reincarnation of a deceased person similarly
afflicted whom they remember, and give it his or her name.
The Kamba of Kitui believe that the aiimu, or spirits of the deceased,
sometimes pray to the deity (Engai) to give them another body, and if
the request is granted, a spirit will enter a new-born child and
commence another corporeal existence on earth. Their reason for
believing this is that a pregnant woman will sometimes dream of a
deceased person night after night; if she dreams of a certain man who
is dead, and then bears a son, they know it is that particular man who
has come back to earth, and the child will be given his name. This is
part of the same belief as that of the spiritual husband, described in
the author’s work on the A-Kamba, page 39.
As in the Ulu district and Kikuyu it is considered very unlucky for a
child to be born feet first, and such a child will have ill luck
through life. If it is a male child his wife, if he marries in late
life, is sure to die, and if it is a girl, her husband will die. In the
latter case, however, the evil can be averted if the prospective
husband, before he commences to pay for his bride, sends her mother a
present of an axe. If the woman bears a child which is born feet first,
it is essential that the husband cohabit with her on the seventh day
after the birth.
Should a child in Kitui cut its upper incisor teeth first it is
considered a very bad sign. Such a child must not partake of the
firstfruits of the fields, and it is said that, should it admire a
growing crop, that crop will never reach maturity. This evil influence,
however, can to a great extent be mitigated if, when the first of the
child’s milk teeth drops out, the father cohabits with the mother.
A child is taught that when one of his milk teeth comes out he is to
throw it between his legs and say, “May Engai give me a new tooth to
replace the one I have lost.”
The feeling against twin birth varies according to the locality. In the
more remote parts it is very strong, but in parts of Ulu, the prejudice
is dying out. The father, however, will usually sacrifice to prevent
evil effects.
Taboos on Women.—When a pregnant woman is near delivery, all arms are
taken out of the hut, and also any iron hoes. They are not brought back
again until the mother’s head has been shaved at the purification
ceremony after a birth. If these articles are left in a hut on such an
occasion and someone, for instance, takes a hoe away and uses it, the
child will, it is believed, be afflicted with a thabu. The food in the
house at the time of birth can only be eaten by the mother and three
old women who assist at the birth; any infringement of this rule is a
great danger to the newly born. Even the father cannot eat in the hut
for three or four months, but if a man is poor and has only one wife,
he will sleep in the thengira, or goat hut, and if he has no thengira,
he will sleep in the hut on a separate bed.
A pregnant woman must not sew with a needle, as it is said to be very
dangerous for the new-born infant.
If at child-birth any blood falls on the floor of the hut, the old
women who assist at the birth dig up the earth floor at that place and
bury the soil in the bush at some little distance from the village, for
if a goat licked that particular spot it would die.
If a man goes into his hut at a birth or after it has taken place, and
accidentally treads in blood which may have dripped on the floor, the
newly born child will become sick, but the evil can be averted by the
cohabitation of the parents.
This fear of certain kinds of blood is very curious and goes right back
to ancient times. Among these people a woman during her menstrual
period may not grind corn, but is allowed to cook sweet potatoes or
whole maize. She may not, however, milk the cattle, nor may she cut
potato tops as green fodder for the goats.
A woman must also not step over her husband when in this state or he
will become ill, and to remove the thahu a ewe lamb must be killed and
both husband and wife invested with bracelets made of the skin
(rukwaru). A woman will tell her husband when she becomes ill, and
bathe when she is no longer so. Her husband can then return to her.
A woman must not shave her hair while her husband is on a journey; if
she does so she will be accused of bewitching him. She can, however,
clip her hair a little in front. This prohibition is said to be
connected with the customs by which a wife shaves her head on the death
of her husband, and were she to do so while he is travelling, it might
possibly bring him ill luck.
If a man goes away to hunt or to fight, and on his way back, when he
nears his village, is taken ill and suffers from diarrhœa, he knows
thereby that his wife has been unfaithful to him during his absence. He
will thereupon call an elder and tell him to bring a ram and the roots
of certain medicinal plants: kindio, ibalu, and mathengi. The throat of
the ram is pierced and the blood collected in a half gourd (nzeli) and
mixed with the crushed roots and the tatha, or stomach contents, of the
ram. The suspected woman is called out and told to take hold of the
right arm of the elder who is holding the nzeli containing the mixture.
She then takes a handful of the decoction and throws it on the ground,
and the husband rubs his foot in it. The remainder of the mixture is
sprinkled all the way from there to the door of the hut, as well as on
the bed. She is probably beaten by her husband, and her paramour is
summoned before the council of elders and fined a bull or a ram.
PART II
MAGIC
INTRODUCTORY
In a study of the beliefs and practices of primitive people it is
difficult to draw the line between religion and magic. The general view
is that magic is anti-social; that is to say, that it grew up to
satisfy the desire of man to manipulate supernatural powers for his own
private benefit.
Robertson Smith expresses the position as follows: “The gods watched
over a man’s civic life, etc., but they were not sure helpers in any
private need, and, above all, would not help him in matters that were
against the interests of the community as a whole. There was therefore
a whole region of possible needs and desires for which religion could
and would do nothing, and if supernatural help was sought in such
things it had to be sought through magical ceremonies designed to
purchase or constrain the favour of demoniac powers with which the
public religion had nothing to do.” [10]
This line of argument is probably unassailable, but in the people with
whom we are dealing the belief in demoniacal powers, as apart from the
ancestral spirits, has not reached a high pitch of development, and is
not at all concrete. They practise magic extensively and have a firm
belief in it, but it is difficult to say with certainty exactly what
powers they believe are being influenced by the magical ceremonial.
The guild of smiths, both in Kikuyu and Ukamba, possess hereditary
magic powers; one clan of the Kikuyu, called the Eithaga, is believed
also to possess similar powers. A leading elder in Kikuyu, for example,
who is also the priest in charge of a sacred tree, is said to have the
power of destroying plagues of caterpillars. Such a person, however,
could scarcely be considered anti-social, as the destruction of the
pest must benefit the crops of the whole community. There is also the
case of another elder who is apparently a past master in the art of
detecting criminals, and more especially thieves; this power would, of
course, only be exercised at the request of the owner of the property,
and incidentally to the advantage of the magician.
The power of the “evil eye” probably belongs to magic, although the
power is regarded as an infliction which a person unfortunately
possesses at birth. It is a very ancient belief, and has existed from
the time of the ancient Assyrians to the present day. It still
flourishes among the Semitic races, and also in Morocco; all round the
Mediterranean basin, in fact, as well as in Arabia and Palestine,
people wear armlets or charms to protect them from this evil influence.
CHAPTER I
THE GUILD OF SMITHS IN KIKUYU AND UKAMBA
The information relating to Kikuyu smiths was mainly collected from
Kimani wa Nyaga, of the Gachiko clan, who is one of the senior smiths
in Southern Kikuyu.
A smith in Kikuyu is called muturi, plural aturi.
The smiths of the Kikuyu tribe are said to have all come originally
from a common centre of distribution at Ithanga, on the south-western
side of Mount Kenya.
This scattering of the smiths throughout the tribe is stated to have
occurred many generations ago, and the name Ithanga to be that of their
common ancestor, but now the term Ithanga has become a synonym for a
sub-clan of the A-Gachiko, and not all the members of this sub-clan are
smiths.
It may be that the ancestor Ithanga was a migrant from another tribe
and the first person to bring into the tribe the knowledge of working
in iron. There appears to be, however, no legend as to who invented the
act of smelting or working in iron; it therefore looks as if the craft
were imported. It was certainly not learnt from the Dorobo or Asi
aboriginals, for the Kikuyu declare that when their forefathers came
into the country, the Asi had no smiths, and to this day they have
none. It is believed that the ancestors of the Dorobo were the people
who made the stone implements now being so widely found.
The Masai, however, appear to have had amongst them for a long period a
clan of serfs called El-Konono, who are their smiths.
In former times, the ancestors of the Kikuyu dug out nodules of
ironstone at Ithanga, and also collected iron sand washed down by the
rain from the hill. This is probably the place described by Routledge,
p. 80 et seq., of his book. The ironstone was smelted with charcoal
made from the mutumaiyu tree (Olea chrysophylla) and forged with
charcoal from the mutarakwa tree (Juniperus procera).
The tools and apparatus used by smiths are as follows:
Stone Anvil—Ihiga ya uturi (even to this day these are brought
from Ithanga, where hard metamorphic rocks occur).
Hammer—Kiriha.
Pincers—Muhato.
Bellows—Miura.
Wooden nozzles of bellows—Ngeruru (made of murumbu wood).
Clay tuyére—Ngerrua.
Charcoal—Makara.
Smith’s fire—Mwaki wa kiganda.
Smith’s hut (smithy)—Kiganda.
Pot used to contain water for quenching—Rugio ya uturi.
In former times one section smelted the iron and another forged it;
imported iron wire is now so cheap that most of the forgings are made
from it.
If a man wishes to enter the guild, he has to be initiated with some
ceremony. He must bring a ram (ndorume) which is slaughtered just
outside the smithy; the novice is then walked round the anvil. The
heart and lungs of the slaughtered animal are held in the smith’s tongs
and roasted in his fire, which is fanned by the bellows; the novice
eats them and the smith sits on the anvil and anoints the forehead of
the novice with a spot of white earth (ira). The carcase of the
sacrifice is then split from neck to tail, the right half being eaten
by the smiths and the left half by the villagers present.
The smiths and the villagers then go to the village of the novice to
drink beer, and next morning the smith comes and forges an iron
bracelet, which he places on the right wrist of the would-be smith,
and, if the smith is married, one on the left wrist of his principal
wife. If he has more than one wife, one of his first tasks is to forge
bracelets for the others. The head of a smith’s village wears a twisted
iron bracelet on his right wrist, the other smiths a plain iron band.
Birth does not confer membership of the guild; the son of a smith has
to go through the same initiation ceremonies before becoming a smith.
All smiths are believed to possess magical powers which are alleged to
come from the iron they use and are carried on through the spirits of
their ancestors (ngoma). These powers are used in many ways; a smith
can inflict curses which are of the nature of thahu, and they can bless
the weapons they forge.
When a smith has forged a spear or sword he rubs it with a piece of
kianduri wood (Swahili msuaki, Bot. Salvadora persica) and addresses
the weapon thus: “If the owner of this meets with an enemy, may you go
straight and kill your adversary; but if you are launched at one who
has no evil in his heart, may you miss him and pass on either side
without entering into his body.” This incantation is believed to be a
great charm.
After this ceremony the smith’s assistant polishes the weapon with a
quartzose stone called ngomongo; the assistant is paid for his work but
is not usually a smith. He is often merely the bellows boy, who is
called a muruguti.
Some customers bring their own iron and charcoal and bargain for the
manufacture of a sword or spear; others buy a weapon which has been
made at odd moments and laid by for sale.
A smith will not make the sheath of a sword; he makes the wooden hilt,
but the owner himself covers it with raw hide and also makes the
sheath.
One of the important functions of the smiths is to make certain
articles used in connection with the circumcision rites of the tribe.
These are as follows:
Ruenji—A razor which is especially made for the circumcision rite.
Mukuha—A needle for piercing the ears of small boys. When a boy
is circumcised the elders ceremonially pass this through the
hole in the novice’s ear.
Ngunju—A small iron ornament placed in the ears of boys and girls
at the circumcision ceremony.
Kahiu kaithinja—A knife especially forged to kill the sacrificial
ram at the circumcision ceremony.
The head of the village where the rites are to take place orders these
articles from a leading smith before the ceremony. When the smith
delivers them he is given some honey beer, and he ceremonially spits a
little of it on each of the things to free them from any suspicion of
containing bad magic.
When a smith marries, another smith is called in to forge an iron
bracelet, which is placed on the bride’s left wrist. The husband then
kills a ram, and the fat and the tatha (stomach contents) of the animal
are boiled together in a pot, and the bracelet is dropped into the
mixture. This is supposed to free the bride from any bad magic which
some evilly disposed ancestral spirit might bring upon her by means of
the bracelet.
The Kikuyu smiths state that they have no special language or dialect
peculiar to their guild. When they die, they are buried or thrown out
in the bush, according to their grade, in the same way as other members
of the tribe, and no symbol of their trade is buried with them.
Some smiths belong to the Masai circumcision guild, others to the
Kikuyu guild.
With regard to the magic powers of smiths referred to above:
A smith can place a spell on a patch of forest to prevent anyone from
destroying it. He takes an iron necklet or bracelet which belonged to a
deceased person, cuts it into small pieces, and walks round the piece
of forest which is to be protected. He then deposits the pieces at the
foot of a tree within the area, and woe betide anyone who infringes the
prohibition! If at any time the spell is to be lifted, the smith
proceeds to the area, sacrifices a ewe, removes the pieces of bracelet,
and smears the spot with tatha, or stomach contents, of the sacrificial
animal.
If sugar cane is stolen from a garden, or goats are stolen out of a
village by night, the owner often goes to a smith and seeks his aid,
taking with him the iron necklet or bracelet of a deceased person. If
the smith agrees to intervene, he will heat this in his smithy fire and
then sever it with a chisel, saying, “May the thief be cut as I cut
this iron.” Or he may take a sword or an axe-head which he is making,
heat it in his fire and then quench it in water, saying, “May the body
of the thief cool as this iron does,” i.e., “May he die.”
Both of these curses are said to be equally effective, and it is
believed that the thief will gradually become thin and fade away with a
terrible cough. When he becomes ill, however, he will usually confess
his crime and be brought to the smith or come to him to beg that the
curse may be lifted. He must bring a ram (ndorume) with him, and the
smith will then order him to sit down outside the smithy and will march
round him with the ram. The ram is killed, and the heart and lungs are
extracted; these parts are then roasted in the smith’s fire and the
patient eats them, and the curse is lifted. The complete recovery,
however, is said to take about six weeks. A medicine man has no power
over a smith’s magic.
In former times smiths were sometimes supposed to bewitch people
against whom they had a grievance. A smith would secretly take the
necklet or bracelet of a deceased person, cut it into pieces, and bury
a piece at the gate of the village he wished to bewitch; the people
passing in and out all day would step on the spot where the piece of
iron was buried and thus incur the evil influence. Another piece would
probably be buried at the watering place. By these means the whole
village became afflicted, and unless the magic was removed the people
would die. The infliction of the magic, in fact, would probably not be
realised until several people had died. The evil magic has to be
removed by a smith and a medicine man; a ram and a young ewe, which has
not yet borne, mwati, are provided, the ram is killed, and the usual
purification ceremony gone through, the ewe being set aside and taken
by the mundu mugo. After the evil magic has been removed, the head of
the afflicted village receives from the smith a twisted iron bracelet
(muthiori).
Smiths place their old clay tuyéres on sticks in cultivated fields to
protect the crops from thieves; there is no ceremony connected with
this, but if at any time these must be removed, the smith removes them,
carefully placing a little tatha from the stomach of a sacrificial
sheep in the hole in which the stick was erected. This removes the
curse and also the possibility of the magic damaging, at some future
time, a person for whom it was not intended.
When a smith forges a new hammer for use in his forge, the medicine men
of the district come and collect the iron scale from the forging to mix
with their medicines, more particularly the medicines they make to
protect a village from thieves or wild beasts. The medicine man (mundu
mugo) marches round the village with the medicine and then buries it at
the gate. It is called kihoho by the Kikuyu.
If anything is stolen from a smith’s forge he calls together all the
smiths of the country-side. This assembly is called njama ya aturi.
Each one in turn is asked if he stole the article, and whether the
culprit confesses or not, they generally fix on one whom they strongly
suspect and insist on his taking the oath of the goat (ku-ringa
thenge). If the culprit confesses he is forgiven and warned, but if he
refuses, he is cursed by the bracelet of a dead person. Should he be
guilty, the spirit of that person will bewitch him to the peril of his
life. He cannot get the curse lifted until the njama ya aturi
reassembles and lifts it.
The ordinary Kikuyu native is far too afraid of the magic of the smiths
to steal anything from one of them, so that when a smith is the victim
of a theft it is easy to guess that the crime has been committed by
another smith.
In the old days, the Anjiru clan, before starting on a foray against
the Masai, went to a smith and got from him a small piece of iron
called kiheto, for which the representatives of the clan would pay a
pot of honey beer and one of sugar cane beer. The smith took a little
of the beer and spat it out on the kiheto. The Anjiru then took away
the kiheto, made medicine with it, and buried it on the path at the
entrance to the enemy’s country. This was believed to stop the Masai
cattle from being driven off a long way.
Smiths were formerly called upon to settle cases. If, for instance, a
man was owed a debt, he would induce some smiths to go to the village
of the debtor and order him to pay. And as the smiths were held in fear
because of this magic the order was generally complied with.
The Eithaga clan has never counted any smiths amongst its members. The
magic of the smiths was always feared by them. When this clan made
spells to withhold the rain it is said that they were careful not to
let the fields of a smith suffer.
If a medicine man visits the village of a smith he does not sleep in
one of his huts, but lodges in the goat hut, thengira; a smith does the
same if he visits the village of a medicine man. If a Mweithaga passes
a smithy when it is raining he cannot enter to take shelter.
A woman cannot enter a smithy unless she is a smith’s wife, and she can
then come to bring her husband’s food.
Smiths Among the Kamba of Kitui.—The original smiths all belonged to
one clan, viz., the Atui, which is a section of the Anzunzu clan, but
members of other branches have now learnt the art and been admitted to
the brotherhood. In Machakos district some of the smiths belong to the
Eombi clan.
If a man wishes to become a smith he brews some beer and takes it along
with a goat to a local smith. They drink the beer together; the smith
takes a sip and then ceremonially squirts it over the hand of the
novice, saying, “May your hands become skilful at the work which I can
do.” They then kill the goat and mix some of its blood with some of the
beer, and the smith pours it over the anvil and addresses it as
follows: “This man is now the same as I am, and I shall give him a new
anvil, and may this new anvil be his friend.”
The anvil is of stone, and when it is worn out the smith searches for
another suitable piece of some tough rock, generally granite or gneiss,
and instals it in the forge. Before using it, however, he brews some
beer and pours it over the anvil, saying, “You are now an anvil, and
you must be as good a one as your predecessor.”
The cult of the smith does not appear to be as highly developed in
Ukamba as in Kikuyu, for his powers are more limited; he wears no mark
of his trade, and he does not dedicate the weapons he forges, as is
done by the Kikuyu smiths.
If, however, a man steals a smith’s stone anvil or any tool from his
smithy, the smith can curse him by saying: “So-and-so has stolen my
anvil, and I curse him, and if he eats this season’s food he will die,”
and it is firmly believed that the thief will die before the harvest is
reaped.
When a man goes to a smith to have an iron rod forged for branding
cattle, the smith will place it in the purchaser’s hand when it is
finished and say: “May the cattle branded with this iron be lucky, may
they escape disease, and may they be fruitful.” This tends to show that
the branding of cattle is believed to have a magical value and is not
solely intended as an identification mark for the beasts belonging to
each clan.
Iron has always played a great part in ancient magic, and continues to
do so in many parts of the world. This is probably due to the fact that
the art of extracting the metal appeared so marvellous to early man
that it was attributed originally to magic. This idea was very likely
kept alive by the early iron smelters and smiths. In early times, as at
the present day, in certain parts of Africa the same persons smelted
and forged, and these men probably invested the process of manufacture
with an atmosphere of mystery and combined into a guild pledged to keep
the art a secret from the uninitiated.
In connection with this subject, it is interesting to note that some
scientists lean to the opinion that the manufacture of iron originated
in Africa. Professor Gregory comments on this problem in “Geology of
To-day,” pp. 321–322. Referring to the easier smelting of iron than of
bronze he says: “Grains of iron oxide are very widely distributed, and
in arid areas attract attention by their heaviness and metallic
aspect.... The preparation of iron by the negroes in Africa is a far
simpler process than the manufacture of bronze. Bronze tools, however,
are found in Europe earlier than those of iron, but their earlier
presence may be explained by the readiness with which iron tools would
perish by rust.... This explanation is, however, not satisfactory, for
if iron had been present and removed, the rust would have remained as a
stain or as a cement. Moreover, it is clear that in Western Europe the
bronze age immediately succeeded the stone age, for the early bronze
implements are copies of stone tools. The conflict of metallurgical and
archæological argument probably admits of a geographical explanation.
“Grains of iron ore in sands and gravels are conspicuous in hot, arid
climates such as tropical Africa, and it is probable that iron working
was invented there before the bronze age in Europe. The inhabitants of
the moister climates of the Mediterranean and Europe had no such easily
found supply of iron.
“Some conspicuous ores yielded tin and copper, and an ingenious smith
who had learnt iron working in tropical Africa may have combined them,
and obtained bronze.”
This is one view. Professor Sir W. Ridgeway, on the other hand, is, I
believe, firmly convinced that the secret of the working of iron in the
Western world originated in Central Europe, probably in the Hallstadt
region, and there we must leave this problem.
CHAPTER II
THE EVIL EYE
This belief, so widespread in Europe, Morocco, and many other parts of
the world has never received much attention from observers in this part
of Africa, and it was only recently realised that it received much
recognition in Kikuyu. It is called kita or kithamengo.
The word kita means saliva as well as evil eye. The Swahili synonym is
kijicho.
A few people here and there throughout the country are believed to
possess this gift, women as well as men, irrespective of the guild to
which they belong. The possessor is born with it.
It gradually dawns upon the people that So-and-so possesses the power,
owing to the fact that if that person audibly admires a beast belonging
to a neighbour the animal shortly after that becomes sick. If this
occurs several times the various owners compare notes and it becomes
generally known that So-and-so is kithamengo.
It would therefore seem that the idea is not based on an evil glance
but upon an envious thought.
After that, if a cattle owner hears that a man who has this power (or
one ought, perhaps, to term it “this infliction”) has been admiring one
of his cows, he will send for him and insist on his removing the evil;
this is done by the man wetting his finger with saliva, and touching
the beast on the mouth and on various parts of the body with his wetted
finger; this is believed to neutralise the enchantment.
Members of the Chera and Anjiru clans are notably possessed of this
power with considerable frequency; the Ambui and Aithiageni again very
rarely possess it. Even a medicine man cannot remove a curse imposed by
a person with the evil eye; only the individual who imposed it can
remove it, and he can do it only in the morning before he touches food.
Human beings and also inanimate objects are equally affected by the
power, for it is said that if a person who possesses the evil eye
admires a woman who is enceinte she will abort, and if she is not, her
breasts will become highly inflamed, and he has to come and
ceremonially rub a little saliva on them to remove the danger.
If an individual object is admired, say a spear, it will soon
afterwards be broken, or if, for instance, the leather-covered sheath
of a sword is admired it will probably be gnawed by rats and spoilt.
No one who is not born with the power can acquire it, and it appears to
be looked upon as an unavoidable misfortune. It is said to be the gift
of God (Engai), and if a death or loss occurs the person to whom it is
attributable cannot be sued for compensation before the kiama, or
council of elders.
In time the people get to know who possesses the power, and if such a
person enters a village he is asked in a friendly way to spit
ceremonially on all the children to prevent anything untoward occurring
to them owing to his visit. If a father possesses this power he can
render his children proof against its action either from himself or any
other person by shutting his eyes and then ceremonially spitting into
each of their mouths.
The power is said to be hereditary, but all the children are not born
with the gift. This belief exists among the Masai, and is called
’Ng-onyek oo’-l-tunganak, and will probably be found to account for the
ceremonial spitting which was so common among them when they wished to
show their friendliness. Refer to Hollis’s “Masai,” page 315, the
spitting on children is undoubtedly done to show the parents that the
stranger is anxious to do the right thing and not afflict the child by
the power of the evil eye. Also vide Hollis’s “Nandi,” page 90,
spitting is again believed to remove the spell of the evil eye
(sakutik).
In Ukamba, Mr Dundas states that it is called kyeni; there is said to
be a whole clan in Kitui called Mwanziu which possess the power, and it
often happens that when a person has received a slight injury he will
go to a member of this clan and ask him to spit on the injured spot,
which forthwith becomes whole. Possibly he attributes his hurt to
someone with the power of the “evil eye.” It is also said that
possessors of this gift have such power that if they admire a stone it
will split into fragments.
The evil eye is a belief of great antiquity, for it was even recognised
as far back as Mosaic times, cf. Deut. xxviii. 54: “His eye shall be
evil towards his brother and towards the wife of his bosom,” etc.
The Magic of the Eithaga.—It has occasionally been incorrectly alleged
that the power of the “evil eye” in Kikuyu is the monopoly of one clan
called the Eithaga or Aithaga, but such does not appear to be the case.
The members of the Eithaga clan are credited with supernatural powers,
but they are of quite a different character, as will be seen below. The
name of the clan is Eithaga or Kiuru, a single member is called
Mweithaga. The name Kiuru is an opprobrious nickname, which means
“those who bewitch people.”
The stronghold of the Eithaga is Karuri’s country on the east slopes of
the Nandarua Mountain, but it is said that they originally came from
Karira’s to the north of the Saba Saba River. The present head of the
clan is one Kiriri near Karuri’s, and in South Kikuyu the most
prominent Mweithaga is Mkone wa Ndawa, and it is said that the chief
Kiriri has hair growing on the point of his tongue. The clan is nearly
entirely endogamous, that is to say, a Mweithaga generally marries a
Mweithaga, and no man of another clan will marry a Mweithaga woman, but
a Mweithaga man may occasionally find a mate from another clan. The
members of the Eithaga clan practically all belong to the Kikuyu
circumcision guild. They are, however, divided into two divisions,
A-Mbura and A-Kiuru, the first meaning the “rain-makers” and the second
the “wizards.”
The former profess to be able to make rain, but their powers in this
connection are not considered very extensive, and the majority will
only admit that if rain is about, a Mu-Mbura may cause it to fall if it
is the proper season for rain. If rain comes on in a camp where one has
any Eithaga porters they will turn out, wave branches and blow
vigorously in the direction from which the rain is coming, and, what is
more, firmly believe that they are having some effect on the elements.
In connection with these rain-making powers, it is curious to note that
no Mweithaga may drink or cook with rain-water that has been collected
in a cooking pot; if he does so he will surely die. Further, no
Mweithaga may carry embers of fire in a fragment of crock from a
cooking pot. He must either carry the fire in some green leaves in his
hand or get a firebrand.
We now come to the wizard branch of the clan. Only the males have
magical powers. It is said that a Mweithaga will take an ox or Kudu
horn and blow it, and so doing will bewitch an enemy, saying, “I blow
this horn and your heart will become like the wind I blow through this
horn,” meaning, it will disappear and be lost. The person will then be
bewitched, will cough up phlegm, and eventually die unless he takes
offerings to the Mweithaga and beseeches him to remove the spell. The
proper thing is to take a ram and some sugar cane, and if this is done
the wizard is unable to refuse, and will keep the sheep, cook some of
the fat and put it in his mouth with some of the juice from the sugar
cane. He will then squirt a little into the mouth of the bewitched
person, and will also put some into a gourd for the patient to take
back to his village and give to his children. After this ceremony the
patient recovers, and, what is better, it is said that no Mweithaga can
again bewitch him in this way.
A Mweithaga, if he wishes to bewitch a village, will go into the bush
and find francolin eggs, and will put these, together with the leaves
of the mkurwe (Albizzia) bush, on a fire and will say, “As these eggs
burst and as these leaves shrivel up so shall this village be
destroyed,” and it is believed that evil will forthwith fall on the
people of that village, but only upon the people, for the Eithaga do
not harm live stock. Some will put the francolin eggs with water in a
cooking pot on a fire and then break the pot and the eggs with one of
the hearth stones. The Eithaga rarely use herbs or material substances
in their magic, their spells being done by invocation. No medicine man
can remove a spell imposed by a Mweithaga; it can only be removed by
the one who imposed it or by another Mweithaga. If, however, a
mysterious sickness falls on a village a mundu mugo, or medicine man,
is called in, and he can diagnose it and tell whether it is due to the
magic of Eithaga. A Mweithaga cannot bewitch another Mweithaga, nor can
he bewitch a person belonging to another tribe such as Masai or Kamba.
Sometimes, however, they are of use, for they are believed to have the
power of bewitching unknown thieves, and so it occasionally happens
that a person who has had, say, some goats or some sugar cane stolen,
will call in a Mweithaga and ask him to throw a spell on the thief. He
will come to the village and take a piece of mud containing the spoor
of one of the stolen animals or one of the stems from which the sugar
cane has been cut, as the case may be, and he will say “A rokwa nguo,”
“I bewitch the thief.” The thief, who is probably not far away, will
hear people talking of this, and being convinced of the effects of the
magic will hasten to return the stolen property to its owner.
The Mweithaga is then called again, and the owner of the goats takes
one and kills it, the Mweithaga cuts out the stomach with part of the
œsophagus, wets his finger with saliva and touches the end of the
œsophagus with his wetted finger, and then inflates the stomach by
blowing and makes passes with it over the body of the thief, thus
removing the spell. He finally fastens a rukwaru, or strip of the goat
skin, on the thief’s wrist and the thief has to pay a sheep to the
Mweithaga as a fee. If the theft is that of such a thing as sugar cane
the thief has to find the sacrificial goat and then be purified as
above described.
No Mweithaga may eat wild game, and in no case can he even wear the
skin of a wild beast; the only exceptions to this law are that they can
eat locusts and can make honey bags out of the skin of the ngunu, a
small reddish antelope, probably a duiker.
For all their magical powers the Eithaga, like other people, are
subject to the incidence of thahu, and are also subject to the power of
the evil eye.
There is a kind of constitutional antipathy between the Eithaga and the
smiths of the tribe, and it is said that there are no Eithaga smiths. A
Mweithaga may not sleep in a smith’s house or vice versâ; if this did
occur it is believed that illness or even death would supervene. The
evil spell can, however, be removed by the owner of the house; that is
to say, if a smith sleeps in the house of a Mweithaga, the Mweithaga
could remove the evil, and vice versâ.
The Kikuyu are very afraid of the Eithaga, and in former days after
someone had been killed by their black art the elders would induce one
of them to come and remove the spell from all the people of the village
where the man had died. They would then collect as many of the members
of the clan as they could find and insist on their taking the oath
known as ku-ringa thenge, by which they would swear not to bewitch any
more of their neighbours. Sometimes, however, they would turn out en
masse and slaughter all the Eithaga they could lay their hands on. It
is said that a Kikuyu would never enter the village of a Mweithaga
uninvited.
If a Mweithaga goes to a village and becomes embroiled in a quarrel
with a member of another tribe, goats must be exchanged to make the
peace, and the Mweithaga must spit on the other party to obviate any
evil effects. The Mweithaga then invites the other man to his village
to drink beer with him, and will take a sip from a horn of beer and
eject it back into the horn, the man then drinking the beer, after
which he is immune from the effects of any Eithaga magic.
The Eithaga are believed to have the power of protecting forest, and
their powers are sometimes invoked for this purpose. If a man wishes to
protect a patch of forest on his property, he sends for a Mweithaga to
put a spell on it; the magician proceeds to the spot with the local
elders and brings with him a cooking pot taken from the deserted hut of
a deceased person. He fills this with water drawn from each spring and
stream in the piece of forest, and boils it on a fire made on a path in
the said forest; the pot is supported on three stones. After this a
little of the water is poured back into each of the springs or streams,
and the pot is then shattered by dropping one of the hearth stones on
it. The magician then blows his horn and announces that if anyone cuts
the trees in the forest his heart will burst forth like the blasts of
the horn.
CHAPTER III
KIKUYU MAGIC AND MAGICIANS
Njau wa Kabocha.—There is, in S. Kikuyu, a curious old medicine man
named Njau wa Kabocha, belonging to the Anjiru clan, who is held in
great esteem on account of his magical powers and his priestly
functions. He possesses a sacred tree, at which sacrifices are believed
to be very effectual. He is said not to deal in bad magic, and one of
his specialities is the removal of a plague of caterpillars, ngunga, or
wireworms, vigunyu, from the crops. He was good enough to give a
description of the procedure used to effect this useful object.
The owner of the afflicted crops brings a ram, ndorume, and some beer;
the ram is strangled and the lower intestine, mutura, is extracted; a
number of the caterpillars are also collected. The magician drinks a
draught of the beer and then bites the caterpillars in half, one after
another, and lays the pieces on the leaves of the mutundu (Croton
macrostachys) and mukuyu (Dombeya sp.). He then places fragments of the
caterpillars in the intestine of the ram, goes away into the bush and
buries the parcel in the hole of white ants’ nest (Muthongonina). [11]
He next takes some wood of the morika and muirangani trees and lights a
fire near the place where the caterpillars are buried, and in this fire
he burns the above-mentioned leaves and the remaining caterpillars.
The magician does not eat any of the meat of the ram; this is consumed
by the owners of the fields and the elders who have accompanied him.
A second ram is then provided, and the magician, together with the
village elders, goes and sacrifices this at the nearest sacred fig
tree; the breast of the ram is cut out and hung in the tree, and the
remainder of the sacrifice is eaten by the magician and the elders.
After this, the magician takes the ngorima (colon?) from the second
ram, some beer, njohi, some unfermented beer, ngogoyo, honey, beeswax,
medicine, of which he would not disclose the nature, and the horns of
the ram; these he burns in a fire, ichua, in the afflicted field. The
bones are all broken intentionally, but the marrow is not extracted, as
it is said that when the fat and bones are burnt in the fire they make
a smell which is very acceptable to the deity Engai. The fire is called
ichua, the particular name for a fire lit at a sacrifice—a sacred fire
in fact.
This is the end of the ceremony, and the magician then receives two or
three miati, ewes which have not yet borne a kid. It was stated that
after the ceremony above described the caterpillars would disappear in
a day or two; they would either be killed by heavy rain, eaten by
soldier ants, siafu, or the sun would dry them up.
On the day after the ceremony no person is allowed to cultivate the
fields, the men may not eat beef that day or the next, and that night
every man must observe celibacy. He must not sleep in one of his
ordinary huts, but in the thengira, or goat hut, among the unmarried
men.
Njau wa Kabocha declares that he can, if he wishes it, bring a plague
of caterpillars upon any section of people who treat him badly, and
that he can do this by pouring out some beer in his village and praying
to Engai. Within fourteen days, he alleges, the caterpillars will begin
to appear, but he admitted that he could only do this about the normal
season when caterpillars are apt to come in swarms.
In the old days, when the Kikuyu used to fight the Masai, Njau’s
father, who was a great magician, was a specialist at making medicine
to enable his people to check the Masai invasions, and when they came,
to ensure victory for the Kikuyu. The knowledge of this art is said to
have come down from his ancestors.
This magic is called mwita, and its most important instrument is a
kiheto, or small piece of iron obtained from a smith. A small clay pot
is made in which the kiheto is placed and some medicine called njeku,
and this is brought to the path by which the Masai usually came to
attack. If this failed, Njau’s father would go to an old woman of the
Asi or Dorobo tribe, buy from her an earthenware pot; this he would
take, along with a ram, and proceed secretly through the forest near
Ngong Mt., to a spot close to the Masai raiding track. He would then
kill the ram as if for a sacrifice, cook the tail fat in the pot, then
melt down some of the body fat, taking care to pick out any pieces of
flesh which had accidentally been put into the pot. He would also add
some tatha from the stomach of the ram and some sugar cane beer to the
melted fat in the pot. He would next seek out a straight and lofty tree
and bury the pot and its contents at the foot of it, being careful that
the mouth of the pot just showed above ground. This is what the
Swahilis call kafara, and it is believed to stop a raiding party from
passing that way. If, however, they did succeed in passing, their raid
would be abortive and many would be killed. The power of this magic is
said to be derived from the deity Engai and not from the spirits.
The medicine above referred to and called njeku is stated to have been
made from a piece of cloth or an old discarded sandal secretly obtained
from an abandoned Masai kraal; this is charred, ground up, and then
mixed with certain magic herbs.
Kamiri wa Itherero.—The Hon. C. Dundas has furnished some interesting
information with regard to the magic powers of one Kamiri, who is the
same medicine man referred to in the curious incident described in
“Ethnology of A-Kamba,” p. 143 et seq.
Close to Kyambu there lives a medicine man of the name of Kamiri wa
Itherero who is said to be one of the most renowned of all Kikuyu. Like
most medicine men, Kamiri is possessed of more character than most of
his countrymen, and this is shown by his manner and appearance to a far
greater extent than is usually the case among other natives. He is one
of the few members of the senior generation of Maina, which in itself
is a claim to veneration; this means that he has practically withdrawn
from the council of elders, and that he must be a man of considerable
age. Yet Kamiri looks younger and better preserved than many an elder
of the Mwangi generation. This may possibly be due to his temperate
habits, for it is said that he has never in his life touched
intoxicating liquors. In height Kamiri is much below the average of his
tribe, but his remarkably clear features and the penetrating look of
his eyes give him a dignified appearance.
For the European, Kamiri, on the whole, has no liking, and he does not
trouble to conceal this; in his own mind he is clear on the point that
we do very little good and cause vast damage by upsetting all good
customs; in particular the injurious effect of our administration on
the manners of women troubles him. And this is not surprising, for
Kamiri has suffered much by our intrusion. In former times the success
of raids depended to a great extent on his advice and aid, and this,
coupled with his deep knowledge of the art of medicine in general, had
won him great respect, and one can even say that he was held in awe.
Kamiri, in fact, was probably the principal man of the tribe and the
nearest approach to a chief that his countrymen of that day could
imagine. To-day he is a small headman, but nevertheless enjoys no small
standing, as we shall show.
Missionaries designate Kamiri as the “official poisoner”; yet one
missionary, who knows him better than any other European, tells me that
if Kamiri is hired to poison a man he will first call that man and tell
him so and then he will inquire into the case and endeavour to settle
the quarrel, in which respect he is usually successful. If Kamiri is a
poisoner he is essentially the “official” poisoner; he uses his art
with discretion and in legitimate causes. There is a great difference
between the medicine man of Kamiri’s type and the average witch doctor
of to-day; the medicine man of the old school knows what he does, and
dooms a man perhaps as conscientiously as a judge when he hangs a
murderer.
Nothing which we or our influence could do has broken his position as a
medicine man; even the paramount chief has a great respect for him, and
he has been seen to get up and give his place to Kamiri. It is believed
that no Kikuyu, however strongly supported by the Government, would
really dare to go against Kamiri. A few years ago he demonstrated this
power by hanging up a bag of rupees in a tree by the pathway and left
it there for several months: no one dared to tamper with it. Natives
attribute marvellous powers to him, and it is pretty certain that once
he has detected a criminal no Kikuyu has any doubt as to his guilt,
neither would they think that any man poisoned by him had been unjustly
dealt with. It is not very surprising that this cunning medicine man,
with his uncomfortable supernatural powers and his science of
detection, should not enjoy great popularity, and that there should be
rather a feeling of distrust between him and his people.
On one occasion Kamiri volunteered to detect a case of theft of some
cattle in which two men, A, a herder, and B, a man remotely suspected,
were in custody on suspicion. As far as is known Kamiri knew nothing
about the case or the persons suspected. Having set some boys to catch
lizards, Kamiri placed the two men before him and dabbed some white
powder on their noses and on the palms of their hands. The same
substance was streaked on one of the lizard’s heads and he then waved
the gourd containing this medicine round the lizard and likewise round
the suspected man. He then asked B if he had committed the theft, to
which the man replied in the negative. Kamiri then held the lizard to
the man’s nose for some minutes, but it made no signs. Next he repeated
the performance with A, and immediately on his denying the charge the
lizard caught hold of his nostrils with its mouth. This it did several
times. Kamiri was then asked if the man was guilty. He replied that he
was not, because if he had been so, the lizard would have held on and
not let go, but he was also not innocent, otherwise the lizard would
have acted as with B, and therefore he concluded that the man knew
about the theft and had probably abetted it. The charge was never
proved against this man, but it was almost certain that he must have
had some knowledge of the theft. The natives had not the smallest doubt
about it after Kamiri’s decision, and were highly surprised that B was
not at once liberated.
A famous trick of Kamiri’s is to make a small sheep grow large. The
writer has not seen this, but was told by a European that he had
witnessed it and that he made the sheep swell to an enormous size. One
of Kamiri’s feats is related with great satisfaction by the natives.
Kamiri once gave some medicine to a European in order that he should
win a race, and the story goes that the medicine worked satisfactorily.
So now there is a profound belief that Kamiri’s medicine, unlike most
others, does not lose its potency with Europeans.
Kamiri’s pupil is his son Kithege, who is said to be almost as
practised in the arts as his father, and he is now generally sent in
his father’s place when there is any distance to go. Kithege was seen
to perform the same trick with the lizard in another case of theft.
This time the lizard hung on to the man’s nose and remained so even
when not held. The man was at once pronounced to be the offender, and
even admitted himself that he had never heard of Kamiri making a
mistake before, although he denied having committed the theft. On this
occasion endeavours were made to discover how the trick was done. It
was certainly not due to any pressure of the hand; a trial was also
made with various colours, but with no effect. Seeing that the writer
was sceptical, Kithege, at his own suggestion, picked out at random two
men from the crowd and tried it with them, but the lizard would not
bite either of them.
Finally the conclusion was come to that there must be some connection
between the breathing of the man and the lizard’s action; possibly so
long as the man breathed freely, the lizard would not bite, but when he
held his breath or breathed strongly, after holding it for a time, the
lizard, for some reason, hung to his nose.
The idea that a reptile will fasten on to a criminal has its parallel
in the New Testament, vide Acts xxviii. 3–6: “And when the barbarians
saw the venomous beast hang on to his hand they said among themselves,
No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he escaped the sea, yet
vengeance suffereth not to live.” Possibly there is an idea that the
reptile is really a spirit which has temporarily assumed this form.
It is considered impossible that a medicine man should maintain a real
standing and the absolute faith of the people by mere trickery. Still
less is it likely that a charlatan would have so much self-confidence
as Kamiri, and therefore one is driven to the conclusion that a man
such as Kamiri must repeatedly have proved himself to be right in his
detection. The most successful practices in this respect will always be
such as work automatically, and the more one sees of noted medicine men
the more one inclines to the idea that many of their powers are neither
trickery nor mystery, but are simply due to the nervousness or to the
mental effect upon the victim or patient.
Kithege was asked if he had any other ways of proving the man’s
innocence or guilt, and he immediately expressed his readiness to try
another test. Asked what he would do, he announced his intention of
taking the man’s eye out, and on being stopped he volunteered to put a
venomous snake round the man’s neck. Unfortunately both of these
experiments entailed more risk than the confidence of the observer
would permit, although the suspected man seemed to have no
apprehensions as to the danger he was running.
CHAPTER IV
MISCELLANEOUS MAGICAL PRACTICES
Rain Magic (Ukamba).—The Kamba have no medicine men who specialise in
rain-making, and in times of drought they pray and sacrifice at the
ithembo, or local shrine, in the manner already described. Some people,
however, pretend that by means of a certain medicine they can make rain
pass by and not fall at a particular place. The ingredients of this are
kept very secret and are only known to a few people. It is a black
powder and is placed in the palm of the hand and blown in the direction
of the rain storm. Some is also placed in the horn of an antelope and
stuck in a tree. It is addressed as follows: “You are now a man and are
placed here to keep the rain away; if you fail you stay out here in the
rain and I will not take you back into the house, but throw you away
into the bush.”
Presumably the concept is that by these means a human, or perhaps
anthropomorphic spirit, having the power of averting rain, is bottled
up in the horn by the potent medicine, or it may be that the spirit is
supposed to be in the medicine itself. It is a pity we do not know what
the medicine is composed of, as the reasoning might be the easier to
follow.
Burglar’s Magic.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba” an example of
this in connection with the Machakos district was given—p. 95. The same
kind of thing is evidently practised in Kitui, where it is said that a
thief will sometimes obtain medicine from a magician and rub it on a
stone. He then goes to a village at night and throws it on to the
thatch of a hut. It is stated that he then probably waits till he hears
the people say: “Let us sleep.” He presently enters the hut and goes to
the owner and says: “I have come for a cow which I am going to take
away.” The owner is apparently hypnotised and unable to refuse, for he
answers: “Take such and such a one,” and the people go on sleeping till
late the next morning. A neighbour calls at the village early next day,
and is surprised to find the door of the hut and of the cattle kraal
open, one or two cattle missing, and the people still asleep.
Women often fashion little clay images of men and hang them up in their
gardens to frighten youngsters who go there to pilfer the crops; the
children believe that if they take anything they will be stricken with
a thabu. The elders, however, declare that such charms are only a sham,
as the women do not really wish to harm the children, but only to scare
them.
Hunter’s Magic.—If a Kamba hunter shoots a very fat beast he must not
take snuff while he is skinning it or he will be seized with diarrhœa.
Elephant hunters often carry a medicine called ngatho, of which a
little is placed on each arrow before it is shot at an elephant; it is
carried in a hollow reed in the hunter’s quiver. The hunter must not
eat or touch mutton before he returns from hunting or this medicine
will prove ineffective. The medicine man who concocts the medicine
places it in the quiver of the hunter with his own hands, and the
quiver must not be opened till the hunter is in the presence of the
elephants. Hunters often carry another medicine called “nzebi,” which,
if blown in the direction of game, prevents it from seeing the hunter.
In Kitui, if a man has made his preparations to go on a hunting
expedition, he must not cohabit with his wife the night before he
starts.
If there is a new-comer in a hunting party and an elephant is killed,
the leader of the party will cut off the trunk and breasts of the beast
before the new-comer comes up, and hide them in the bush. It is said
that if this is not done the new-comer might joke about the peculiar
appearance of these parts and in so doing turn their luck so that no
other elephant would be killed. The elephant spirit would evidently be
annoyed.
An officer, some time ago, shot an elephant in Kitui, and two of the
natives who accompanied him came up and asked if they might perform
their ceremony, the object of which was to bring him much luck and good
sport. He agreed, and a goat was killed and some of the blood
collected; one of the men tasted a little of the blood, and then each
of them took a little in his mouth and ejected a few drops on the tusks
of the dead elephant, the remainder being poured out as a libation.
The leader or leaders of the hunting party who are termed A-thiani in
Ukamba and Tha-mati in Kikuyu can alone eat the trunk of an elephant.
When the hunting party returns it is the duty of the leader to
sacrifice an ox and brew some beer; the blood of the ox and the beer
are mixed and poured out in the village as a libation of thanksgiving.
The same ceremony is observed after the sale of the ivory.
A man who organises successful hunts, or proves himself a good leader
of caravans to the coast, obtains great honour among his people.
Charms.—The Kikuyu people sometimes place a human skull in a tree in a
garden to prevent people from stealing; it is not quite certain whether
this is believed to have any magic power. They also place the clay
tuyéres from a smith’s furnace in trees to protect gardens; in this
case they are probably trading on the dreaded magic powers of the
smiths.
The horns of the first ox presented to a man by the father or his
son-in-law are not thrown away, but placed on the roof of the hut of
his principal wife. The significance of this is not very clear; it may
be done merely to commemorate the event, but in these matters it is
never safe to jump to conclusions.
The following observation in Kikuyu may be classed among magical
procedure. A man was sued for return of some cattle which he was
obliged to return. On doing so, he pulled out a few hairs from the
animals’ tails. It appears that when certain medicine is made in the
village the owner has only to pull out a few tail hairs from a beast
and it will always return to his village.
Occasionally in a Kikuyu village the vertebra of an ox may be seen
transfixed on the stick which surmounts a grain hut. This is a charm to
keep butterflies away from the village, as it is believed that these
insects carry sickness to the goats and sheep.
Fear of old Women.—Old women in Kikuyu are much feared, particularly
those who are blind, toothless, and decrepit; they are often believed
to possess magic power. When meeting them, it is safer to pass by or to
speak to them pleasantly. If they are annoyed they may bring all sorts
of ill luck. Being bothered one day by a number of very old women,
Chief Marraro and his elders were asked to send them away, but were
afraid to tell them to go, and even many of the police dared not talk
to them.
Knots, etc.—When a Kikuyu warrior goes to war he ties knots in the
grass on the way, so that he may find his enemy sleepy. Or again, if he
is going to visit anyone he does the same in order that he may find his
friend at home.
If a man is at war, it is bad for the wife to make string for a food
bag (chondo); it is probably believed that the twisting of string would
have the same deleterious effect as the tying of a knot is supposed to
have on certain occasions. Further, the wife must not sweep out the hut
while her husband is away with a war party.
A zebra was shot by the writer some time ago in Kitui, and when the
meat was brought to camp a Kamba was observed to tie a knot in the hair
of the tail; the reason given for this was that zebras being rather
subject to diarrhœa, it was a good thing to tie a knot in the tail, as
the persons who eat the meat would then not be likely to suffer from
this complaint.
In Kitui, also, if two men are starting on a cattle trading expedition
and one gets ahead of the other the one who is delayed plants a stick
in the ground and ties grass to it, this being supposed to delay the
first man, and, the other passing him, will then be able to sell his
cattle first and therefore at a better price.
War Medicine (Kikuyu).—Before a young warrior departs on an expedition,
the father goes to a medicine man and obtains some medicine called
njeku and smears it on his son’s shield, the object of this being to
protect him from the weapons of his enemies. It is said that sometimes
the medicine man, out of spite, supplies bad medicine and the warrior
will then be killed. This alternative is no doubt the explanation of
casualties, and it would be interesting to know how the medicine man
defends himself from the accusation of having supplied the wrong
medicine.
If a man collects the saliva of an enemy and takes it away to a
medicine man (murogi) who makes suitable medicine of it, the owner
becomes afflicted with a bad throat.
A wife must not sleep away from her village while her husband is on a
journey, nor bring a male friend to the village; she may shave her head
in his absence, although this is barred among some tribes.
Magical Remedies for Sterility.—Among the A-Kamba of Ulu there are
various remedies for barrenness in women. The husband consults a
medicine man, who casts lots, “piga mbau” to find out which of the
various remedies must be adopted. When the proper kind of remedy has
been discovered, the husband takes his wife to the discoverer of the
remedy (ngnondu), who administers it.
Various remedies are in vogue, viz:
(1) A piece of the trunk of the mumo tree is cut out and bound in
the woman’s bead loin band.
(2) One of the yellow fruits of a common wild weed is bound in the
loin band. It is called baringo, and is probably a Solanum.
(3) A goat is led round the woman seven times, and the aiimu are
promised a goat if she proves fertile.
(4) A goat or fowl is killed. Its blood is poured on the woman’s
head till it trickles down her back and breast. She is thus
supposed to derive new blood.
(5) The leather tails of her loin cloth are knotted.
Medicine is also made from the following:
(1) Two twigs of the mukengesia tree.
(2) One twig of the musumsuyia tree.
A branch of mulali tree sufficiently long to go round the woman’s waist
is then cut.
The woman’s loin skin apron is cut into two pieces, and a knot is tied
in one of them.
The mulali branch is then passed round her waist and tied into a knot.
The twigs 1 and 2 are then placed to the woman’s lips, and she bites
some of them and spits out the pieces three times. Part of this is
taken and thrown on a main road for passers-by to tread on. The rest is
taken by the husband, who walks in front of the woman, dropping it for
her to tread on as far as the village. Water in a nzele, or half gourd,
is then drawn by the husband, and all the men and women of the village
rinse their hands in it. A goat, given by the husband, is made to drink
the water in the nzele; it is then killed, and the chest is taken and
eaten by husband and wife. The husband does not cohabit with his wife
till the second night after the ceremony.
Among the Kikuyu if a married woman does not prove fertile a medicine
man takes her to a mukeo, mukenyia, or muthakwa tree, and there
suffocates a mwati (a young ewe which has not yet borne a kid); the
elders of the husband’s clan take the small intestine of the mwati and
twine it around the woman and the tree, the intestine being then cut
through with a sharp splinter of wood. The ceremony concludes with the
anointing of the woman on the forehead with castor oil, and some fat
from the carcase of the mwati is melted and poured out at the foot of
the tree.
It was impossible to discover the exact significance of this ceremony;
it may be a form of so-called tree marriage, a ceremony by which
presumably the fertility of the tree can be given to the woman.
Inoculation Against Snake Bites.—Although these observations are
classified under the heading of magic, it is not at all clear whether
the procedure adopted is based on the knowledge of prophylactic or
antiseptic drugs. The subject is worthy of professional investigation
by a trained pathologist.
The author is indebted to Mr G. H. Osborne for the description of the
process of inoculation for snake bites which took place in his presence
at Machakos in Ukamba.
The practitioner was a young man of some twenty-five years of age,
Waita wa Mathendu by name; the patient a boy of about sixteen, called
Kaboyi wa Kimoino—both natives of the Iveti Hills. At the writer’s
request the native doctor brought specimens of the medicinal plants.
They consisted of:
(1) A branch of a shrub called musobi (Kikamba). This has a leaf
measuring about two inches in length, bright green on the top and a
lighter shade below; the edges are serrated but not sharp, and the
whole leaf has a velvety feel to the touch. It bears a fruit which is
red when ripe and which is eaten by the A-Kamba. It is also used as
medicine for colds in the head.
(2) Two branches of a shrub called mthingii. The leaves appear to grow
on a single stem, and are composed of some six petals on either side of
the leaf stem. The leaf, full grown, measures about one and a half
inches by three quarters. In the case of the first, a piece of the stem
as it stands in the ground is lightly scraped three times with a knife.
In the case of the second, grains of mtama grain are thrown three times
to strike the bush.
Both are then completely dug up by the roots, and the two roots, the
stems and leaves, are put on the fire without water and dried
completely. These are the vegetable ingredients of the medicine.
The animal ingredients are:
(1) The heads of various kinds of snakes. When a medicine man captures
a snake he takes it by the neck in his right hand and passes its tail
three times around and behind his waist with the left hand, like a
belt, the third time passing its head to his left hand, which is
grasping the tail, and then clasping neck and tail in the left hand and
holding it out from his body. He makes three gashes with a knife on the
back of the snake’s head, just above the neck, at the same time making
a gash in the back of his left hand, which is holding the snake’s head
and tail. He then takes some of the blood from the gash on the back of
his hand and smears it with his knife point in each of the gashes in
the snake’s neck. The snake dies after the man’s blood has been smeared
on the gashes, and its head is then severed below the gashes and put
into the nzele with the vegetable ingredients. These are then pounded
up till the mixture becomes a pitch-like substance. It is put back on
the fire until thoroughly dried, when it is ground up into a powder
varying from dark grey to black in colour.
The medicine is now ready for use and is placed in its several
receptacles. The vegetable ingredients are always the same, but as each
kind of snake is treated, each vessel holds a different kind of
medicine. On this occasion the doctor had only three snakes fastened up
in a gourd with air holes bored into it. Before explaining the initial
process he took them out and put the first round his neck and the
second on his lap, where it lay diversifying its position by coiling
round his arm.
The snakes brought for inspection were:
(1) Ndau (female).—About eighteen inches long, dark green on the back
and light green underneath. It both spits and bites, and lives mostly
in trees. Its darts are very rapid.
(2) Syomelule (female).—A dark grey colour on the back and light grey
to light yellow below; the pattern appeared to be almost in squares. It
was about two feet long and had not digested a mouse which had got
half-way down. It is said to be a tree snake; it both spits and
strikes, and after striking sticks on to the bitten part.
(3) Kiko (male).—Marked like a puff adder, black, with a broad flat
head. Unfortunately this one had had a slight difference with the
second snake, which had struck and killed it on the way to the station.
It was in the bottom of the gourd and was not visible. It is said to
lie on the road, shamming death, and rearing suddenly, to strike at the
thigh. The larger ones also spit, and are especially dangerous to
people drawing water.
There were in all seven small gourds of powder, each containing a
mixture of the vegetable ingredient and a different kind of snake. In
addition to the three snakes above mentioned the gourds contained the
powder made from four other kinds of snakes:
(4) Nguluku.—Said to be a small, reddish, whip-like snake of which
larger specimens have also been found living near streams; their bite
is very deadly.
(5) Kimbuba (Swahili Bafu).—Puff adder.
(6) Kisilu.—A very black snake seldom leaving its hole in the daytime.
(7) Yaitha.—A tree snake which is very fond of taking up its residence
in large birds’ nests. It darts down on the passer-by from a tree,
strikes the head, and then retires again to the tree. In 1907, one of
them lived in a tree on the road to Mumoni, not far from Gai, and
killed two people in a short time. The District Commissioner was asked
to kill it, but two Kamba went out together and one of them killed it
as it tried to strike the other. This is probably a Dendraspis. The
doctor takes the skin of the patient’s upper palm, just below the
knuckle of the finger and thumb, and cuts three small gashes in the
skin. He does this just above the upper wrist bone and upper elbow
joint on the outside. The tongue is also slightly gashed in places till
blood is drawn.
The writer only saw these particular places cut, as there was not
sufficient time, but anyone undergoing the full treatment would be cut
on the top of the foot, just above the toes, on the upper thigh, the
buttock, and the shoulder, the process being repeated on the other side
of the body.
The practitioner then pours into the palm of his left hand a little of
each powder—seven kinds in this case. With the first finger of the
right hand he puts the mixed powder on to each of the three gashes,
then spits on the places and rubs the powder into the gashes with the
second finger of his right hand. The remaining portion in the palm of
the left hand is licked three times off the palm by the patient’s
gashed tongue. The doctor then carefully wipes his hands, and, the
operation being over, the powder is allowed to dry into the gashes.
To show the writer the efficacy of his medicine he took out the
Syomelule snake and put it on to the finger of the patient, the mouth
being closed over the first finger just below the nail, where it hung
for several seconds. Then he took it off and returned it to its
receptacle. One fang—the upper one—had drawn blood in the finger. He
then took a knife and scraped the place of the bite on the upper and
lower side of the finger. He said this was to scrape off the fangs of
the snake. No blood was drawn on the under side of the finger. The
patient said that the snake, when hanging to his finger, did not hurt
him, but that he merely felt as if his finger was being tightly
pinched. Both the doctors and the writer’s boy who were present
declared that instant death was the usual result of a bite by such a
snake.
The result of the treatment is that a person can seize hold of any
snake and, by making a circle round its head three times with the first
finger of the right hand, render it innocuous. If a person sees a snake
enter a clump of grass, he walks three times round the clump, and at
the place where the snake has entered puts his hand in till he catches
it by the tail. He pulls it out, and the snake strikes back. He allows
it to strike his hand three times, and then seizes it by the head or
neck and lets go the tail. He then makes three circular passes round
its head with the first finger of the right hand and the snake can no
longer hurt anyone unless a person forcibly puts his fingers into its
mouth. It can be carried about or worn with impunity.
If a person who is immune spits and strikes a snake with the spittle,
the snake becomes sick and dies at once. The patient was at the
writer’s house for quite an hour after the operation. He still had the
other side of the body to be operated upon. He showed no signs of
swelling or illness.
The usual price for divulging the identity of the plants and the method
of concoction to a fellow tribesman is a cow and a bull. For this
reason the doctor brought the twigs tied up in a piece of cloth, so
that their nature was not apparent to a passer-by.
This inoculation may be a system of immunisation or it may be that the
snakes produced for the operation had had their poisonous fangs
extracted. Its efficacy is, however, implicitly believed in by the
Kamba people of these parts, and no one who has been inoculated is
known to have died from the bite.
It must be noted that a certain amount of formality is observed, there
being a favourite number for the magic “passes” and for the gashes made
for inoculation.
Another observer writing from Kikuyu states that while standing at a
particular place with some elders a snake was seen in the long grass.
One man commenced to feel about in the grass for the snake, and when
another man struck at it, he picked it up alive. He seemed to have
absolutely no fear of snakes, and explained that he had medicine for
their bites—not to prevent bites, but to neutralise the poison. Later,
he was further cross-examined and denied that he had this medicine.
The author also saw in Kitui a man who professed to have no fear of
snake bites. This man one day walked into Kitui Station carrying a big
puff adder (Bitis arietans) in his hand; he was not holding it by the
neck, but was gripping it about eighteen inches below its head. He had
heard that snakes were wanted for a collection, and had come to sell
it. After the puff adder had been safely disposed of, he pointed out
two deep scratches, not punctures, bleeding freely, at the base of his
thumb and produced a black powder, some of which he rubbed on the
wounds and some of which he placed on his tongue and swallowed. The
wounds were inflicted by the adder. This man accompanied the writer for
a ten days’ journey, and during that time caught various live snakes.
His general procedure was to lie down and put his arm into the recesses
of a white ant nest which is a very favourite shelter for snakes during
the heat of the day; he would feel about and sometimes extract a snake.
The idea of feeling about in a dark hole in a district where cobras,
puff adders, and other poisonous snakes are common, made one shudder.
But nothing untoward happened, and he suffered no ill effects from his
scratches by the puff adder’s fangs. He was asked what the black powder
was made of, and produced about six plants, the roots of which, when
dried, charred and ground up, were said to constitute the antidote. It
was, however, not possible at the time to identify the plants.
PART III
MISCELLANEOUS
INTRODUCTORY
In this section a variety of matters, many of which have a bearing on
the beliefs of the people, but which cannot be legitimately placed
under either Religion or Magic, are dealt with.
The section dealing with the constitution of the people shows how the
council of elders grades into the primitive priesthood.
A chapter on Kikuyu dances is included, and for this the author has to
thank the Hon. C. Dundas. Many of these dances take place either at
planting time or near the harvest, and also at marriages, and
undoubtedly come under the class of fertility ceremonies. They may thus
be considered to come under the heading of either Religion or Magic,
although it is not always possible to say to which they belong.
A chapter has been added on the position of women in tribal
organisation, and this subject is particularly recommended to future
investigators.
CHAPTER I
THE CONSTITUTION AND WORKING OF COUNCILS AMONG THE KIKUYU
According to the natural organisation of the Kikuyu tribe every youth,
as he grows up, gradually passes through the various grades of tribal
life. He commences as a kihe, an uncircumcised boy, and after
circumcision becomes a mwanake, and finally a muthuri. He has to be
initiated, step by step, into each grade according to the ritual of the
tribe, and payment has to be made for entry into each stage. The
procedure and rites with regard to circumcision have been dealt with
elsewhere, and we now have to consider entry into the higher grades.
When a father considers that his son is old enough, he agrees to his
marriage, and after marriage, when he is the father of a child, he
becomes eligible for eldership. When the father thinks the time has
come, he provides the son with a goat to present to the council of
elders for his initiation into the grade.
The elders cannot refuse to admit him to the lowest grade, and at their
next meeting the initiation takes place. The goat is first strangled,
and a knife is then driven into its chest and the blood collected in a
pot. The senior elders take a sip of the blood, and the candidate also
drinks a little.
The following portions of the carcase are then set apart, viz., the
ribs, a piece of the meat of a leg called ruhongi, a piece of the small
intestine, one of the small stomach, ngorima, and one of liver.
Two athamaki, or full elders of council, take these portions and roast
them before a fire; they are then brought to the hut of the candidate
and handed over to his wife, or, if he has more than one, to the senior
wife, who places them on a kind of shelf, called thegi, near the bed,
and they are afterwards eaten by the man. The wife then gives the
elders a half gourd, njeli, of gruel and a portion of cooked pigeon
pea, njahe. The elders eat a little of this and the remainder is given
to the candidate.
This ceremonial meal appears to be in the nature of an oath. The man is
then called a muthuri ya mburi imwe, viz., an elder of one goat.
A little later on he presents another goat to the elders and becomes an
elder of two goats, muthuri ya mburi igiri; and then again, he presents
a third goat and becomes an elder of three goats, muthuri ya imburi
itatu. No particular ceremony attends the presenting of the second or
third goats.
After a due time has elapsed the man can apply to the senior council to
be admitted to that body. As a rule his entry is not refused, but it is
said that he cannot demand admittance to this grade without the
approval of its elders. He pays a fourth goat as entrance fee, and the
same ceremony as for the lower grade elder of one goat is gone through.
He then has to pay a fine thenge, or male goat, which counts as two
ordinary goats, whereupon the elders reveal to him the secret matters
of their grade and instruct him in the procedure of the council. They
also invest him with his staff of office, the mithegi, and hand him the
bunch of sacred leaves, mutathia (Clausena anisata and also Clausena
inaequalis), and he is then a fully fledged elder of council and is
called muthuri ya imburi nne or ithano, elder of four or five goats, as
the case may be, and is entitled to be called muthamaki, which may be
translated as magistrate or judge, or one who is entitled to try cases.
Ordinary elders are allowed to carry a bunch of leaves of mutathia
(Clausena inaequalis, also C. anisata), but until they become ukuru,
they cannot carry the leaves of muturanguru (Vernonia sp.).
It is now necessary to consider the functions of the various grades.
There are two councils, or kiamas: kiama cha kamatimo and kiama cha
athamaki. The council whose legal powers are recognised by Government
is the kiama cha athamaki.
The following table shows how these councils are composed:
NAME OF COUNCILS COMPOSED OF
Kiama cha kamatimo Athuri cha imburi imwe
,, ,, igiri
,, ,, itatu
Kiama cha athamaki ,, ,, nne
,, ithano
Athuri ya ukuru.
The members of the kiama cha kamatimo have no judicial power; they
attend at a meeting of the council but do not sit with the athamaki;
they are grouped at some little distance, the word, in fact, meaning
those who sit away. This body generally correspond to the kisuka of the
A-Kamba.
The kiama cha athamaki actually means those who adjudicate or settle
cases. The term athuri ya kiama, elders of council, is generally
understood to refer only to the elders of the kiama cha athamaki. The
athuri ya ukuru still remain members of the kiama cha athamaki, but
when they reach this grade, as years go by, they generally take a less
active part in judicial matters, although they are always called upon
to settle knotty points of tribal law and custom.
When a man becomes a muthuri ya ukuru he assumes more definite priestly
functions, and becomes responsible for the proper conduct of the
periodical sacrifices at the sacred trees. When such a sacrifice is
made the athuri ya ukuru are alone privileged to eat half of the head
and the kidneys of the sacrificed ram.
In the same way when a sheep is brought to the kiama as a judicial fee,
it is eaten by the elders present, and the ukuru, if they happen to be
there, claim the head and the kidneys, which, according to custom, they
pass on to the small boys of the village.
When an elder enters the grade of ukuru he can wear in his ears the
flat discs of brass-wire known as ichui.
In former times, one of the duties of the ukuru was to summon the kiama
for the discussion of questions of national importance.
The elders of ukuru also decide the date of the circumcision feasts,
and other similar questions.
It is also the function of the ukuru of the tribe to settle when the
time has arrived for the holding of the great itwika feast, in which
the generation changes from Mwangi to Maina, or vice versâ.
As a general rule the athamaki are men advanced in years, but there is
no fixed rule as to this; many are middle-aged or younger. Occasionally
one may see quite a young man, practically a youth, among the elders.
The elders explained this as follows: the election to the muthamaki
grade lies entirely with the athamaki; if they see a young man whose
prudence and knowledge has impressed them favourably, they may elect
him into their grade; further, the family of a muthamaki should always
be represented in this grade, and therefore if one dies and leaves no
near relation other than a young man, they will elect his son or
brother in his place even if he is quite a youth. Such elections are,
of course, rare and are only mentioned in case these exceptions should
be noticed. They are more frequently found among the A-Kamba, as the
ithembo, or sacred places, are inherited from father to son, and the
owner of an ithembo must always have his place among the elders of
ithembo, who correspond to the athuri ya ukuru among the A-Kikuyu.
If an elder behaves improperly while occupying the position of elder,
or commits a serious breach of tribal custom, his fellows threaten to
curse him with their staves and sacred plants, and he stands in such
awe of this that he will appear before the elders and beg forgiveness,
bringing with him a ram or male goat as a sign of his good intent. He
will then be ceremonially purified, tahikia.
Initiation into the Ukuru Grade of Elders (Kikuyu).—When a muthuri, or
elder, becomes old he generally aspires to a higher grade called the
ukuru, but cannot enter it until all his children have been
circumcised. Some, however, never become members of the ukuru grade;
the consent of the other members of the grade is necessary and they do
not approve of a candidate who is not well endowed with worldly goods,
or, again, prospective candidates may be considered unlucky.
When an elder wishes to become a muthuri ya ukuru he prepares a supply
of beer and invites all the elders of that grade from the surrounding
neighbourhood; if they agree to his admission they assemble and
ceremonially spit on him. A day is then fixed for the formal
initiation, and a larger gathering of elders of various grades
assembles.
The candidate has to present formally to the elders of the grade what
is called njahe, and at the ceremony at which the writer was present
this consisted of:
4 gourds of honey-beer.
4 gourds of sugar-cane beer.
4 gourds of gruel made from kimanga and mawele meal all
mixed together.
4 bowls of cooked njahe or pigeon pea.
Numerous bowls of cooked sweet potatoes.
A bullock and ram were also provided for the guest.
The first thing to be settled was to which elders the various parts of
the beasts should be given; this goes by seniority. The head of the
bullock went to the senior, two forelegs and chest to the next, the
left hind leg to the next, the hide to the next, and the right hind leg
to the candidate.
This being decided, the candidate presented each of the most senior
elders with a gourd of the different beers and each kind of food. The
candidate then presented the principal wife of the senior elder with a
gourd of beer and food. The senior elder brought forth a horn of beer,
took a sip and spilt a tiny drop into his left breast and then offered
it to the candidate who took a sip and ceremonially spat into his left
breast. The senior elder’s wife did the same, offering the beer to the
candidate’s wife. The food was then divided among the other elders, who
gathered round and drank beer. After this, various elders made speeches
welcoming the candidate into the grade and prayed to Engai to look
favourably on him, his wives being also mentioned with the hope that
they might be fruitful.
The animals are then slaughtered, the following portions being
selected:
The heart of the ram—ngora.
Lungs, a portion of—mahuri.
Intestines, a portion of—wei.
Spleen, a portion of—weriungu.
Loins, a piece from—ruduithi.
Rump, a piece from—ruhongi.
Ribs, portion of—kengeto.
Colon—ngorima.
Kidneys of bullock—hiyo.
The ngorima is cut out and the end tied up; it is then filled with
blood from the ram and bits of meat.
The mromo waiyu, or big stomach of the ram, is filled with bits of meat
and fat and tied up.
All these are cooked, and when ready are taken inside the hut of the
senior elder and only a chosen few of the ukuru are allowed inside; on
this particular occasion only eight were admitted.
The senior elder bites a small piece out of the ram’s heart and spits
out a bit to the right and left as an offering to the ngoma, or
ancestral spirits, and the candidate does the same. The next senior
elder eats the kengeto. The mahuri and ngorima are given to the senior
wife of the host by the senior wife of the candidate.
A little honey beer was then brought into the hut, and the candidate
was presented with one of the black staves which only elders are
allowed to carry, and also the bunch of sacred leaves known as
muturanguru (Vernonia sp.). The leaves are tied together with the fibre
from the mukeo bush.
The candidate took hold of the staff and the leaves, and the senior
elder drank a little sip of the beer and ceremonially spat on the
leaves saying “Aroendwo na kiama”—“May you be well liked by the council
of elders.” This was a kind of blessing which may be likened to the
blessing which accompanies the “laying on of hands.”
The ceremony inside the hut was then over, and all the elders outside
indicated its conclusion by taking a sip of beer and spitting a little
on to their right breasts. The meat was then divided and cooked, and
the company settled down to the feast of meat and beer.
Procedure in Pre-administration Times.—The procedure in former times
seems not to have differed greatly from that followed nowadays in
regard to the form of trial. It is said that the elders of mburi imwe,
igiri and itatu used to sit separately, according to their rank,
instead of together as they seem to do now, but it is doubtful if this
custom was religiously observed.
The whole procedure was, of course, less organised than at present.
There appear to have been no fixed councils or meeting places, which is
easily explained by the fact that there were no defined locations. If
two men had a case, they each called a few elders, who met to judge the
case; others came and joined in, partly out of interest in the affair
and partly because the elders, on the whole, delight in litigation.
Certain cases became of general interest or may have affected the whole
country, and then the council would probably comprise most of the
elders from far and wide.
It is certain that the elders could exercise considerable authority
when they chose, as already described, but the object of the council
was primarily to arbitrate in disputes and to point out the recognised
custom to be followed. Where an offence affected the whole community,
or when an accused was regarded as an habitual and dangerous offender,
public indignation might be so strong that the affair would appear as a
public concern, and the elders would then use their full authority.
Ordinarily differences between two men, however, were considered to be
their own affair, and if a man would not give what was due by custom,
the claimant was expected to use force, although in such cases he was
held liable for any damage done in using such means. The elders were,
however, always able to enforce a judgment by cursing an accused found
guilty if he refused to obey the judgment against him, but probably
this was only done in very serious cases where public feeling ran high.
Hence, probably, the many ancient feuds and the intense desire to
increase the strength of the family. Had public authority been very
strong and efficient this would not have been considered of such
importance.
The presumption that the elders were regarded more in the light of
arbitrators than judges is strongly supported by the fact that even
to-day some elders appear to be adverse to deciding questions of fact.
The mere appearance of a defendant before the council would seem to
have implied his liability; even now it is difficult at times to induce
a native to appear before either the council or a court if he maintains
that the charge is entirely groundless or false.
Present-Day Procedure.—In each locality there is a gazetted council, or
kiama, which meets at the council house situated near the headman’s
village; a special flag is hoisted to tell the people that there is a
meeting. Until now the kiama has met whenever there has been a case to
try, but this has proved a great evil, as a few elders are hastily
collected and the large majority object to going to the councils too
frequently. The councils have therefore mostly been composed of elders
living in the vicinity of the chief’s village. It is now arranged that
the meetings shall, if possible, be on fixed days, and not more than
three or four times a month, and the improvement in consequence has
been most marked.
The athamaki for each locality are now registered, and it has been
agreed that at each meeting at least half, or in large localities, one
quarter, of their number must be present. Hitherto it has been
customary for the headman to summon the defendants through his askaris,
or retainers, but now that each elder has been entrusted with the
charge of a certain number of huts, it has been agreed that the parties
shall in the first instance be summoned by their respective athamaki.
(In S. Kikuyu each muthamaki will have, on an average, twenty-five huts
under his charge.)
As a general rule the elders prefer to sit outside the council house;
this is a good rule, as it ensures publicity to the proceedings, and
publicity is also the object of native law. The athamaki sit in front
and the other elders, the kamatimo, behind; only women and anake, or
young unmarried men, are barred from sitting on the general council.
The fee paid to the elders varies greatly according to the means of the
parties and the matter in dispute. It would be advisable to see a fixed
fee instituted, but the elders should make this change of their own
accord. When the parties appear, they come before the elders of
athamaki in turn and state their cases; the plaintiff as a rule begins.
Witnesses are sometimes called, but the parties repeatedly appear
before the athamaki to contradict or correct the opponents’ statements.
The elders generally keep count of the articles in dispute by breaking
twigs; if, as is usual, part of the claim is admitted, the twigs
representing what is admitted are put aside.
Having heard all that the parties have to say the elders of athamaki
then retire alone to discuss the question and settle it (this
conference is called ndundu). They do not, however, all go, and any
elders who are relatives of the parties are excluded; this is, of
course, very equitable. The gazetted headmen never appear to go with
these elders, but are sometimes called and consulted by them. The
discussion between the elders is conducted so that it is not heard by
anyone else; they are hardly ever known to break up without coming to
an agreement. Having decided what it is to be, they break twigs
representing the amount to be paid or any imprisonment imposed. One of
them repeats what each twig represents, while the rest give their
assent in chorus. Two of the senior members then stand up and invoke
poverty, sickness, and calamity upon those who disobey their orders,
and to this the rest again assent in chorus. After this, all beat their
sticks on the ground, repeating much the same phrases, and finally they
bring their staves together on the ground, so that the points meet,
while they give a peculiar sort of whoop indicating that they have
agreed. They then return to the general council, and one of the most
senior among them, carrying the twigs, asks in varying terms if they
have agreed, to which they assent in chorus. The elders then state what
each twig represents, and finally throws his staff or club on the
earth.
One case was recently witnessed in which the elders came to a decision
without adjourning at all. As a general rule they are loth to decide
facts, and if such are in dispute, or either party appears to be lying,
the decision will simply be that both parties must take the oath of
muma. The investigation is generally most searching; if the subject is
some hurt done they will not be satisfied until they have examined and
probed the wounds. No questions are asked as to dates and time, these
being considered of minor importance.
The elders will not recognise that a claim has been paid unless it was
made good before a kiama, and this is the only proof that it was paid.
Natives will therefore not pay debts out of court, as it were, and this
principle is often erroneously taken to mean that they will not pay
debts at all unless forced to. If the council imposes a fine, it is
paid to the Government. In almost all cases, however, a goat or two
must be paid to the elders, who are allowed to keep them on the
understanding that such fines must be consumed by them.
As was previously mentioned, in former times many of the judgments were
not executed until force was used by the plaintiff and his kin.
The fear of revenge must, indeed, have been the chief preventative of
crime, as it has been at all times before the State became the public
avenger. Mere compensation could certainly not have acted as a
deterrent to crime any more than it could to-day. We have therefore, in
reinstituting the settlement of crimes by payment of compensation only,
not made adequate provision for the prevention of crime, nor have we
been able to revive fully the old native organisation by leaving out
the fear of private revenge.
The councils are, it is believed, gradually realising that crime will
not be effectually checked by awards of compensation only; the right of
private revenge has been abolished. It would therefore seem that the
infliction of imprisonment by councils is at times a necessity if peace
and good order is to prevail, but stringent supervision by Government
will, of course, be necessary for a long time to come.
Constitution and Working of Councils among the A-Kamba of Kitui.—The
male Mu-Kamba from birth to death passes through most of the following
grades:
Kana.—(a) Kahengi, an unweaned child; (b) Kabisi, a weaned child able
to walk. The generic name is, however, kana. These distinctions would
really only amount to our describing children as being in long clothes
or short.
Kivizi or Kivisi.—A boy old enough to herd goats, but who has not been
circumcised.
Kamwana.—A circumcised boy who is old enough to dance at ngomas, but
not reached the age of puberty.
Mwanake (plural—Anake).—A young man who has reached the age of puberty,
dances at ngomas, and has joined the warrior class. He may be married
and have children.
Nthele (plural—Anthele).—A married man with children who has ceased to
dance at ngomas. He pays a fee of one to three goats to the anthele on
being promoted from the anake grade, part of the meat going to the
anthele and part to the anake. It is said that an oath, kithito, has to
be taken with the blood. A mwanake may be of any age and must remain in
that group until he has been admitted among the anthele.
Ngila.—This does not appear to be a regular grade, but is merely a war
title. No initiation seems to be necessary. An ngila is one of the
advanced guard in war, and his portion of meat is the lower part of the
leg. It does not seem necessary that he should be even an nthele.
Mwamba in Kitui, and Kiauu in Machakos, is also a war title. The bearer
forms part of the rear-guard, whose duty it is to keep off the enemy
while the ngila escape with the booty. His portion is the rump and
upper part of the leg.
An nthele next enters the grade of atumia ya kisuka, elders of kisuka,
and has to pay ten goats. As a matter of fact they generally pay one
bullock, which is the recognised equivalent, but the fee is always
quoted in goats, the A-Kamba probably having nothing but goats when the
procedure was evolved. The fee is divided among the members of the
kisuka and the elders of nzama, which is the next higher grade.
Although a man enters this grade, it must not be inferred that the
kisuka is a council which still exists. The duty of the elders of
kisuka is to deal with a kingnoli palaver; that is to say, the communal
execution of a person who has been proved to their satisfaction to have
killed a number of people by witchcraft, poison and so forth. The
practice corresponds in a measure to the stoning of Stephen by the
people described in Acts vii. 57–60. The people undoubtedly looked upon
this man as a strange and harmful magician, and their point of view is
quite comprehensible.
They also assembled on the occasion of a Masai raid to draw up a plan
of campaign, another of their functions being to arrange a peace
palaver in case of serious internal fighting. The grade takes its name
from the meat they ate on the occasion of such meetings.
The next grade is mutumia ya nzama (plural, atumia ya nzama), elders of
the nzama, and for the privilege of entering this grade a man has to
pay one bullock and ten goats. Its members are the arbiters of private
disputes, the assessors of damages, and the witnesses of the payment of
bridal price and ordinary debts, and are thus the archives of the tribe
and the registrars of transactions. A man enters this grade by
invitation of the members of the council, and must have proved himself
a man of sound judgment. His age does not matter, but he must be
married and a father to be eligible either as a member of the council
of the anthele or of the nzama. At a feast the portion of meat allotted
to him is the head, the back, and, if a bullock is killed, the rump.
The next, or final grade, is that of atumia ya ithembo, elders of
ithembo, often just referred to as ithembo, to which there is no
specific entrance fee, as the selection is made by the other elders of
the grade. The candidate, however, invariably makes a present to the
other elders after his election, as a compliment for the honour done
him, the usual payment, according to the statement of one elder, being
four goats.
The bullock which an elder has to pay to enter the grade of nzama is
also said not to be a fee but a thank-offering to the elders for his
election. The atumia ya ithembo claim the tail as their portion of a
feast. Their duties are mainly sacerdotal; they arrange and carry out
the sacrifices at the ithembo, or sacred place, in times of drought,
pestilence, planting of crops, and they are responsible for the proper
carrying out of burial customs and village offerings to the spirits. In
times of national crisis their advice is sought, but they do not
ordinarily sit and hear cases dealing with private disputes.
The rise of a Kamba native from one social grade to another depends:
(1) On his supposed fitness for the position, this being decided
by the members of the grade he can enter, and an invitation
to join is necessary.
(2) On the ability of the candidate to pay the fees.
When a case is brought before the council of elders, nzama, any of the
male population can be present, but can only listen to the evidence and
cannot interfere in the proceedings.
The evidence is generally taken by one man on behalf of the council; he
conducts the examination and cross-examines, and if other members of
the court wish to put questions, it is generally done through the
presiding elder.
The Government Chief, or Gazetted Headman, who is really foreign to the
organisation, does not generally sit with the nzama; he sits apart.
The nzama is really a court for the settlement of questions of law or
custom.
Should the evidence on matters of fact differ materially, the only way,
with the exception of very obvious cases, is for the litigants to take
the native oath (kula kithito), which is supposed to bring most dire
consequences on the perjurer. A litigant who refuses to take the oath
is out of court, and judgment goes against him. The results of the oath
are supposed to take effect within six months or a year, and should the
litigant who has taken the oath survive the period, the case is given
in his favour. Only one party and his witnesses are allowed to take the
oath.
As cattle are generally involved in the case, the cattle in dispute are
generally placed with some respected headman or elder until the effects
of the oath are known.
The elders of the nzama retire to consider their verdict, and no
members of the tribe below that rank are admitted to the consultation.
The council generally sits in a circle.
The Government Chief has in recent years assumed the duty of Executive
Officer to carry out the judgment of the nzama, and in many cases in
Ukamba has, at times, arrogated to himself a certain amount of
revisionary power.
Disputes between members of the same family rarely come before the
council, but are settled by the head of the family.
Enforcement of Orders of the Council.—Formerly obedience would be
enforced by any sentence, up to that of a death penalty. At the present
day obedience has in some cases to be enforced by Government.
The successful litigant could enforce the payment awarded by court by
seizing the defendant or members of his family.
In connection with this inquiry it is of some interest to analyse the
functions of two special grades of elders among the Kamba, i.e., atumia
ya makwa (elders of makwa) and atumia ya ukuu (elders of ukuu).
It must first of all be clearly understood that these titles have no
connection with the ranks of atumia ya nzama (elders of council) in
whose hands the judicial functions are vested. The members of the
highest grade of this rank are termed the atumia ya ithembo (elders of
the shrine), both of these ranks being part of the natural career of
the head of a family of any standing in the tribe. The elders of makwa
and ukuu are, however, more comparable to positions which are attained
by successful medical specialists. A man may become one or the other,
or he may be both. Of the two branches the elders of ukuu are
considered the more important; on the other hand, it is said to be more
difficult to become a successful elder of makwa.
These branches of practice must not be confused with the profession of
medicine man, which is quite distinct. A man can only become a medicine
man if he is in direct communication with the aiimu, or ancestral
spirits.
The function of a mutumia ma makwa (elder of makwa) is to avert the
evil consequences of the incidence of a thabu or makwa; the functions
of a mutumia ma ukuu is to ward off death itself.
The former uses ceremonial and lustrates by means of various herbs,
from which he concocts the ngnondu or purifying reagents.
The latter (ukuu) uses spells which have a magical value only, and
gives directions.
The qualification which enables a man to become a mutumia ma makwa
(elder of makwa) is that one of his wives shall have died under
circumstances which may leave a curse or thabu. He must then at once
consult an elder of makwa, who performs certain purification
ceremonies. If these are not performed the children of the deceased
will become afflicted with thabu or makwa. If the ceremonies are
successful the husband is considered to be initiated as an elder of
makwa; if, however, he wishes to practise the art, he must set to work
to obtain experience, as the ceremonial necessary to cure the many
forms of makwa is very varied, and a wide knowledge of the various
herbs employed is necessary.
In the case of a mutumia ma ukuu (elder of ukuu) the necessary
qualification is a series of deaths in the family within a short
period. He can then go to another elder of ukuu, pay fees and be
initiated in the secrets of the art—the fee is usually one or two
bullocks; his duties are to remove the curse due to murders, accidental
deaths, and remove the curse of death from a family which has been
afflicted by an unusual number of deaths. He does not perform
purification ceremonial, but lays down certain procedure which has to
be followed by the applicant. He may be compared to the consulting
physician who gives certain advice, such as a particular diet, and
leaves the patient to follow it or not as he likes. The prescription
sometimes, for instance, takes the form of a direction to have conjugal
intercourse at a particular season.
The final degree which he reaches in old age is called mutumia ma
ithembo (elder of the shrine), and his duty then is to offer the
sacrifices at the sacred grove or ithembo. Among the Kamba tribe the
members of this grade take but little part in the affairs of the tribe,
but in Kikuyu the athuri ya ukuu form a tribal court of appeal (the
word ukuu in Kikuyu has a different significance from ukuu in Ukamba
and merely means “great or senior”).
If an elder of ithembo becomes so old as to fall into his dotage, and
has a son who is qualified to take his place, the son is often elected
in his stead.
If, however, a mutumia ma nzama (elder of council) is married to a wife
who is a magician, and who can instruct him in certain matters
connected with the ritual of the shrine, he can approach much nearer to
the sacred grove than the ordinary elder of nzama, but cannot actually
go up to the place of sacrifice—the elders of ithembo only being
privileged to do so.
Elders of ithembo are very few in number; there are rarely more than
two for each grove. The above practice is prevalent among the Kamba of
Ulu. The Kitui customs may possibly vary somewhat.
The author is greatly indebted to the late Hon. K. Dundas for
assistance in making these matters clear.
Curse for Disobedience to a Judgment by the Court of Elders.—In
connection with the history of the operation of the thahu in Kikuyu one
point is worthy of notice. If a person has been one of the parties in a
suit before the kiama, or council of elders, and refuses to pay the
necessary compensation, the elders can lay a curse or thahu on him. The
procedure is as follows: they assemble at one of their recognised
meeting places and then mass together, beating their long staves on the
ground in unison, calling out, “We curse you on the mithegi; the person
who disobeys the order of the kiama shall be cursed.” Mithegi is the
name of the staves carried by old men, the name coming from the wood
they are made of. No elder goes to a council without his staff. The
offender need not be present, but it is believed that the curse
forthwith begins to take effect.
To remove the curse the offender then goes to the elders and begs to be
allowed to pay the amount of the judgment. This is done, and in
addition he brings a sheep; the elders then say, “Go back home, bring
some beer, and the day after to-morrow we will come and spit on you.”
They assemble at his village on the appointed day and the offender
gives another sheep, which is killed outside the gate of the village;
the purpose of this is to purify the village, ku-thirura muchi, and the
meat is carried round the confines of the huts. The elders then each
take a little of the sheep’s fat and rub it on their staves, saying,
“We are glad that the man who defied our orders has now obeyed it; we
cursed him through our mithegi, but we now smear our mithegi with fat,
as a sign that we and our mithegi are glad, and there is now nothing to
be feared, for we have come to cleanse you and your village from evil.”
The elders then assemble in a circle with the man and his family in the
middle, and one of the elders anoints the tongue of each individual of
the family with a spot of ira, or white earth, and the elders then
ceremonially spit on the offender and each of his family, and depart.
The same belief occurs in Ukamba, and the nzama, or council of elders,
can inflict a curse upon a man for disregard of its orders; if he is
still recalcitrant it is said to be potent enough to kill him and all
the people of his village in a short time. The elders impose this
curse, called kutuu, by all clapping their hands together. The effect
of the curse can be averted if the man obeys and the elders forgive
him; as in Kikuyu, however, he has to pay a fee of a goat, and the
elders assemble and ceremonially spit on the culprit to neutralise the
curse. The removal of this curse is called ka-athimwa or ka-musia by
the A-Kamba.
Sometimes, however, in Kikuyu a defiant tribesman was beaten with
staves, or his village was burnt, and in extreme cases he was ordered
to be killed and his property was confiscated. If he was executed by
judicial order, he had to be killed by his blood kin, so that no claim
for blood money should lie. The procedure consists either in strangling
the culprit with a rope, choking him by clasping his throat kuita, or
killing him by blows delivered with the handle of an axe.
It was also considered right to drive a man out of his tribe if he
proved himself an undesirable; this may be done even now, in which case
he is allowed to take his property with him.
Summary.—The preceding review of the organisation of the councils of
elders, and the functions exercised by them, show how, in the first
place, the elders are merely administrators of tribal law or arbiters
as to what is right and proper according to the tribal code; secondly,
how they eventually acquire a sacerdotal position. The memories of the
elders are also the archives of the tribe as well as the unwritten
records of tribal law and tribal observances. If a debt of any
importance is paid, it is generally done in the presence of one or more
elders, and the matter is then settled without the necessity of any
receipt or quittance.
It is sometimes assumed by reformers that the elders are nothing more
than useless encumbrances, and every district officer wishes they were
more progressive. They certainly have their faults, and in some tribes
the faults almost overshadow the more useful qualities. On the other
hand, we may be rather over anxious to push things along, and we are
apt to expect a tribe to jump into a higher cultural plane in too short
a time. We forget too easily that reform must come from within, and
that the inner consciousness of a tribe changes slowly. A veneer
applied on the surface is always thin, and is unlikely to wear.
To illustrate this organisation it may be interesting to refer to the
account of the Druids of Britain, about 55 B.C., left to us by Cæsar;
these functionaries apparently performed very much the same duties as
those of the present-day elders of the ithembo in Kikuyu and Ukamba; in
the case of these tribes, however, the line between ordinary people and
the priestly caste does not seem to be as sharply marked as it was in
Britain. Cæsar in Bell. Gall. vi. 13–14 writes as follows:
“Among the Celts there are only two classes held in consideration and
honour, the Knights (equites) and the Druids. The latter are concerned
with all things divine, manage the public and private sacrifices,
interpret sacred omens and religious scruples. (N.B.—This is identical
with the duties of the athuri ya ukuru as regards thahu, etc.). For
they make decisions on almost all disputes, both private and public,
and if a crime is committed, e.g., a murder, or if a lawsuit arises
concerning heritages or disputed boundaries, it is they who give
judgment. They name the compensation and assess the penalty, and if any
private person will not accept their award they interdict him from
taking part in the sacrifice. This is the heaviest punishment they can
impose. Persons thus placed under interdict are held impious and
accursed; men quit their company and avoid meeting them or speaking to
them lest they may come to harm from the contagion of the wicked.”
All this has a peculiarly African flavour, and with slight amendment
might refer to the constitution of a modern African tribe on the same
level of civilisation as the Kikuyu or Kamba people.
CHAPTER II
LAWS OF COMPENSATION FOR MURDER
It is a matter of great importance, from an administrative point of
view, that these should be properly understood, as a murder is
otherwise likely to create a hereditary feud between the two families,
which will eventually lead to fresh crimes.
Kikuyu.—In Kikuyu, for instance, until the ceremonial has all been
properly carried out, no member of the family of the murdered man can
eat food out of the same dish or drink beer with any member of the
family of the murderer. In Ukamba it is believed that unless the matter
is properly adjusted according to the law (their law) the members of
the family of the murderer will continually be involved in quarrels
which are likely to end by one of them killing his neighbour, and
conversely the members of the family of the murdered man become
involved in quarrels and are liable to be killed in the same way as
their relation. If one tries to look at the matter from their point of
view it appears to be this: there is a bad spirit or muimu about,
belonging to an ancestor; it enters into a man and the result is that
the next time he quarrels with a neighbour he kills him. This spirit
may continue to possess that person, or it may go on to another member
of that family with the same result. In the same way the muimu of the
deceased, the murdered man, influences the aiimu in the bodies of all
the members of his family and makes them afraid. They know that this
death-dealing spirit is abroad, and the members of the family are more
liable to be killed if they become entangled in a broil. Thus both
families are anxious that this state of affairs should cease and that
the troublesome spirit be appeased and laid to rest.
The explanation just given may or may not be the final interpretation,
but the fact remains that it is considered a vital necessity that the
ceremonies necessary to close the trouble caused in a tribe by a murder
should be carried out according to the law of the tribe, and only by
the observance of the proper ritual can the avenging spirit be
appeased.
In South Kikuyu there are only two persons qualified to perform these
ceremonies: Gachii wa Kihara and Juguna wa Kihara, both sons of a great
elder and chief named Kihara, of the Anjiru clan, upon whom those
duties devolved. The office is apparently hereditary.
The ceremonies are called Kugira uhio wa kuria mundu, which means “To
carry the man who was killed,” and the word mugiro, derived from
ku-gira, is also used in this connection. Of course, the payment of
compensation has now been abrogated by Government, and the death
penalty imposed in its place according to our law, so that the
functions of the elders mentioned have of late years been confined to
the supervision of the ceremonies which have magical or religious
significance. The description of the affair, however, which was
obtained from Gachii himself, takes no cognisance of the amendment
caused by the substitution of the “lex talionis” for the old principle
of “wergild” or compensation. The procedure runs as follows: soon after
the murder had occurred the father of the murderer summoned Gachii or
Juguna to his village, and whichever of these elders attended took with
him eight athuri ya ukuu (elders of appeal), and the first object of
their mission was to stop any fighting between the young men of the two
parties.
They remained at the village, and the father of the murderer then
collected seventy goats and sent them to the father of the murdered
man, and a bullock and a male sheep to the mother of the deceased. This
bullock is important; it is called ndegwa muhiriga or njiga migwe, that
is the “ox for the clan” or the “ox of the arrows,” which represents a
peace offering to the clan, and prevents the clan of the deceased
taking out their arrows to avenge their brother. Two days later thirty
goats were collected and sent to the father of the deceased. The
compensation of a hundred sheep or goats can be paid either in goats or
sheep or cattle, but, whatever is paid, the count is always kept in
sheep or goats. For instance, a thenge, or big male goat, may count as
two or three goats, according to size, and in the same way an ox has
its stated rate of exchange and is counted as so many goats; in
pre-European days the ox counted as three goats, and a heifer or cow
counted as ten in paying compensation or in marriage fees for a wife.
The next payment is nine male sheep to the athuri ya ukuu, nine more
sheep being given to the father of the deceased, and nine ewes,
nyarume, to the maternal uncle of the deceased, or mamawe, as he is
called. The father of the murderer and the father of the deceased then
each bring a male sheep, and the trunk of a banana plant is procured,
placed on the ground, and the murderer and his relations seat
themselves on one side of it, and the relatives of the other party on
the opposite side; four of the athuri ya ukuu also sit on each side.
The two sheep are then killed, and the two parties exchange pieces of
cooked meat and eat them; they then exchange pieces of sugar cane and
sweet potatoes smeared with tatha (the contents of the stomach of the
sheep), which are given to the women and children of the two families.
Some gruel is also exchanged; this is for the children of the two
families, and is eaten inside the villages of the two parties.
The presiding elder, Gachii or Juguna, does not sit with either party,
but a little way off, his function being to see that the proper ritual
is observed.
The elders then take the spear or sword with which the murder was
committed, and beat it until it is quite blunt. The spear head or sword
is taken away and thrown into a deep pool in the nearest river. They
say that if this were not done the weapon would continue to be the
cause of murder.
The final act is what is called ku-kukuriwa ithe na nyina (to purify
father and mother). The elders adorn themselves with necklets of a
grass called ngoka, which they wear for eight days, but if at the
expiration of this period no moon is visible they cannot take them off
till the moon reappears. When the day comes for dispensing with them
they cross a river and bury them on the far side, and return home
without looking back. In North Kikuyu, Mwaitume, it is said that they
throw the rings away in an old shamba, garden, dig up a sweet potato,
eat it, and then return home.
These ceremonies are the same for both grades of the Kikuyu, viz.:
those circumcised Kikuyu fashion, and those circumcised Masai fashion.
If they are properly carried out they wipe out all questions of blood
feud, and the members of both families can eat together.
If the mugiro ceremonies are not properly carried out, the spirit of
the murdered man will go back to his village, cry out in the night like
a child, and enter into one of the villagers, who will become as one
possessed. The people will call out to him, “Who are you?” and he will
reply, “I am So-and-so” (mentioning the deceased). “I have come because
I have been abandoned.” A near blood relative of the deceased must then
take a male goat or sheep, if the deceased was a man, or a young ewe,
mwati, if the victim was a woman, into the bush, where it is killed by
strangulation, and immediately it is dead its throat is pierced and the
blood allowed to run out on the ground. They then carve a piece of meat
from each limb and part of the animal, and place them in a heap, the
bones also being placed in another heap, and left there. Any meat that
remains is eaten by the elders; the person who was possessed of the
ngoma, or spirit, of the deceased then recovers.
The customs vary according to different cases, the compensation for the
murder of a woman being only thirty sheep or goats and three rams.
If a man murders his cousin on his mother’s side of the family, the
father of the murderer collects fifty sheep or goats, and pays them to
the head of the family of the deceased, and the recipients usually kill
an ox which is eaten by both parties; the elaborate ritual described
above is not observed because of the blood relationship which exists.
If a man kills his brother or sister by the same mother there is no
compensation—the case very rarely arises; the father would, however,
kill a sheep and make his children eat it together.
If a pregnant woman is struck and injured by a man, and miscarries in
consequence, the elders are called in to settle the matter. The culprit
has to bring two male sheep; first one is killed and eaten by the
villagers and the elders, but not by the woman. The second is eaten by
the woman and visitors, but not by the elders.
Some of the fat and meat of this second animal is cooked in a pot with
some bitter herbs, and the woman drinks the decoction, this being
evidently in the nature of a purification; it is called theria nda, to
purify the belly. The people present who are nearly related, either to
the offender or the woman, are then invested with rukwaru, or
wristlets, made of the skin of the sheep first mentioned.
This is not a matter for the athuri ya ukuu, but the ordinary
councillors, athuri ya kiama.
Ukamba.—In Ukamba there is a general similarity of ideas, but a
considerable difference in ceremonial.
The general compensation for the murder of a man is thirteen cows, two
bulls, and fifty goats; and for a woman six cows, two bulls, and one
goat.
In each case the actual blood money is twelve cows and five cows
respectively, the balance being for the ceremonies necessary to wipe
out the blood stains, and which bear the name of etumo.
The cow, the two bulls, and the goat are taken to the village of the
murdered man; the elders, athuri ya ukuu, assemble there, and the goat
is first killed at about five p.m. The murderer must not be present; if
he or any member of his clan appeared at the etumo ceremonies they
would probably be killed. Fourteen pieces of meat are cut from its
throat, an elder impales seven pieces on a wooden skewer, and puts them
into the mouth of the wife of the deceased, who eats them, and the
other seven are similarly given to the brother of the deceased. When
darkness comes on, the elders retire to a short distance from the
village, and the widow and her brother-in-law retire to a hut and have
connection; they then return and call the elders.
Upon their return the bull is killed and they receive half of its meat
and half of that of the goat, the remainder being consumed by the
family of the deceased. All the meat must be eaten during the night,
and none of the bones must be broken, and before morning the latter
must be carried out and deposited in the bush by the elders. The hides
of the two animals must not be allowed to remain in the village, but
are carried off by any elders who do not belong to the same mbai, or
clan, as the deceased. The cow remains in the village, and becomes the
personal property of the widow, who is not allowed to sell it.
The collection of the number of cattle payable as blood money generally
takes some time, and the members of a man’s clan often assist him to
pay. When they are all collected, an assembly of people and elders
takes place at the village of the deceased, comprising members of the
family and clan as well as strangers, and a bull is slaughtered from
the compensation cattle; there is a general feast, and each person
takes a strip of the hide away for tying up loads. The cattle are then
divided; the senior member of the deceased’s family receives one cow
and pays back one bull, the maternal grandfather of the deceased
receives a cow and pays back a bullock, and if there is a half-brother
of the deceased he receives a cow and pays back a bull, provided that
he does not live in the village of the deceased. If there is a village
of the same clan near by, the head of it receives a cow and pays back a
bull. None of these cows may be sold or given in exchange for a wife;
if this rule is broken the recipient has to pay back a cow to the
family. The bulls given in exchange provide feasts for the elders,
members of the family of the deceased, and members of the clan. The
remainder of the cattle are the property of the eldest brother of the
deceased, who divides them between the mother and wife or wives of the
deceased, who have the use of the milk. He cannot dispose of one of the
beasts without the permission of these women.
The payment of the cow, bull, and goat first mentioned is of ritual
importance, and is called etumo; they are necessary to protect both the
family of the murderer and the murdered one from the powers of the
unappeased death-dealing spirit which is abroad. Even if the killing
was accidental (mbanga) the etumo payments and ritual must be observed,
because it shows that there is a bad influence about or the accident
would never have occurred.
In former times, if a man of one clan killed another in some
inter-tribal fight, the custom was for a brother to waylay and kill a
man of the clan who had killed his brother. The two deaths cancelled
each other, and there was no further question of compensation, but it
was considered essential that the etumo fees should be paid and the
proper ceremonial observed.
One other point in connection with the weapon used in the murder should
be mentioned: in Kikuyu the spear is thrown away, but in Ukamba the
weapon is nearly always an arrow, which is carried away some distance
and placed on a path, the idea apparently being that it contains a
harmful essence which it is impossible to remove, and the evil is
believed to pass on to whoever picks it up. If this is not done the
evil is said to remain with the family of the deceased.
The Kingnoli Custom.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba,” p. 95, an
account is given of the old form of judicial execution called kingnoli
which used to be customary throughout Ukamba. It is also referred to by
C. Dundas in the “History of Kitui,” p. 514.
It is not proposed to describe over again the details of the procedure,
but while considering the question of sacrifice, it may be interesting
to point out the similarity of this practice with the judicial slaying
which took place among the ancient Semites, e.g., among the Hebrews the
criminal was stoned.
Professor R. Smith ably shows how the idea of an execution of this kind
is not penal in one sense of the word: it is not done to punish the
offender, but to rid the community of an impious member—generally a man
who has shed the tribal blood.
It would appear that the repeated spilling of tribal blood is an act
which annoys the aiimu of the tribe to such an extent that an ordinary
sacrifice is insufficient to appease them, and a human sacrifice
becomes necessary either as an expiation or to re-establish good
relations: by not offering compensation for the crimes he has
committed, the brothers of the criminal formally surrender him to the
community and this acquits the community of any bloodstain.
The kingnoli custom is also known among the Kikuyu, who call it mwinge.
The Hon. C. Dundas states that the procedure in Kikuyu is practically
the same as that in Ukamba except that the near relative of the
accused, whose consent to the execution is essential, had to carry it
out by strangling the convicted person.
Another important point is that any person giving evidence against a
tribesman being tried under this law had to make his charges on the
kithito or kithathi which is one of the most potent oaths.
CHAPTER III
CEREMONIAL OATHS
The Kithito of Ukamba.—This is the most powerful oath recognised by the
tribe, and is common to all sections of the Kamba; it corresponds to
the kithathi of the Kikuyu. The apparatus for the oath is made by
medicine men. Secret medicines are placed in the horn of a buffalo or
hartebeest, a hippo tusk, or on the bottom end of a small ivory tusk.
There is usually one in each district, and it is always in the
possession of a particular elder; in many cases, they have been bought
from the makers, who reside in either Mumoni or Tharaka country. All
over the world the idea that better medicine can be obtained from a
distance than at home seems to exist; even in England, people in the
provinces have unbounded faith in the London specialist.
Some of these kithito are undoubtedly of great age, and are handed down
through many generations. The kithito must always be kept away from the
village, as it might harm the inmates; it is generally hidden away in a
cavity in the rocks. It is carried about in a small pot or a basket,
being very dangerous to handle; the original owner or his son, if he
has been taught, can handle it by observing certain precautions, but no
one else. An unmarried man cannot possess a kithito.
The writer once witnessed the administration of a kithito oath near
Machakos at Mathendú’s. The gathering was a very large one, and elders
from all parts of the district were present, all the various clans
being represented. It was an occasion of some importance, the object of
the gathering being for representative elders from each council to
swear upon the kithito to conduct their councils and the internal
government of the district upon proper lines and to afford the local
councils due support.
The congregation of elders, which probably numbered some five hundred,
sat round in a large circle on the hill-side; in the centre were a few
of the senior chiefs and elders from each clan and the elders chosen to
officiate. The first proceeding was for an elder to march round the
outside of the whole circle with the kithito, which was suspended by a
string; after this, all the persons included in the circle were subject
to the effects of the oath. The kithito was then brought into the
centre of the circle and deposited on a branch of the acacia tree,
kisumi.
As far as could be seen the contents of the kithito were as follows:
A shell (containing secret medicine).
A human leg bone.
The tooth of a ruminant.
Twigs from various trees.
The whole of these were wrapped in a portion of a plaited Kamba fibre
bag (chondo). Stones were arranged on the ground around the package.
The end of the kithito parcel faced towards the afternoon sun, i.e.,
the west.
The officiating elder then stood on the two stones to the west of the
kithito and, with a thin stick, touched the kithito and recited the
terms of the oath. The object of these stones was to insulate him from
the ground while he was engaged in the ceremony.
At each item of the oath the elder took a thin stick and dipped it in
some blackish sticky medicine in the shell and recited the particular
points, saying: “If any man breaks this, may he be thrown away,” and
then jerked the stick over his right shoulder in the direction of the
sun.
After the ceremony, the kithito was carried away and a sheep was killed
near by and the tatha, or stomach contents, were sprinkled on the
ground at the spot where the kithito had been. This was said to be done
to cure the ground from the evil effects of the kithito.
The Oath of the Sacred Bead (Chuma cha mchugu) in Kikuyu.—This oath or
ordeal belongs to the same class as those described in the writer’s
work, “Ethnology of A-Kamba” (Camb. Press), pp. 139–143, viz., the
kithathi and ku-ringa thengi ceremonies.
If one man is in debt to another and repudiates his debt, the creditor
goes to the elders and demands that they may both be given the ordeal
of the chuma cha mchugu (chuma is the Kikuyu word for bead).
Now the bead used for this purpose must be one of a particular kind,
which has been handed down from past ages and is evidently believed to
be of magical value. Several of the clans in Kikuyu are alleged to
possess specimens of this bead, each one being in charge of a
particular elder; they are said to be reddish in colour and rather long
in shape. [12] Endeavours have been made to get a specimen for
examination, but it has not been possible to locate one; the elders
state that they have not seen one used for some years. A chuma cha
mchugu must not be kept in a house, but is hidden away in the bush—in
this particular it is like the kithathi.
To return, however, to the ceremonial connected with its use: on the
appointed day the creditor and debtor meet the elders; the latter sit
in a circle and the former sit on the ground in the middle and facing
each other. Each takes a piece of fine grass and places it inside the
aperture in the bead and swears, as the case may be, that he lent a
cow, or that he borrowed a cow, and that if he testifies falsely may he
be eaten by the bead (i.e., destroyed). Sometimes the bead is held in
the hand, and sometimes it is placed on the ground between the two
parties.
Perjury is believed to result in the death of the perjurer, and
furthermore serious harm, even death, to his near relatives.
If a man who has perjured himself by this oath dies, his brothers by
the same parents will promptly pay the debt, and then call in the
elders to remove the curse, or thahu, which the perjury has inflicted.
To effect this lustration, the sacred bead has to be brought to the
village, a sheep is killed and some of the stomach contents are smeared
on the bead. Another sheep is next marched round the afflicted village,
is killed, and the people eat the meat. The bones of the sheep are
afterwards collected and calcined in the fire on which the meat was
cooked, next morning a libation of beer being poured over the ashes of
the bones by the elders of the village. A medicine man is then
summoned, and he purifies (tahikia) the villages, and these are finally
safe from all danger from this thahu.
There is another piece of ritual in which beads play a part. If an
elder or old woman dies in one village, and later on a similar death
occurs in a neighbouring village, the head of each village goes to
assist at the hukura or death ceremonies (described in Chapter VI) at
the village where the death has occurred. At the conclusion of these
ceremonies each will have two blue trade ring beads, of the pattern
known as mtinorok, fastened on his wrist, and the senior wife of the
principal elder of the village where the death occurred will have two
beads tied to her wrist; they wear these for eight days, and then bathe
and cast the beads into a river; finally they wash their clothes there
and return home.
The custom is practised only by the people belonging to the Kikuyu
circumcision guild. The blue beads used on this occasion are ordinary
trade beads and are called chuma cha mchugu, but are not the sacred
beads referred to in the earlier portion of this chapter. Probably, as
the real chuma cha mchugu are very rare, they pretend that these are
the real articles, or think they delude the spirits into believing that
the beads are the genuine thing.
The sacred bead is also said to be used for the detection of thieves;
the elders declare that the bead is first doctored by a medicine man
and then thrown away in the direction of the suspected person, and the
elders simultaneously cry out, “Go and find the thief.” The belief is
that after it is thus thrown the bead will enter the stomach of the
offender and trouble him to such an extent that he will be forced to
confess, and he can then be ceremonially purified and healed.
The Muma Oath and Adultery.—A case of adultery occurred in Kikuyu in
which a man, having seduced a woman, afterwards induced her to take the
oath of muma that she would not tell her husband. After a time she
disclosed this to her husband and, shortly after, she died. The husband
then sued for blood money, but the elders refused his demand on the
ground that if the woman had held her tongue the muma would not have
killed her. The husband then demanded that the man should jump over the
corpse seven times; this he refused to do and the elders would not
insist as they held that the woman had, in fact, committed suicide.
CHAPTER IV
WAR AND PEACE
War.—In former times raids were conducted by the anake or warrior class
only, but if the country was invaded, the younger elders also fought,
while the old men went to hide with the women and stock; elders were
armed with bows and arrows, but the anake of Kikuyu carried spears and
swords only.
The Kikuyu apparently made a good stand against the Masai invaders, for
it is said that the Masai killed most of the Dorobo, so presumably this
tribe was unable to stand against the invaders while the Kikuyu held
their own. It is probable that the scourge of the Masai was generally
much overrated, and that they were as often as not badly beaten by
other tribes.
During a Masai invasion it was customary to bury knives at the foot of
mugumu trees; this was supposed to give the invaders sore and swollen
feet.
Expeditions and raids were led by three anake called asigani. These had
first to consult with a medicine man, who would say whether they could
be asigani or not; Kamiri was particularly noted as such a medicine
man. If approved by the medicine man they had to go alone into Masai
country as a test of courage and spy out where the cattle were. Only
such men could be leaders of raids, and they remained as asigani until
they had passed the warrior age.
On return from a raid the booty was brought together and the elders
assembled. The asigani had first choice of the spoil, and got about one
quarter more than the rest. The elders merely looked on, and each
warrior took his share of the booty home; the father took possession of
the cattle so long as his son remained in the village, but if he left
the village and settled elsewhere he would take with him the stock he
had obtained in war.
The only elder who was actually given any part was the medicine man who
had been previously consulted as to the success of the raid. When a
raid was arranged, the warriors were collected from everywhere, but no
one was forced to join. Special distinction was attained by those who
had killed a Masai. Such a man was called mundu wa rohiu, man of the
sword; the shield and spear of the Masai he would give to his uncle,
from whom, in turn, he received a goat or two; he would also go round
to all his relations, who would give him small presents, but to prove
his deed he had to bring back the sword of the slain Masai, otherwise
he was not believed.
The Kikuyu apparently often raided Masai country, but raids on the
Kamba were considered much more dangerous, and were only undertaken by
large bodies and with greater precautions. The whole force was divided
up into various bodies to guard against total annihilation; attacks
were made only at night, and as soon as the stock was captured it was
sent, under escort, to Kikuyu so that if they were attacked and killed
the stock was saved.
Women and children were also taken and handed over to the warrior’s
father, but a Kamba was generally permitted to redeem his wife for nine
head of cattle; this is said to have been the practice owing to the
former friendship existing between the Kamba and the Kikuyu. This
practice was broken later, because the Kamba always stole the wives of
the Kikuyu. The Kamba is to this day an incorrigible wife stealer; the
same cause led to his breaking friendship with the Masai and Galla, so
the legend goes.
It is said that fights with the Kamba were more frequent than with the
Masai, and that they were much more feared because of the Kamba arrows,
but nevertheless the Kikuyu declare that they penetrated as far as
Mumoni, and that they also fought the Emberre. Gachii wa Kichara
remembers that on one occasion the Kamba and Kikuyu joined to fight the
Masai, but that the Kamba ran away, not because they were afraid of the
Masai, but because they foresaw that they would have to fight the more
numerous Kikuyu if they were to get any of the booty.
On the whole it would appear that the Kikuyu were no mean fighting
tribe; they certainly inflicted very severe lessons on the Masai, and
they gave us no little trouble in the early days. One can, however,
scarcely imagine them to have been warlike judging from their present
character, but the generation of warriors before our time have passed
into elders, and the present warrior class has never known war; this
class is also rapidly disappearing, and the young native now marries
long before the time when wars and raids allowed them to do so in the
past.
It is believed to be very lucky to meet a mole on the way to war; a
warrior kills it with his spear and carries the skin on the point of
it; this is supposed to bring him good fortune in the fight.
Before the Kikuyu went to war they used to sacrifice at the sacred
trees in the usual way; the elders attended, but not the warriors;
their weapons were not smeared with the sacrificial blood. If any of
the warriors killed an enemy during the fighting, the elders who had
conducted the sacrifice above mentioned shaved the heads of the
warriors upon their return, took away the hair and hid it in the woods.
They also smeared their faces with a line of ira, or white earth, and
the spear which had done the killing was also smeared with ira. This
white earth is generally used as a protecting agent against evil
influences, in this case doubtless the spirits of the slaughtered foes.
If cattle were captured the captain of the warriors, as soon as
possible after the fight, would choose a fine bullock from the spoil
and slaughter it as near as possible to the scene of the fighting. This
was done as a thank-offering to the deity, Engai. The bullock should be
a whole coloured beast, either black, white, or red, and not spotted or
parti-coloured.
The elders who go to sacrifice and pray at the sacred tree before the
fighting, and the captain of the warriors, eat the meat; the bulk of
the fighting men do not participate. The hide of the bullock is left on
the spot after the feast.
Peace Ceremonial (Kikuyu).—Seven elders from the clans or tribes at
enmity each meet with a number of the warrior class, the different
sides providing a ram or he-goat, which is slaughtered. An elder of one
side then takes the intestines and cuts them with a razor and says:
“Who breaks this peace may he be cut as this is cut.” An elder from the
other side now takes the intestines from the animal provided by his
side and goes through the same ceremonial. Both sides then eat the meat
together.
In the days of the early travellers, some fifteen to twenty-five years
ago, the Kikuyu were noted for their treachery; one day they would make
peace with a caravan and the next day attack it. The elders were asked
the reason of this, and whether they believed that peace deliberately
broken would bring evil on the breakers of it; they said it was quite
true that many had been guilty in this respect, but that the great
famine of 1899, and the smallpox which followed it, had killed off all
the guilty ones.
In former war-like times when a member of another tribe came to the
village of an elder and wished to enter into brotherhood and settle
among the tribe, the elder would summon his colleagues and kill a
bullock. The stranger would be formally adorned with a bracelet made of
the ox hide, and he would then be safe from harm. The meat was eaten by
the assembled elders and the villagers. The elder then chose a daughter
for him to marry. If, for instance, the head of the village belonged to
the Anjiru clan, the stranger became a Munjiru; and he also adopted the
circumcision guild of his host. If, after this, anyone belonging to the
tribe were to kill him, the murderer would have to pay a hundred goats
and nine rams to his adopted father, nine rams for the elders and nine
rams for his mother.
Peace Ceremonial, Ukamba (Kitui).—The elders of the vanquished side
bring an ox, and the elders of the winning side bring a kithito. The
elders of each side assemble in two groups in the centre, and the
warriors are collected in two masses, one on either side of the area
chosen for the ceremony. The kithito oath is then administered to the
leaders of the two groups of fighting men.
They kill the ox, skin it, and cut the meat off the throat and also cut
out a few of the vertebræ of the neck (ngata) and place them on the
kithito. An iron arrow head is then produced and tied on to a shaft; it
must be tied with the fibre from the lilambia bush, and a few thorns of
the mulaa tree are also fastened to the arrow. A small bag is made from
a piece of the small intestine of the ox and is filled with blood. The
officiating elder then picks up the arrow and slits open this bag and
allows the blood to drip on the neck-vertebræ and meat, which are
placed on the kithito, and calls out to the assembly: “If anyone breaks
this peace may he be slit as the mwethi wa kitutu.” The neck bones and
meat are then left to be devoured by hyænas.
Before this, however, an oath is administered to each of the captains
of the fighting; those who take the oath are naked; the right arm and
right leg are smeared with ashes, and a bunch of leaves is fastened
over the pubes. Each man takes a bundle of arrows in his right hand and
swears by the kithito that he will never again fight the opposite party
and that if any should come to his village they shall be received as
friends; the company of warriors assent to this and say, “If you break
this oath may the kithito slay you.”
Blood Brotherhood (Ukamba of Kitui).—The two parties meet and a goat is
killed; two pieces of the liver are taken and slightly fried on a fire.
A small incision is then made in the right forearm, the chest, and the
navel of each party, and a spot of the blood therefrom is smeared on
the liver. The two pieces are then exchanged and eaten jointly.
This is a very sacred and lasting oath of friendship. If ever it is
broken, the people are very shocked and Engai is believed to injure the
village of the one who breaks it and probably both blood kin and stock
will die.
It is often difficult to state with precision whether the high god or
the ancestral spirits are meant when the term Engai is here used. In
this case, however, the high god is probably referred to. And if the
opinion be correct, it is a striking example of the belief in the
concept of a personal God, who takes a continual and minute interest in
the doings of His creatures.
CHAPTER V
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.
CHAPTER VI
LEGENDS
Legend of Kilui Lake (Kamba of Kibwezi).—A few miles below Kibwezi
Station there is a small lake called Kilui which is believed to be
haunted by numerous spirits. The author recently had occasion to visit
the place and, seeing a crocodile, shot it; the crocodile was badly
hit, but, as usual, managed to struggle back into the water. The Kamba
porters were afterwards heard to say that it was a good thing that it
was not killed as the master would have been taken sick and probably
died. The local elders, however, were questioned on the subject later
on, but denied that any evil effects were likely to supervene. They
stated that the place was undoubtedly full of spirits, as a long time
ago there was a large village on the site of the lake, and, one day, a
terrible rain storm occurred during which a frog entered one of the
huts; the housewife on seeing it told one of her children to throw it
out, and this having been done, the frog then went to another hut where
the same thing occurred, and so on at the third, but at the fourth hut
the wife, however, said, “Oh, it is doing no harm, let it stay.”
Thereupon the frog said to her, “You have given me shelter and so
listen to my words—take your children and flee from this village
without delay for it will disappear.” She had the sense to obey this
wonderful warning and had only gone a short distance when the whole
village sank below the water.
The place was also supposed to possess a large sacred snake, and it is
said that the manager of a neighbouring rubber plantation shot this
reptile and cut down a sacred tree near by. This man having died of
dysentery a few months later, the natives were convinced that his death
was directly due to the ancestral spirits avenging such sacrilegious
actions.
The Kibwezi River flows along an old valley carved through the
metamorphic rocks, but in recent geological times a sheet of lava came
down the valley from the Chyulu Mountains and choked its flow. It
appears from under a lava-bed near the railway station and runs for
about three-quarters of a mile, and then disappears entirely and
reappears in three sources, joining up at Kilui Lake. The eruptions
which caused this are of so recent a date that quite possibly the
legend above narrated may be founded on fact and may contain some
vestige of the record of an actual occurrence during the last phases of
volcanic activity in this region.
In the author’s book on the A-Kamba, p. 167, mention was made of a
haunted hill in the Kibwezi region; it is of volcanic origin, and is
regarded with great awe by the people. It is called Chumbi and is
situated near the south end of the Chyulu Range on the eastern side.
There are two small hills, one being bush-covered, and the other so
recent that no bush has yet taken root on it. It is said by some that
the latter was only formed some fifty years ago. The people will only
discuss it with those whom they know very intimately, but it is said
that a rhythmic beat, attributed to the female spirits crushing corn in
mortars and keeping time with each other, can be heard, as one
approaches the place. If, however, a native could be persuaded to guide
one there, it would be probably found that this rhythmic beat is due to
the sound of a pulsating steam vent. It is also said that when an
intruder approaches the hill a rushing wind comes and sweeps him up
into the hill and he is never seen again. The first native who told a
European about this awesome place is said to have sickened and died
shortly afterwards.
Legend Regarding Origin of Fire.—The Kikuyu have a curious folk tale
concerning the origin of fire. This has now become merely a fairy-tale
told to children.
A long time ago a man borrowed a spear, katimu, from a neighbour to
kill a porcupine which was destroying his crops. He lay in wait in the
field and eventually speared one, but it was only wounded and ran off
with the spear in its body and disappeared down a burrow. He went to
the owner and told him that the spear was lost, but the owner insisted
on having it back. Whereupon, the man bought a new spear and offered it
to the owner in place of the lost weapon, but the owner refused it and
again insisted on the return of the original spear. The man then
proceeded to crawl down the porcupine burrow, and having crawled a long
way found himself eventually, to his surprise, in a place where many
people were sitting about cooking food by a fire. They asked him what
he wanted and he told them of his errand. They then invited him to stay
and eat with them; he was afraid and said he could not stay as he must
go back with the spear which he saw lying there. They made no effort to
keep him, but told him to climb up the roots of a mugumu tree, which
penetrated down into the cavern, and said that he would soon come out
into the upper world. They gave him some fire to take back with him. So
he took the spear and the fire and climbed out as he was told.
This is said to be the way fire came to man; before that people ate
their food raw.
When the man reached his friends he returned the spear and said to the
owner, “You have caused me a great deal of trouble to recover your
spear, and if you want some of this fire which you see going away into
smoke, you will have to climb up the smoke and get it back for me.” The
owner of the spear tried and tried to climb the smoke but could not do
it, and the elders then came and intervened and said, “We will make the
following arrangement: fire shall be for the use of all, and because
you have brought it you shall be our chief.”
The underworld referred to in this tale is called Miri ya mikeongoi.
CHAPTER VII
DANCES
Kikuyu.—There are, according to trustworthy authorities, a large number
of Kikuyu dances. It is difficult to give an exhaustive list of these,
as it has been impossible to trace them all. The word ngoma (a dance,
Swahili) has such a very wide meaning that it is difficult to say where
dances begin or end.
A girl must not refuse to dance when called upon to do so by the anake
(warrior class); if she does so she may be beaten by them and her
parents cannot interfere. Generally, in such cases, a mwanake will
deprive her of her ornaments and she cannot then dance until she gets
them back. The mwanake who takes the ornaments cannot keep them, but
must divide them with the other anake. If he breaks them he has to make
uji (gruel) for the other anake; if he hurts the girl when taking her
ornaments he has to pay a goat to the elders, but her parents get
nothing.
The principal dances of the anake are connected with harvest and crops;
the most important of these is the Kivata dance. In this only certain
rikas, or age grades, may take part; at present only the rikas named
Kincheku, Kamandu, Kanyeta, and Mutungu dance the Kivata, while the
rikas of Sengenge, Matiha, Njarege, Kangei, and Makiomei are not
allowed to join in. Formerly the junior rikas were not even permitted
to look on, but now they do so and frequently try to take part in the
same; which leads to fierce fights and not a few deaths. The elders are
therefore much against this dance, and have often forbidden it.
Formerly if the elders wished to prohibit a dance they would go to a
place where it was to be held, and lay a cooking pot on the ground; a
branch of the mugere tree was stuck beside it, and the anake could not
dance there unless they were returning from a raid on enemy’s country.
This custom is still practised, for in Kyambu district a few years ago
the elders for some reason wished to prevent a Kivata dance, and they
resorted to the old rite.
Kivata is danced when the mawele grain is reaped. The dancers wear no
clothes whatsoever; they are ornamented with a large inverted crown of
ostrich feathers which is slung from the forehead to the back of the
head. Strings of beads and bells are hung about the body, and plumes of
colobus monkey fur are tied below the knees. In many cases the face is
covered completely with yellow colouring, the loins being likewise
adorned; others affect various colours in stripes and dots. The legs
and arms are also coloured. The weapons carried are mostly swords and
clubs; very few have spears, but the younger rikas, who look on,
generally have spears. Their faces are often decorated with a broad red
stripe drawn across the face and outlined with white dots.
The dancers march round in rows of from six to eight, the dancing
consisting mainly in a continued jumping from one foot to the other.
The women bring gourds of uji, or gruel, which they give to the dancers
and thereby signify their affections. The dance is said to be a general
occasion for choosing brides by old men as well as by anake.
Many of the onlookers (not the younger rikas) run madly round the whole
circle, brandishing swords and leaping into the air. The name of the
dance is said to be derived from this.
Even the old men who are spectators become infected with the spirit of
the dance, cast off their blankets and trot round the outside of the
circle. In fact it appears to be essential to discard clothing, for if
one omits to do so he is censured by his fellows. The women also follow
the men with shrill cries, but otherwise they take no part.
At one of these dances several girls were noticed amusing themselves by
a game exactly similar to one played by children in Europe, and which
consists in clapping hands. This is called Amukiana.
When the njahe or cajanus bean is planted the Mugoyo is danced. This
dance is held at night when there is no moon, and is one of the most
picturesque dances of the country. A circle of fires is made and
maintained by men appointed for the purpose, and round the outside of
this circle stand the dancers. Richly smeared with red earth and fat as
they are, the fire heightening the blaze of red, the whole scene is
intensely bright in the darkness. The men stand with their backs to the
fire, each holding his partner, who stands with her feet on his. Their
faces and legs are slightly coloured, but the girls use no colouring
beyond the red mixed with fat. Forming a diameter across the circle
stands another row of dancers. The leader of the maribeta (song or
verse) goes about and the rest join in the chorus. Excepting for a
slight movement of the shoulders among the dancers the whole dance has
an air of quietness which is presumably intentional. There are masters
of ceremony who go about and check noisy persons, preserving general
quiet and the regular formation of the circle. Their methods are simple
and effective: two firebrands are struck together over offending
couples, and a shower of sparks thus quickly calls them to order. All
the men are naked but elaborately ornamented; unfortunately the
vulgarity of civilisation too often mars the beauty of this picturesque
scene. One smart youth has dangling on his back an advertisement for
sardines, another a gaudy scriptural text, and others, similar cheap
articles of European origin. Occasionally the figure of the dance
varies—the men turn facing the fire and bump up and down on their
heels; another time they kneel joining hands on spears held
horizontally which they sway to the rhythm of the song. The song is not
startlingly comprehensible: “We went to Juja and saw a white ostrich,
so we put its feathers on our heads,” and such like. The girls also
join in the chorus, while the men now and again make a curious gulping
sound produced from the throat. Finally at midnight, or later, the
dance breaks up: each mwanake takes a firebrand, and the country is
soon dotted in every direction with small spots of fire.
At such a dance a man was seen carrying a clay figure of the kind
described by Mr Routledge. It was not, however, part of the ceremony,
and the man who was carrying it in his hand was not dancing. This image
is a common feature in dances, but its significance is not known even
to the people themselves. Judging from Mr Routledge’s description,
therefore, the figure must either have lost its meaning among the
Kikuyu west of the Chania, or it must have acquired a new and increased
significance in the Kenya area.
Another dance connected with the crops is Kichukia, which is held when
the mawele is six to eight inches high. It is danced both at night when
there is a moon, and in the daytime. The author has not seen this
dance. It must not be confounded with Njukia, which is called thus
because the girls do not choose the song. Both are danced by girls and
anake together; the latter dance is held about the month of July, and
in the morning only.
Muzogo.—This is also danced by anake and girls on dark nights by
firelight, and is very similar to the Mugoyo both in name and
character, but is danced when the maize is nearly ripe.
One of the most important dances for young men is Nguru. In 1912 it was
held all over the district in the month of September; it does not seem
to be in any way connected with crops, but denotes rather a time of
rest and leisure while there is no work in the field. It is danced by
young men and boys only, but the latter are said to join merely for
instruction; anyone may look on. The dance commences with a sort of
“follow my leader” march, after which there is continued jumping up and
down with great vigour, although the heels are not lifted off the
ground. A continuous song is maintained by one man; there is no chorus.
The dance somewhat resembles Kivata, but the body painting is much less
profuse. No spears are carried, but among the people east of the Ruiru
River it is customary to dance with shields, which, during the march,
are held aloft over the head. Sticks with wisps of fur are carried. A
curious feature is the wearing of skin apron flaps such as are worn by
women; when the season for this dance is over these coverings are given
to small girls to wear.
The main feature of this dance is the eating of meat by the dancers and
elders. Everyone who dances must contribute to the cost of buying bulls
to supply the meat which is eaten in common by the dancers at a hut
built near a river. The dancing which takes place at different villages
goes on day by day until the meat is finished; the bladders of the
slaughtered beasts are very common articles of decoration in the dance.
The elders, if they contribute, are given a share of the meat, which
they eat apart from the young men. In the eastern part of Kikuyu
meat-eating is not a part of the Nguru dance, but at the same time of
the year several men, both old and young, club together and buy meat
which is eaten at a common meal; this custom is called kiruga.
At this time people are supposed to lose strength, and therefore
require good nourishing; this is said to be the reason for the custom.
It appears, therefore, to be a general time for feasting all over
Kikuyu.
This dance is said by Mr Routledge to be one held by warriors before
going to war, but this can hardly be so seeing that it is performed at
a fixed season in the year. If it were so it must be a relic of a very
old custom, when possibly the tribe had a favourite time for raiding.
There is thus a continual round of dances for the anake, and they
continue for a fixed period. One should therefore be able to reckon the
seasons by the dances, but as a matter of fact they may be very
irregularly held. For instance in 1912 most of the dances, Kivata in
particular, were quite out of season, and this was only owing to the
previous heavy rains in which the people could not dance. The anake
will, however, have their dances, and if the season is unsuitable they
will dance it at another time. It is probable that the significance of
the dance as connected with the crops is beginning to be lost. In this
connection it is interesting to note that although there is a great
difference in the seasons prevailing in the highlands and the lowlands,
the dances are mostly held at the same period all along one ridge. It
thus happens that the highlanders are often completely out of season in
their dances. The fact is that the Fort Hall Kikuyu give the lead, and
the dances spread westward so that the lowlanders even in Kyambu may
not be dancing quite at the proper season. Fort Hall is, on the whole,
the authority for the Kikuyu customs, whether because it is the
birthplace of the tribe or not, one cannot say, but the lead given by
Fort Hall is analogous to that given by Machakos to the Kamba of Kitui.
These facts give a curious instance of how a custom may lose its
meaning; we have here an example of a custom superseding its own
origin.
The uncircumcised boys and girls are called irego. Their principal
dance is Ngoisia. There is no particular season for this, and it is
danced both in the daytime and at night; in the former case anyone may
watch it, but at night only the inmates of the village in which it is
held may be present.
Before the circumcision feasts a dance called Kibuiya is danced by
circumcised and uncircumcised boys. It is so called because of the
buffalo horns worn by the boys, but this dance is now said to be
practically extinct, mainly because they cannot get buffalo horns.
For women there are two dances which are:
Getiro—This is a marriage dance and is held first at the bride’s
village and in the evening at the bridegroom’s village.
Ndumo—This is danced by women at the close of the Kikuyu year. It takes
place in a village, but anyone may be present.
In Kikuyu the elders have only one dance, called Muthungwei, which they
dance together with the women; its name is said to be derived from the
nodding of the head in the dance. Only elders can dance it, and a woman
cannot join unless her husband is entitled to dance. It is held in an
open space outside a village.
Mr Routledge mentions three other dances, but he was probably misled by
the words used. Two of these, Keoana and Kuinenera, are verbs meaning
to dance or sing. The third, Ndorothi, is the name given to a stick
carried by youths at circumcision feasts. It is topped with a tuft of
colobus monkey fur and is carried until the evening before the
ceremony. On that evening, all those about to be circumcised race to a
mugumu tree and throw the Ndorothi sticks at the foot of the tree.
At the time of circumcision there is, again, the Mambura dance. The
boys travel about the country, their bodies painted white, and wearing
curious wooden shields on their arms above the elbow.
Natives, of course, often sing either in chorus or singly, and at any
time; such songs are also called ngoma. On one occasion the author met
a man who was a sort of primitive travelling minstrel. It was his
vocation in life to go about the country singing songs, for which
people gave him a few cents. The natives said that he was the only man
known to do this, and he was therefore perhaps rather a freak.
CHAPTER VIII
WOMEN AS A FACTOR IN TRIBAL ORGANISATION
Although far from negligible, the part played by women in the life of a
savage tribe is very apt to be overlooked by a man. The reasons are
obvious; the African woman is not obtrusive; she is perpetually busy,
and one rarely comes into contact with her. Her inner thoughts and
beliefs are a sealed book to the investigator, and one is at first
inclined to believe that her influence is not worth consideration. The
longer the experience, the more clearly one realises that this lack of
information about the woman is one of the weak points of any inquiry.
Among the Kikuyu there is a council, or kiama, of old women in every
district; they collect goats periodically and present them to the
elders of ukuru, or priestly class. They occasionally fine troublesome
women, and the fine, usually a goat, has to be obtained by the culprit
either by extra work or by begging one from her father. The men fear
the women’s kiama, as it is believed that the members of it have the
power to bewitch people.
It is to be regretted that so little is known about the methods of
initiation and the scope of their activities in this direction, but
complete information could only be obtained by a female investigator
who has exceptional opportunity and great sympathy.
The official recognition of the wife of a candidate for admission into
the grade of ukuru among the Kikuyu has been described at another
place. This is unusual in African ritual, but can readily be understood
when one learns that old women, past the child-bearing age, can
participate in sacrificial ceremonies at the sacred trees. This is due
to the fact that the growth of cereal and other vegetable food falls to
the woman, and they alone are responsible for the food of the family.
This leads to great difficulty, as the women are intensely
conservative, and when an energetic district officer wishes to improve
the economic products of his district and distribute better seeds he is
invariably up against the opposition of the women, which is very
difficult to overcome. The woman knows by long experience that, given a
certain area, a certain seed, and a certain rainfall she can feed the
family, and one can understand that she should be loth to waste labour
on experiments, the result of which is doubtful. This feeling is very
deep-rooted, and consequently most difficult to overcome: the same
obstacles are met with in connection with the introduction of big
European hoes for agriculture. The African woman has for generations
done her planting with either a digging stick or the small African hoe;
the tiresome European comes along and worries the men to buy the big
heavy hoe, and one can hear the annoyed woman inquiring of her husband
why she is being bothered to give up the implement she has been brought
up to use with one hand, for a strange thing which is more expensive
and requires two hands. For all that, however, the European hoe is
making good progress, and will eventually win. It is hoped that this,
and the introduction of ox-drawn ploughs, will result in the male
section of the population taking a more active part in agriculture, and
alleviating the lot of the women. It is believed that if instructors
could be detailed to travel about and demonstrate the benefits of
utilising oxen to plough, women would soon champion the cause of
progress.
The male African in his home life is not noted for persistent steady
work; the women, on the other hand, are never idle, and are withal
cheerful and uncomplaining about their lot, and not nearly so
down-trodden as some people believe. In most tribes they are
well-treated; their lot among the Masai is probably harder than among
agricultural tribes; the old women have to go on watch at night in the
cattle kraal and often get beaten if they fall asleep. In Kavirondo, on
the other hand, the mother of the head of the village is often the most
important person in the village, and her opinion is generally sought
even on political matters which lie outside the ordinary sphere of a
woman’s influence; the affection of the Kavirondo for their mothers is,
however, a very marked trait in their character. Among the A-Kamba the
fact that manifestations from the spirit would nearly always come
through the mouths of women undoubtedly proves that the sex plays an
important part in the life of the people. The fact that in both Ukamba
and Giriama old women have in recent years turned out to be at the
bottom of serious political agitation also demonstrates this point. The
influence of a woman over her children is the same all the world over,
but owing to the long period of lactation prevalent in African society,
and possibly among any polygamous community, the African mother might
be expected to be more tied by her children than a European mother;
such, however, is not the case, and the baby is taken everywhere with
the mother—to market, to the field, out into the bush when firewood has
to be gathered, and to the river or water-hole. The first separation is
when the small boy first goes out to herd the goats; the small girl
stays on with her mother and trots by her side and assists her in her
various duties. This continues until the boy is promoted to herd cattle
and then goes out into the wider world and comes into contact with
civilising influences and European progress which cannot fail to
enlarge his horizon and increase his knowledge of men and affairs. The
girl, however, stays on with her mother in the narrow life of an
African village. The difference of environment at the formative stage
of life is thus ever producing a great disparity between the mental
development of the two sexes, and must, as time goes on, prove more and
more a disturbing factor in tribal life.
Owing to the marriage value of girls their parents are loth to allow
them to go far from home; the missionaries complain of this as one of
their greatest difficulties. Boys can be attracted to the missions for
instruction, but it is very difficult to induce parents to allow their
daughters to go to school. The old women say that if they go to school
their heads will be turned, that they will want to be fine ladies, as
the saying goes, and will not take kindly to agriculture, the
collection of firewood, and other household duties. There is probably a
large amount of truth in the accusation, for education would
undoubtedly open their eyes to the life of drudgery they lead; they
would, as far as physical labour goes, have an easier time while at a
mission, and would feel the return to a harder life. The whole question
is a problem which time alone can solve, and a proper adjustment of the
sphere of activity of the two sexes will take many years.
It may be of some interest to review the class of work which is the
special duty of the women. Their primary duty may be said to be the
raising of food, be it in the form of grain, beans, bananas, sweet
potatoes, etc. They sow, they tend the fields during the growth of the
crop, and then reap the grain, thresh it, store it, crush it in wooden
mortars, and grind it into meal. In most tribes the clearing of the
bush and the heavy work of breaking up new ground devolves on the men,
and in Kavirondo the men assist to a great extent in actual
agriculture. Where natives irrigate, this branch of agriculture is
always in the hands of the men.
As the producers of food, it naturally becomes the duty of the women to
make the supply of beer for the family. In Kikuyu young girls crush the
sugar cane in mortars made out of a log of wood with round holes in it,
and they then squeeze out the sweet sap and brew the beer. They
understand the art of malting grain and the manufacture of beer from
cereals.
Having grown the food, the cooking of it naturally falls to them; they
know the wild green herbs which are used as green food, particularly in
times of scarcity, and the wild edible roots which are sought for at
such periods.
The collection of firewood to cook the food and the transport of the
water used also falls to the women.
The manufacture of the cooking pots and other household utensils is
generally women’s work. In Uganda, however, it is as a rule done by
men. Smith’s work is never done by women, this industry being a
monopoly of man; there would be a prejudice against any arms or weapons
made by women, and by analogy it is therefore believed that the persons
who made the stone implements which we are beginning to find in Africa
were men.
The collection of honey and the manipulation of bees is also never done
by women.
The basket work used in the villages is almost always made by women,
and also sleeping mats. The rule is, however, not invariable, for an
old influential elder in Giriama was recently seen plaiting a mat,
possibly because he was too infirm to do more active work. The string
bags, singular, chondo, plural, vyondo, used by the A-Kamba are always
made by the women.
Wood cutting or rude carpentry is the work of the men; if bedsteads are
used they are made by the men, also the ornamental staves and stools so
extensively used.
If skin garments are worn, the woman will bray the goat skins she wears
and that in which she carries her child. When the men have not reached
the blanket stage they usually go naked or wear an ox hide, and this
they generally prepare themselves.
Leather work for weapons is always done by the men.
In Uganda the bark cloth is made by men.
The bead work affected by some tribes is nearly always done by the
women, but in Kikuyu a young dandy will often be seen sewing beads on
to a bit of hide.
Metal work used as ornament is always done by the men; the beautiful
iron chain work of Ukamba is man’s monopoly; any working in ivory, such
as armlets, must be done by men.
Each wife in an African family usually has dedicated to her particular
use a certain number of cattle; they are not her property, but she has
the sole disposal of their milk for the use of her children. The adult
A-Kamba and others also drink a considerable amount of curdled milk,
and each wife keeps a supply for her husband and his friends.
To what extent women have assisted in the domestication of animals is
now a matter of some conjecture, but there is little doubt that the men
caught the animals, probably young ones, when out on hunting
expeditions, and handed them over to the women to rear. It is
noticeable that among African tribes a woman never owns live stock, and
probably never did, even in matriarchal times.
The women are largely responsible for the handing on of the folk lore
of a tribe and undoubtedly teach it to their children, as is done in
Europe to-day. The men, however, often unconsciously help in this, for
at a friendly beer-drinking gathering elders will recount folk tales,
out of the stores of their experience, to the assembled company, and
one tale will remind someone of another and he will try to cap the
previous story by one more wonderful.
Women have done a good deal, however, for the development and blending
of folk lore. In times past when inter-tribal conflict was common,
women were frequently carried off and thus became incorporated with
another tribe; they carried their folk tales with them, and
unconsciously the stories, as well as the blood of a tribe, became
modified.
The influence of women in fixing a language must not be overlooked; the
mother teaches it to her children, not actively perhaps, but the young
child is in closest association with the mother and assimilates her
speech, and, of course, captured women will, if in any number, bring
foreign words with them, and may be instrumental in their general
adoption.
European women may consider that none of her sisters, even in Africa,
could willingly acquiesce in a polygamous life; such, however, is not
the case. The burden of life falls heavily on the African woman, and
she is, as a rule, only too pleased to welcome a new wife to share her
burden of work.
Several cases have been observed of women worrying their husbands to
take a second wife, and a senior wife will often lodge a new wife in
her hut until she becomes settled down in the village and her own hut
is ready. There are doubtless quarrels, but, on the whole, the family
lives in amity and it is believed that jealousy in the European sense
does not loom very large; fierce feeling is, however, sometimes aroused
if a husband unfairly favours one wife in the allotment of cattle.
CHAPTER IX
SOME GENERAL REMARKS
The writer’s main object has been to demonstrate the fact that the
tribes under review possess a system of natural religion more elaborate
than was hitherto suspected, and he must frankly admit that, although
living for some years in close touch with these natives, he had no idea
of the extent and variety of the ceremonial connected with the tabu
beliefs, sacrifice, and other cognate branches of their beliefs. The
light which the inquiry has thrown upon the complex nature of a
native’s life is somewhat of a revelation. It should serve as a warning
to rash reformers who consider that so-called pagan heathendom can be
abolished by a stroke of the pen. This attitude should most certainly
be avoided in Africa as much as in India. The beliefs of an African are
as real to him as those of a Buddhist, although they may belong to
different and more primitive plane of thought.
The influence of the spirits, or the belief in their influence which in
fact comes to the same thing, is, as it were, the real key to a close
understanding of the native mind.
The native mind is so permeated with these beliefs, and they
consequently have such a profound effect on his actions that, until
this point has been thoroughly grasped, we are bound to be perpetually
brought face to face with absolute enigmas.
Progressive Europeans are at times apt to sneer at native beliefs and
to feel very impatient with them; there is no doubt that, generally
speaking, these beliefs tend to check progress and development, as we
understand them. Although this cannot be denied, we must not lose sight
of the fact that, on the whole, they undoubtedly act as moral
restraints and perform in very much the same way the functions which a
dogmatic religion fulfils among people of a higher culture.
Even if Government formally abolished the ceremonial by legislation,
the belief would not be affected one iota; each people has to reckon
with its own gods, and before the indigenous religion is officially
discountenanced, the ruling power must be sure that it has something
better and equally suited to the native mind to put in the place of a
faith it tries to displace. Otherwise materialism will result, and the
effect of this negation of faith, and freedom from all moral restraint
upon a savage would be most disastrous.
There is practical evidence of this in the criminal tendencies evinced
by numbers of natives who have drifted into the up-country towns in
British East Africa and cut themselves adrift from their tribal life.
To what extent the progress of Christianity will supply discipline and
fit the spiritual needs of a people at this stage of culture is not yet
quite clear. While not opposing missionary effort, it would therefore
appear to be imperative to study carefully their present beliefs and
not give the impression of trying to crush them; at the same time, with
the influence based on the knowledge acquired, the people could be
gradually induced to give up any repugnant features and retain the
better elements of their ritual.
It is not suggested that this is a policy of finality, but it is
important at this juncture to avoid the spread of an impression that
the Europeans have set out to crush the deep-seated and cherished
natural religion which the natives now possess. The spread of an idea
of this character will do as much as anything to alienate the
sympathies of the blacks and may prove a cause of serious antagonism.
The need for higher philosophy will gradually spread, but let the
craving come from within.
It is of great interest to note how readily the more intelligent elders
respond to inquiry into their beliefs once they are convinced that it
is undertaken in the proper spirit, and nothing convinces them so much
of the bona fides of our administrative intentions as a sympathetic
study of their customs and a demonstration of one’s knowledge of them.
It is therefore maintained that the study of these questions is not
merely academic but one of the greatest practical value to the
administrator, the missionary, and the colonist, as well as the
student.
It is interesting to show how these questions may frequently affect the
colonist. It is well known that the Kikuyu people form the bulk of the
labour supply of the upland colonists in British East Africa, and
complaints are often received from employers of its capricious nature.
Upon investigation it was found that, apart from the natural ebb and
flow of this supply, the charge of caprice was well founded, i.e.,
there were many cases of desertion, often without any suspicion of
ill-treatment; further, in some cases it was discovered that this
desertion was traceable to a belief on the part of the individual that
it was necessary to go away to get dawa, which is the general local
synonym for medicine, whether of the nature of drugs or magical in
character. The question then arose as to why such frequent calls
occurred, and it was a long time before a definite clue could be
obtained, but the principles gradually unfolded and became clear and
were found to rest on the necessity of obtaining ceremonial
purification to free the individual from either a thahu or the impurity
left by a death in the family, as has been described in this work. It
is in fact difficult at first to believe how complex a native’s social
life may be. It may not be immediately obvious how a knowledge of these
beliefs can ameliorate the difficulty, but the point is that if a man
deserts without leave he breaks his contract of service and dare not
venture back for a long time in case he should be identified and
punished, whereas if he knows that his master understands his beliefs
he will probably go and tell him and ask if he can go away for a day or
so and carry out the necessary ceremonies, and will then usually come
back. It may be a little tiresome to the master, but the better feeling
and mutual confidence which is induced pays in every way. This is not
mere theory, for the men who do get into close touch with their
employees lose very few, and can generally get more men than they
require. This is merely quoted as an example of the practical value of
ethnological inquiry in daily life, which after all is not a bad
working test.
The method employed in collecting the material has been to discuss the
questions with as many responsible elders as possible, and compare and
correct the statements so obtained. It has been a work of great
interest, though often very tedious, but probably more tedious to the
informer than to the recorder.
There is one warning which it is desired to impress upon persons living
in the country and who have opportunities of research, and that is that
the last word has not been said upon these questions, and it is hoped
that these observations will only encourage further research and the
keenest criticism. It must be remembered that very few of the
ceremonials described in this book have been witnessed by Europeans,
and if they have, they have not been observed and described by eyes
trained to note the important features, and it may well happen that
with the best intentions the elders may have from time to time omitted
some point which, when accurately described, may throw a flood of light
upon an apparently obscure point in the ritual. This is where the
district officer and the missionary can, if they choose, play such an
important part; we have many missionaries who possess a thorough
knowledge of the vernaculars of the tribes, and district officers who,
if not such good linguists, are in intimate touch with these people;
these men have many chances if they would only train themselves for the
task. Up to the time of the war signs of a renaissance were not
wanting, however, and administrative officers and others were yearly
taking more and more scientific interest in their people, and one of
the missionary societies, it is said, formed a committee for the study
of native customs. It is to be feared that the war has indirectly
checked this branch of scientific study, and the activities of many
observers, who before its occurrence promised to develop a flair for
this kind of research, have temporarily ceased. A very marked need at
present is greater sympathetic appreciation from high quarters.
Further, local assistance with regard to the publication of
observations is essential. Few signs of such support are, however,
visible at present in many of our colonies. Missionary endeavour in
this field is particularly welcome, but if a word of advice will not be
resented, these observers must realise the necessity of caution in
collecting observations of pagan customs from persons who have been for
some time in close contact with their teaching, which often has the
effect of causing their pupils to ridicule time-honoured ceremonial.
Moreover, missionaries are, as a rule, only in close touch with the
rising generation who are not initiated in the procedure, and have
little to do with the elders of the tribe.
CHAPTER X
EAST AFRICA AFTER THE WAR
Although it may appear somewhat beyond the scope of the foregoing
inquiry, which was mainly conducted before the war occurred to
interrupt it, I consider that it may be of interest to examine the
effect of the great world conflict on the native races, and to assess
the present position with regard to black and white in that region.
The outbreak of war came as an unexpected shock to the natives as a
whole. The up-country tribes had very little conception of the
distinctions between the various white races, and were somewhat puzzled
by the conflict. The coast people, who were in daily touch with Germans
and Austrians, were a little clearer, but, of course, had no conception
of the casus belli, and although they knew that the daily lives of the
two sections were apart, yet they saw them mix at the clubs and never
dreamt that Europeans among themselves ever resorted to arms. The
internment of the enemy subjects in Mombasa was the first material
sign, and it was hailed with acclamation by the Swahilis of Mombasa,
who treasured up resentment at the arrogant behaviour of the Germans
prior to the war. The conflict was therefore a great blow to the
solidarity of the white race, but this effect was not immediately
apparent.
On the whole the tribes behaved in an exemplary manner, but enemy
agents produced some active unrest among a coast tribe which for some
years past had been unfavourably disposed towards Government.
Like most of our countrymen, the natives naturally had no conception of
the magnitude of the struggle or its possible duration. They thought
that it would be over in a few months, and responded with alacrity to
calls for porters, and for recruits for the K.A.R. They also made no
demur to the numerous restrictions which a war imposes on the people
involved.
The war, however, dragged on year after year, the calls for labour
became more and more insistent, the poor carriers suffered hardships
and died in tens of thousands, from the diseases inseparable from a
campaign in an unhealthy tropical region, dysentery and pneumonia being
the two main causes of death.
In a campaign of this character, where troops of mixed races are
employed, the close contact between black and white is an undesirable
and unavoidable feature.
The black troops soon came to realise the physical disabilities of the
Europeans and their vulnerability. They saw Europeans shot down and
even bayoneted by enemy black soldiers, they realised that very few
Europeans were crack shots, they noted the inferior marching capacity
of the white man, his inability to find his way about in the bush
unaccompanied by a native guide, and in some cases they even saw that
the courage of the white was not greater than that of the black. After
all this can it be wondered that the prestige of the white race has
suffered in the war! Is it surprising that the attitude of many of the
blacks to the white man has altered?
The black has always been quick to realise who is in authority and who
is not, and will still accede outward respect to a representative of
the Government, but that is not the test, and the real criterion is his
attitude towards the ordinary farmer or settler; this has been
considerably modified during the war, and it is doubtful if the old
traditional wide respect of white by black can ever be entirely
restored.
The might of the Government has been demonstrated during the war to an
unheard of extent, and to some extent Government has unconsciously
traded on this impression, for it has boldly imposed restrictions on
the black, and a degree of taxation which it would have hesitated to do
before the war.
There are two schools of thought in existence regarding the governance
of the black races in East Africa.
(1) This school claims to be progressive, and favours the abolition of
tribal control by its indigenous constitution; it is opposed to chiefs,
tribal law and customs, and is in favour of direct government by
European magistrates and by police.
(2) The conservative school aims at retaining and strengthening the
internal forces which control a tribe, at the same time promoting an
evolution of the character of that control by inducing the native
leaders to slough the more repugnant customs and beliefs.
The former scheme receives considerable support from the settler
community on the grounds that it will result in the native, conjointly
with themselves, playing a more active part in the development of
Africa. It is also supported to some extent by the missionaries, who
feel that the disintegration of the old order would afford them greater
chances for their propaganda. At the same time the probable effect of
the dissolution of tribal control is rarely realised. The nearest
example of such emancipation can be observed in the larger towns, and
here we have thousands of natives attracted to these places by the
desire to earn money. They have no natural authorities in control, and
although there are, of course, respectable members in these
assemblages, taking it all round they are the biggest collection of
native ruffians in the country, and are saturated with every vice.
Consequently in spite of a concentration of magisterial and police
control far in excess of anything in a native reserve, crime of every
kind is rife, and they have become an increasing menace to the European
residents.
These town colonies of natives, it must be remembered, are products of
our own creation, and do not argue well for native emancipation from
their natural leaders.
The native system of government is admittedly faulty, not so much in
design as in execution; this is partly due to the fact that the blood
kin of a criminal will go to great lengths to shield him, and partly
because chiefs and elders are often venial or amenable to threats or to
fear of witchcraft.
Native custom has in recent years been purged of many of its repugnant
features, and any that exist will steadily tend to disappear if
intelligently approached by native commissioners who take the trouble
to understand these customs and the motives behind them. Blind action
in these matters is rarely effective.
If the present-day political shibboleth of “self-determination” is to
be encouraged in Africa, the policy of disintegration of all native
authority should be pursued. It is a sure prescription for the birth of
a native party which will speedily demand equal electoral privileges
with the Europeans; it will abolish tribal isolation and inter-tribal
prejudice which has for long years been a safeguard against the
combination of the black millions against the few white intruders from
overseas. It will produce a receptive soil for educated blacks from
other countries to propagate the doctrine of “Africa for the Africans.”
In the event of a struggle, the European, having sole control of
munitions, will not eventually be worsted, but he will not re-establish
domination until much blood, both black and white, has been spilled,
and both sides will emerge from the struggle with bitterness and
distrust. The choice of a policy is therefore a vital matter to all,
and the problem should be dispassionately considered.
After the Armistice large numbers of natives who had served in the
King’s African Rifles were disbanded, and some people maintain that
these men in future may prove a menace owing to their knowledge of arms
and their close acquaintance with European troops in the field. In
Kenya there is, as far as I know, no signs of it, for they have no
arms; they are moreover weary of war, and the majority have gone back
to their reserves to spend their savings or invest them in wives. In
Tanganyika a good many arms were secreted by deserters and picked up
after engagements, and these may be used to some extent in attempts to
settle inter-tribal feuds; there is, however, little fear of the
concentration of any force in opposition to Government. In fact our
rule is so mild compared with the German régime that when the internal
prosperity of that country revives there is no reason to anticipate
anything but peace for a long time to come. When one realises that over
eight thousand official floggings per annum took place in German East
Africa before the war, and in addition many thousands of unofficial
floggings, no record of which was kept, the relief must be apparent to
all. The Germans themselves must have realised that the flogging
propensity had to be checked, for in 1912–1913 no fewer than one
hundred and seven employers were convicted of assaulting their
labourers. Needless to say, under British rule, flogging is only
inflicted for a few extremely serious crimes.
It is, however, fruitless at this stage to dilate upon the differences
between German and British rule; it is far more important to consider
the factors on both sides that count in the present situation and to
outline any obvious future dangers.
The question of religion is intimately connected with behaviour, and an
attempt has been made in this work to show how closely interwoven with
their life are the primitive beliefs of the people. In recent years,
however, a new set of influences have arisen, viz., those of the
Christian churches and also Mohammedanism.
The Christian missions are very varied; there are the Roman Catholic,
and Church of England faiths, Methodists, Seventh Day Adventists, also
a loosely knit group of nonconformist type known as the Inland African
Mission and others.
To obviate undue competition in any particular area, Government has in
Kenya Colony agreed to spheres of influence being arranged between the
various mission groups, and withholds approval of the establishment of
a new mission too near an already established rival. The only argument
in favour of this practice is expediency, for on ethical grounds the
State has no right to decide that the people of any particular area
shall only have ready access to the doctrines of any particular church.
The Roman Catholic missions, as is often the case, have acquired more
land than any other religious body, and there is a marked tendency on
their part to attempt to set up imperia in imperio on their estates on
the plea of internal discipline, thus usurping to some extent the
rights of government. It will be remembered that in the early days in
Uganda this led to armed struggles between Catholics and Protestants:
such, however, are unlikely to recur under modern conditions.
The Catholics have perhaps more than any other mission suffered from
shortness of funds since the expulsion of the religious orders from
France, and up country in Africa they generally endeavour to grow
coffee or some other crop to help to support the mission; such efforts
are praiseworthy and useful in the educational sense. They are a great
contrast, for instance, to the neglected estate of the C.M.S. at
Freretown.
The missionaries, taking it all round, have in spite of unrivalled
facilities contributed but little to our knowledge of the country; but
they have, it is true, recorded the construction of various native
languages. With one notable exception in Uganda, who, in spite of
discouragement from his fellows, persisted in his researches, no
missionary in East Africa has thrown much light on the ethnology of the
natives; it is said that they have been inclined to consider researches
of this nature as somewhat irreligious, but this view has, it is
believed, died away.
Upon the plea of combating the spread of Mohammedanism, the missions
have, except at the coast, declined to teach the Swahili language,
which is the lingua franca of East Central Africa, and have perpetuated
and are still endeavouring to perpetuate a host of tribal languages,
which, although interesting as linguistic curiosities, prove a barrier
to civilisation and progress. It may be, of course, that English will
on this account come into general use quicker, but that result, if it
comes, will not be due to the missions.
The main qualification for a missionary in Africa appears to be what
they term “earnestness,” but it is to be feared that the possession of
this admirable trait is an inadequate equipment for the task of
regenerating the black. It is to be regretted that there are not a
greater percentage of scholarly men with liberal ideas among their
numbers. It is not to be inferred that such men are absent; it would,
however, be invidious to mention names; there is a leaven of men of
wide vision, and the missionaries as a whole afford examples of purity
of life which cannot fail to have a good moral effect.
This short review of the missionary position may seem beside the point,
but the character of the influences which affect the native are of no
little importance.
The missions all claim to play a great part in the education of the
natives, and the local government has, through paucity of funds, found
it convenient to acquiesce in this claim, and to a great extent leaves
native education to mission effort. The results leave much to be
desired, and naturally the primary mission ideal of education is to
impart to the native a sufficient knowledge of reading and writing to
enable him to read such portion of the scriptures as have been
translated into the vernacular of the tribe.
Very few missionaries understand the philosophy of education; very few
even have much knowledge of educational method. As a brilliant
educationalist has written, “the function of education is to foster
growth”—the aim of the teacher should be “the development of the latent
powers of his pupil, the unfolding of the latent life.”
Are the blacks in Kenya Colony receiving an education of this nature?
The answer is, it is feared, generally in the negative. Now the
character of the education of the black is going to have a profound
effect on his future and also on the relations of black and white. This
is a truism, and as Dudley Kidd has so forcibly put it, “The problem is
the progress of a backward race, and we allow inefficient teachers,
whose only qualification for the difficult work is their own kind
hearts, to form the character of the rising generation and to
complicate our difficulties—has any State the right to allow
unqualified people to intensify national problems in this gratuitous
fashion?”
It is not to be inferred that missionary educational effort is
mischievous. Far from it; but it is narrow in its outlook, it is not
based on any sound foundation, and it does very little to develop
latent powers.
The colonists do not, as a rule, favour literary education, but clamour
mainly for industrial education. There is a germ of truth in this
opinion, but a sense of proportion must be exercised or the industrial
market may be flooded with artisans of mediocre efficiency far in
excess of the demand. The great rôle of the African in the future must
be, as it has been in the past, the cultivation of the soil. Improve
his agricultural methods and teach him to extract more food per acre to
feed the future increase of the native population and still have
something to sell.
Mohammedanism needs a reference, for it is a factor of no mean
importance in Africa. Some students of extreme views picture the growth
of a pan-Islamic spirit which will bind all the blacks against the
Europeans; and missionary publications often refer to this as an
imminent danger possibly with the object of eliciting financial support
for Christian propaganda. The writer has no such fears. Mohammedanism
is spreading to a limited extent in East Africa, but there is little
religious fervour behind it, and it is difficult to see how it can ever
become more than a veneer with the up-country tribes, for it is certain
that they will never learn Arabic in order to be able to enjoy the
Koran.
Among the up-country people who come into intimate contact with
Mohammedan life, such as those who come to coast towns to work, it is
readily embraced, for it becomes the religion of the cooking pot. The
Swahilis and such like are hospitable folk, but may not eat with
unbelievers, and it is therefore very expedient for an up-country
stranger to become nominally a Mohammedan, for he may then dip his
finger in the food bowl with his hosts.
Apart from this, however, there is no doubt that the easy doctrines of
Islam appeal to the African; they are suited to his temperament, and
more important still, Islamism is not looked upon as an alien religion,
for although the Arabs are few, the Swahilis, who form the greater
number of the followers of Islam in the country, are only Africans who
are a little more civilised and better clothed than their cousins from
up-country, while Christianity is always associated with the coming of
the Europeans and with their domination of the country.
Although for many reasons Mohammedanism appears more suited to the
black than Christianity—it is a ceremonial religion and it moreover
countenances polygamy—nevertheless, it is inadvisable that the State
should in any way foster its progress in our African colonies, for it
contains many dangerous elements. The Mohammedanism of East Africa is a
mild variety, but there is much inflammable material lying about in the
Mohammedan world, and it might at any time be blown over to that area.
Mohammedanism, too, has a reactionary influence; it stunts cultural
development and it appears to be insusceptible to internal evolution.
On these grounds it would appear expedient that the bias of the State
should be in favour of the eventual spread of Christianity, for it is a
religion of a higher ethical type. It is the religion of the Western
world, and although its spiritual progress has been hampered by an
extraordinary mass of mediaeval accretions in the shape of dogma,
ritual and such like, there are signs that it is endeavouring to
eliminate non-essentials and adjust itself to the plane of modern
thought. The progress is slow but it has to such a great extent lost
its authority and its influence over the people as a mass, that if it
wishes to survive it must adjust itself to the age it serves and
endeavour to carry mankind a step further in the way of spiritual
evolution. As for faith, faith is common to and alike in all
religions—faith is the vital spark without which no religion can live
or can ever become a vital force—be it a highly developed creed of the
West or a lowly primitive type such as we have been considering. Faith
evades all logic, and even the higher criticism of advanced clerics
leaves it untouched.
During recent years the rapid internal development of East Africa has
produced an acute situation with regard to native labour, and although,
owing to the present economic depression, this is relieved for the
moment, it is bound to recur as trade improves and production
increases. The supply of labour has vastly increased during the last
ten years, but up to the outbreak of war the amount but rarely kept
pace with the demand, and the loss of native life during the German
East campaign was so heavy that if the pre-war demand had been
maintained there would have been a general shortage; a few years of
restricted demand will therefore give a little breathing space, and a
number of youths who were not old enough for military service will
become old enough to go out and seek work.
Among a certain section of people in England whose knowledge of the
colonies is somewhat vague, and whose outlook is tinged with
sentimental philanthropy, the employment of blacks as agricultural
labourers or industrial workers by British colonists is looked upon
with suspicion and as being little removed from slavery. It is
apparently based on the belief that such labour is forcibly seized,
badly treated and paid only a nominal wage. Ill-informed criticism is
generally faulty, and in the present instance it is particularly so.
Twenty years ago the up-country natives were, generally speaking,
reluctant to work for private Europeans or for Government, except
occasionally to carry loads; as settlement, however, proceeded the
demand for farm labour arose, the needs of the native gradually
increased, and a few rupees had annually to be earned to pay the hut
tax; as these stimuli became felt, so native labour gradually became
available. Every year up to the war the supply increased, and more and
more natives became accustomed to the idea of working for wages several
months in the year. Is this desirable, and if so, why? In the old days,
before European occupation of the country, the able-bodied male
population had to be always ready to repel raids or participate in
raids, and in times of peace its main duty was the herding and guarding
of the tribal cattle. The danger of attack ceased with the advent of
settled government, and if the younger men of the tribe do not go out
to work, they spend the bulk of their time loafing from village to
village attending beer feasts and philandering with the young girls;
for tribal custom insists that the bulk of the agricultural work shall
as formerly be done by the woman.
The elders do not approve of the present habits of the youths, but
unfortunately under our rule the bonds of tribal discipline have been
relaxed. If this is fully realised it will readily be seen that the
absence of a considerable portion of these young men for a part of each
year is beneficial to the good order of a native reserve; they are
under discipline when working, they learn something, and come back to
their villages with money which enriches the tribe.
On the majority of plantations and farms the natives are well treated,
and it is the duty of Government to see that they are well housed, well
fed, and that any grievances are speedily redressed; inspectors
periodically visit employees for this purpose. Ill treatment has
occurred from time to time, and isolated cases of brutality on the part
of employers have unfortunately happened and have been punished by the
courts. Such cases should, however, not be allowed to cloud our vision
or distort our sense of proportion any more than the occurrence of a
few cases of cruelty to children in England.
As regards wages, the rates are such that have naturally grown up in
the country with due regard to the cost of food, the usual village diet
of the labourer, and the cost of his simple clothing. It must also be
borne in mind that the output of an African is very minute compared
with a European, and the supervision required is vastly greater.
A recent petition to the home government headed by prelates, labour
representatives, and various well-meaning people took rather an extreme
view, and urged the adoption of a policy entirely native in its
outlook, and one which would result in crushing European endeavour in
this part of Africa.
One important plank in the policy was the foundation of native
industries in the reserves, and so forth. Every well-wisher of the
native wishes to see progress in the reserves, but intimate knowledge
of the cultural plane of the aboriginal population causes one to
realise clearly how easy it is to formulate dicta in London, and how
difficult it is to carry them out in Africa.
The individual planting of agricultural products in reserves by the
medium of the African hoe, and the labour of the African woman, is an
uneconomical form of production, and once the food supply of the tribe
is assured, the surplus enriches the Indian middle man more than the
native. Long established custom rules that the agricultural work in a
tribe shall be carried out by the women, and no ordinance will force
the young men to relieve the women of this duty if they do not desire
to do so.
Native progress proceeds slowly, and the stimulus for acceleration must
come from within if it is to be permanent.
Then again with regard to native industries—conditions of life can be
gradually improved, and the people can be taught to build better
houses, and to use furniture. The majority, however, cannot afford such
luxuries, and are contented with their own mode of life; their idea of
saving money being to provide the means to buy live stock, the
possession of which is essential for wife purchase.
The renaissance again must come from within. It will come gradually,
but not nearly so soon as our benevolent friends hope and desire.
To sum up this brief survey of a complex question, it is desired to
impress upon all that the future of the African native and the nature
of his relations with the white race will not be decided by the
academic recommendations of any body in England. The utmost that
philanthropically minded opinion can demand is a high ethical standard
in native administration, and the safeguarding by government of native
land rights. Further, the well-meaning people at home must trust their
own people in Africa, trust to the growth of a tolerant and humane
local view of the relationship of black and white. There is no reason
to believe that this spirit will not reach as high a level in East
Africa as it has done in other parts of our Empire.
Further, as Lord Buxton recently remarked in an address on native
problems, and referring to the government of the Union of South Africa
and Rhodesia: “Especially do they resent criticism when those who
criticise put on a self-righteous air and assume that they and their
associates alone have the welfare of the native at heart, and imply
that those who differ are actuated by obstinate or unworthy motives.”
The main points in native policy which long experience of Africa
suggest may be stated as follows:
(1) The old tribal discipline and organisation is in danger of
dissolution; it rarely rested on very firm foundations, for the
authorities were weak; it should receive most careful review by
experienced men of knowledge and sympathy, tribe by tribe. The
situation is at present drifting, and neither black nor white can see
whither.
There is one thing, however, which is obvious, and that is that the new
generation of native leaders should be educated by Government to fit
them for their duties. Such a step would be widely appreciated and
might do a great deal to avert future danger. Their education should,
above all, concern itself with the formation of character and the
development of responsibility; education seems to so rarely provide the
African with these essentials, in fact their vital importance seems to
be often overlooked.
(2) The taxation collected from natives by the State for general
purposes should be low, and any addition to the standard tax which may
be collectable as the wealth of the natives increases should be devoted
to specific objects, such as native education, the development of the
reserves and such like. The natives should clearly understand this, and
it would do a great deal to improve the relations of the Government
with the native, for there is at present a well-founded belief in the
native mind that they are periodically called upon to pay more and at
the same time get but little return for their money; confidence in
Government has perceptibly lessened in the last few years.
(3) The excessive infantile mortality in native reserves should receive
specific attention, and also the checking of disease generally. On
economic grounds alone, epidemics among the native population are far
more important than those among cattle; it is feared, however, that up
to now they have not received as much attention, and the reason is not
far to seek.
Effective measures will entail the training of a considerable staff of
native subordinate medical staff who should be distributed throughout
the reserves, each group being under a European medical officer.
(4) As has been previously stated, the more dangerous elements of the
native population are in the towns; for it is there that the
restraining influence of the chiefs and elders is absent, it is there
that crime is more prevalent, it is there that undesirable political
movements are bred and where more educated material can be found; a
fertile soil for the seditious seed of the Asiatic agitation. Common
sense therefore suggests that special efforts be made to reach these
mixed assemblages of native life by the provision of suitable
educational facilities and by the provision of healthy amusement and
entertainment, by evening lectures in subjects both interesting and
instructive, by an amusing and healthy native press.
Needless to say, better housing in town locations is an important
matter if these people are to be taught to live decent, respectable
lives; baths and places for washing clothes are also essential for
health and well-being.
(5) Abrupt interference with native customs and tribal laws is to be
deprecated; much of the old codes is good, and undesirable features
can, with the consent of the people, gradually be eliminated, if the
guiding hand applies his reforming touch with judgment; and this brings
us to the necessity for the careful selection of administrative
officers and the importance of these being trained in ethnological
method, for no man can reform and develop a system of which he is not
qualified to judge.
Greater knowledge of native psychology will help to maintain the
paternal relations which should exist between the natives of a district
and their commissioner, and to which the most successful native
administrators in the past owe their success.
(6) Education. This is essential, but, as has been explained, matters
are not satisfactory at present, nor will they improve much until
Government takes it over into its own hands, and it should begin by the
formation of a well-equipped normal school wherein a large staff of
native teachers should be trained by a picked European staff.
A boarding school should also be founded in each province where an
effective industrial training can be given to a number of picked
youths, and in conjunction with a sound rudimentary education.
The African is a receptive person, but has little persistence, and is
apt to become weary before he is efficient. There are altogether too
many young men about with a mere smattering of education which is
nothing more than a surface veneer, and is often used as an excuse for
escaping manual labour; this spirit needs to be vigorously combated.
Very few natives leave the mission schools with anything more than this
surface veneer of education, the outward sign of which is a passion for
khaki coats, boots, collars and ties, and in this way they ape the
European. This may appear ridiculous at present, but there is one thing
certain and that is that a renaissance has now begun, and we must in
the future be prepared for curious manifestations of the aspiration for
self-realisation on the part of the African. The true art of
government, therefore, will be to utilise with wisdom any real signs of
their desire to rise to a higher cultural and social plane. The way
will not be easy, but much can be attained by wide sympathy and by
knowledge of the psychology of the subject.
It must never be forgotten that in a colony of the East African type
the European colonist and the native are interdependent. Due
consideration and justice for the backward partner must be the keynote
of the native policy, for a contented, friendly black population will
connote a healthy and prosperous white community.
L’ENVOI
The student of anthropology is urged to be precise and accurate in his
record of facts, and the haunting fear of giving rein to the
imaginative side, especially when dealing with beliefs which have
almost ceased to evoke response from Western races, often tends to make
one’s narrative seem dull and lifeless.
The poet is bound by no such paltry conventions, but it is rare to find
one who strikes the true note—intimate knowledge coupled with acute
insight.
The late Captain Cullen Gouldsbury of Rhodesian repute possessed this
rare gift, and the writer takes the liberty of reproducing the
following poem as a remarkable and unique attempt to express the native
point of view:
THE POINT OF VIEW
From Songs out of Exile by Cullen Gouldsbury
(Fisher Unwin, 1912)
White man, cease from your tales—your God may be good for you,
But think you that aught avails to fashion our creed anew?
We, who are born and bred in the fear of ’Mlimo’s wrath,
Heirs to eternal dread shall we cast our Witchmen forth
To take as a load instead the creed of ye from the North?
Lo! we are born in the fear of wild and unspeakable things;
Born in the Bush land here, where the souls of the dead have wings.
Hovering high in the air where the shades of even fall,
Shrinking in dim despair at the gate of each lonely kraal—
Scoff not, white man! beware, when the ghosts of the dead men call.
There are Spirits that walk by night with their heads behind their backs—
There are Spirits that fade from sight in the gloom of the forest tracks;
There are ghosts of the babes that died in the kraal long moons ago,
Ghosts of cripples that glide with shambling pace and slow,
Ghosts of the new-made bride and of many a girl we know.
Yestereen, when the sun sank low in the western sky,
And silently, one by one, the hovering bats flew by,
Ziwa, pride of my heart, my youngest and best-loved wife,
Drew me a pace apart, saying: “Husband, ’tis done with life,
Nay friend, shrink not, nor start! lend me your hunting knife!”
Ay! and she lies there dead—and the youths and maidens mourn,
They bury her, so one said, in the cool of to-morrow’s dawn—
For the evil moor-hens keep a watch on this kraal, I know,
And perch when the world’s asleep, on the hut-tops then below.
See! I will kill a sheep to ward off a further blow!
White man, laugh if you will! such tales are for babes, you say?
Have you no God of Ill? Do you not cringe and pray?
Offering sacrifice in a temple built of stone?
Do you not seek advice from a priest man of your own?
Do you not pay a price? Are we the heathen alone?
GLOSSARY
This includes the native names most used in the text.
Dorobo: Masai word (spelt Torobo by Hollis) often corrupted by
travellers to Wandorobo or Andorobo. Dorobo in Masai means tsetse fly.
The name for an aboriginal race of hunters who inhabit the great
forests of the highlands in East Africa. They call themselves Asi and
the Kikuyu call them Adzi. The name of the Athi River is believed to be
a corruption of Adzi.
Engai (Kikuyu): The deity.
Eithaga: The name of a Kikuyu clan, members of which are said to
possess magical powers; sometimes spelt Aithaga. A member of this clan
is called a Mweithaga.
Gethaka (Kikuyu): The portion of a ridge in Kikuyu owned by a
particular family, the title to possession of this being obtained from
the Dorobo, the original occupants of the forest. Some regard it as a
freehold right, others maintain that the Kikuyu only acquired the right
to cut the forest in order to make shambas, or gardens. The gethaka
rights are, however, very real possessions in the eyes of the Kikuyu.
Huku (Kikuyu): A mole-like rodent—Tachyorctes sp.
Ichua (Kikuyu): A sacrificial fire.
Imu, singular; aiimu, plural (Kamba): Ancestral spirits.
Ithembo, singular; mathembo, plural (Kamba): Sacred place where
sacrifices are carried out.
Ira (Kikuyu): White diatomaceous earth which is also used in ceremonial
as a purifying agent.
Itwika (Kikuyu): A periodic ceremony which marks the termination of a
generation or age in the tribe—it corresponds in some ways to the Masai
Eunoto ceremony.
Kikuyu: The missionaries now often spell it Gikuyu. A member of the
Kikuyu tribe is called Mu-Kikuyu—plural, A-Kikuyu. In common parlance,
however, if one drops the prefixes and refers to a man of this tribe as
a Kikuyu (native)—the latter word being widely understood, it is
simpler than attaching the appropriate prefix. An upland tribe in Kenya
Colony extending from near Nairobi to Mount Kenya.
Kamba: Mu-Kamba is the singular; A-Kamba is plural and collective. In
the same way as above, it has become more usual to simply refer to them
as Kamba (native). Their country is termed Ukamba, and their language
Ki-Kamba. A tribe in Kenya Colony, east of Nairobi. There are detached
portions of the tribe near Mombasa, near Taveta, and in Tanganyika
territory.
Kithangaona (Kikuyu): Sacred place.
Ku-roga (Kikuyu) verb: To place upon or to bewitch.
Kihe (Kikuyu): An uncircumcised boy.
Kamwana (Kamba): An uncircumcised boy.
Kingnoli (Kamba): Collective killing or execution by the people of a
person convicted of certain serious offences.
Kafara (Swahili): A charm placed at cross-roads to avert misfortune. If
anyone carries it away it is believed that the misfortune or disease
will be carried with it.
Kirume (Kikuyu): The dying curse which can be suspended over his
descendants by a dying man.
Kiume (Kamba): The dying curse which can be suspended over his
descendants by a dying man.
Konono (Masai): A clan of serfs believed to be of alien race who live
among the Masai and who are the smiths to the tribe. They correspond to
the Tumal of the Somalis.
Kita (Kikuyu): The power of the evil eye.
Kiama (Kikuyu): Council of elders.
Mwanake, singular; anake, plural (Kikuyu): Warrior class.
Mutumia, singular; atumia, plural (Kamba): Tribal elders.
Muthuri, singular; athuri, plural (Kikuyu): Athuri ya Ukuru—the senior
elders.
Mumo (Kamba): Sacred fig tree.
Mugumu (Kikuyu): Sacred fig tree, often called muti wa Engai.
Makwa (Kamba): Afflicted by a curse. See thabu.
Mwati, singular; miati, plural (Kikuyu): A young ewe which has not
borne a lamb.
Miatini (Kamba): The fruit of Kigelia musa or Kigelia pinnata—used for
fermenting beer.
Mulungu (Kamba): The deity.
Mathamaki, singular; azamaki or athamaki, plural (Kikuyu): An elder of
council; his official title, not his grade rank.
Muturi, singular; aturi, plural (Kikuyu): A smith.
Mundu Mugo (Kikuyu): Medicine man.
Murogi (Kikuyu): Medicine man who deals in black magic.
Muburi (Kikuyu): Goat.
Ngoma (Kikuyu): Ancestral spirit.
Ngoma (Swahili): A dance. This word is also widely used by up-country
natives.
Njele (Swahili): A half gourd used as a domestic utensil for drinking
water, gruel or milk.
Nzeli or nzele (Kamba): A half gourd used as a domestic utensil for
drinking water, gruel or milk.
Nthele, singular; anthele, plural (Kamba): Young married man.
Ndorume (Kikuyu): A ram, a favourite form of sacrifice.
Ngnondu (Kikuyu): A ewe, which is also used as a sacrifice on certain
occasions.
Ngunga (Kikuyu): Caterpillars.
Njohi (Kikuyu): Native beer, usually made from sugar cane.
Nzama (Kamba): Council of elders.
Njama (Kikuyu): A consultation by the elders; the proceedings are
generally secret.
Rika (Kikuyu): Generation—age grade.
Rathi (Swahili): Happiness, blessing—generally used of a formal
blessing. Kuwarathi—to be satisfied or content with.
Rukwaru (Kikuyu): A strip of goat skin bound on the waist of a person
to signify that he has duly performed a certain ceremony.
Ruenji (Kikuyu): A razor.
Ruoro (Kikuyu): Knife used for branding cattle.
Shamba, singular; ma-shamba, plural (Swahili): Cultivated field or
garden, widely used by up-country Africans.
Ku-tahikia (Kikuyu), verb: To purify. Ku is the infinitive prefix
common to all verbs.
Thabu (Kamba): A curse or afflicted by a curse—a condition which is the
result of certain acts, analogous to some forms of tabu.
Thahu (Kikuyu): A curse or afflicted by a curse—a condition which is
the result of certain acts, analogous to some forms of tabu.
Thengira (Kikuyu): Literally the goat hut. It is synonymous with the
hut in which the unmarried men sleep.
Thomi (Kamba): Open meeting place outside every village.
Tatha (Kikuyu): The semi-digested vegetable matter which forms the
contents of a sheep or goat. When an animal is sacrificed this is used
as a purifying agent to remove evil. In Kamba language called muyo.
Uji (Swahili): Gruel—also widely used by East Africa Bantu tribes. Uji
is usually made of maize or millet meal.
Uki (Kamba): Beer, especially mead, made from honey, but the word is
used for all beer.
NOTES
[1] Vol. II. pp. 4 et seq.
[2] Apollodorus, The Library, II. 2, 2, with my notes.
[3] Members of the Kikuyu tribe from birth to old age pass through
various grades of initiation, but the ceremonial observed is of two
classes, one of which is referred to by the natives as the Kikuyu
system, and the other the Masai system. The Kikuyu system is probably
the older, whilst the so-called Masai system is probably contact
metamorphism due to the proximity of the Masai and the partial
intermingling which has occurred from time to time. Curiously enough,
the Masai system bears very little resemblance to the Masai customs of
the present day, so presumably it has been modified to fit in with the
psychology of the Kikuyu who adopted it.
[4] Ol-divai is the Masai word for the wild Sanseviera.
[5] Vide article on Masai and their traditions, by A. C. Hollis—London
Quarterly Review, July, 1907, p. 104—“Now the Masai themselves say they
learnt this peculiar ceremony (viz.: their method of circumcision) from
the Kikuyu.”
[6] Mr Routledge mentions a later one which took place near Karuri’s
about 1904, but according to the S. Kikuyu natives it was only a local
ceremony.
[7] Of course the analogy is not complete, for it does not apply to one
who accidentally becomes the victim of certain circumstances.
[8] The act of stepping over a corpse is probably considered a serious
insult to the ngoma.
[9] The frequent occurrence of sexual rites may appear repugnant to
Europeans, but students of the ancient world will readily admit that
there is an intimate connection between these rites and the religious
beliefs of people in a certain stage of culture. Many examples could be
quoted.
[10] “Religion of Semites,” p. 264.
[11] A Syrian superstition quoted in “Religion of the Semites,” p. 443,
deals with a ceremony to rid gardens of caterpillars, and in that, one
of the insects is bewailed and buried and the caterpillars then
disappear.
[12] These are probably ancient carnelian beads; they are occasionally
found among the divination apparatus of medicine men; they almost
certainly were derived from Egypt or the Nile valley.
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