A tribe having core values, a beautiful culture and mysterious beliefs are thrilling enough to keep you interested. Much of their history has been passed on from generation to generation in the form of songs and stories. Kenya with the presence of a cloud touching the mountain. The music and culture of the kikuyu tribe fsu world music. Since the middle of the 1980s, the number of children in a kikuyu household has. Gikuyu is a language of the bantu family spoken primarily by the kikuyu people agikuyu of kenya. The kikuyu story, legend has it, begins on a ridge north. When it comes to food, music, marriage ceremonies and everyday family life, most kikuyus. Jun 01, 2018 the kikuyu culture and entrepreneurship. How to be productive at home from a remote work veteran. Thank you for visiting this page and your interest in learning the kikuyu culture. Three out of the four presidents that have ruled kenya since after independence were all from kikuyu. Kenya is a country in east africa made up of diverse people speaking different languages and practising different cultures. Many people today have focused on the circumcision ceremony, irua, reducing it to a.
In view of the fact that a kikuyu muthamaki leader epitomised the religious. Traditional kikuyu religion involved ngai one god who was said to live in the sky and resided in mt. Traditional kikuyu music has existed for generations up to 1888, when the agikuyu people encountered and adopted a new culture from the europeans. The kikuyu tribe has over the years, produced very influential and notable personalities in kenya. He felt it was imperative that christianity incorporate the traditional beliefs and moral codes that had governed the kikuyu for centuries. Dec 29, 2017 who are the kikuyu the kikuyu are the largest single ethnic tribe in kenya, making up 22% of the countrys population. Kikuyu is a nice, dense, budgetfriendly grass, that with the right maintenance, can look like its from a cover of a magazine. And why do kenyas other tribes resent them so much. Kikuyu tribe of kenya, language, music, women, people. San antonio expressnews dubbed the hub of the hills, fredericksburg, texas has reigned as the hallmark of german hill country culture, historical and quaint, for generations. It was believed that using ten would give an individual bad luck. Betrothal ceremonies before a marriage among the kikuyu of.
In a polygamous homestead the number of nyumba corresponded to the number of wives unless the widowed mother of the man was also housed in the homestead. In kikuyu culture, girls and boys were expected to find each other during the numerous dances that were organised by their youth leaders. These are respected among the people and they give direction in matters concerning their culture and values. I will try to describe the practices and traditions regarding how a kikuyu goat was eaten from the little i know.
And i must say that after flipping through the pages, i realized how rich kikuyu culture is, and how little is left of it, as well as how little i know my mother tongue. There are still some traditional beliefs and customs widely practiced by the kikuyu today. Pdf the book examines the gikuyu people of kenya, their traditional. Like in the maasai community, the kikuyu were forbiden from eating wild animals. Kikuyu elders at a beer festival tuthu village,muranga in 1908according to kikuyu tales, god, ngai, created the first man gikuyu and placed him at a place near mount kenya at a place called mukurwe wa gathaga in present day muranga county. After the war, the political class grabbed the lands instead of returning them to the dispossessed. From the traditional music and cultures of kenya, a multimedia encyclopaedia dedicated to all kenyan tribes, including music and dance, history, culture, society, religion and beliefs, rituals and daily life, fables, legends, riddles and proverbs. Stem and leaves plants are a network of horizontal manyjointed stems i. The kikuyus are great people with very dynamic culture, and we bet youd love to know more about them.
It is believed that the kikuyu people migrated from lake chad to east africa in ad, settling in the fertile central highlands of kenya and engaging in farming. This is evidenced in the food, language, and marriage rituals among others. Euphemisms on body effluvia in kikuyu arc journals. Kikuyu people and the traditional ceremony of the second. The video does not follow the exact format as below since traditions have shifted with time and been affected by various factors. He was said to have ninefull technically 10 but the number is considered a taboo in kikuyu culture daughters. Nov 14, 2014 the carcass, the tripe and the inside organs of a goat cow or sheep are delicacies in several african cultures.
They said, do not listen to this christian message. Mythically, the nation of the agikuyu came from two original parents who were created by god, namely gikuyu and mumbi. He felt it was imperative that christianity incorporate the traditional beliefs and moral codes that had governed the kikuyu. Promoting kikuyu traditional culture and providing vocational entertainment and cultural education for the community, school teams and international visitors riuki,or hearth or simply the centre of a gikuyu homestead, and nucleus of the family, is an apt name for the enterprise.
The kikuyu conforming to christianity jomo kenyattas ethnography, facing mt. Kikuyu religion, old and new 207 opposed to the mission, and were spreading propaganda among our teachers. This is a limited second edition, reprint of the three volume book the southern kikuyu before 1903. They would tactily communicate to their son or daughter about their preferences long before the children matured. The gikuyu attribute their ultimate origins to sacred intervention by their god ngai who sometimes resides on mount kenya which, for the gikuyu, is a sacred place. A new cultural centre devoted to the kikuyu, kenyas largest offers a unique experience of this tradition rich culture existing in. It is palatable, resistant to heavy grazing and mostly used for pasture. Kikuyu history says that the kikuyu god, ngai, took gikuyu to the top of kirinyaga and told him to stay and build his home there. Although some of the kikuyu culture has eroded, the kikuyu language is still predominantly spoken, especially in the urban areas where a majority of people speak english and swahili. See more ideas about african tribes, africa and african history. The kikuyu share common historical roots with the kamba, embu, mbere, tharaka, and meru. The country of kenya is composed of a melting pot of different tribes and religious groups making kenya a very diverse nation.
Limited second edition southern kikuyu before 1903. One of them is the kikuyu tribe who are from a group of people called bantu that inhabits the east african region. There is a vigorous kikuyu recording industry, for both popular and gospel music, in their pentatonic scale and western music styles. Transformation of kikuyu traditional architecture university staff. The first major work on kikuyu culture in kikuyu language by a distinguished. Search for private and public nursery, primary, secondary, senior, preparatory, international schools and kindergartens in kikuyu. The kikuyu community has a lot of myths stories and legends about. Mother tongue of kikuyu people is bantu kikuyu language. Belowaresomeuniversi tiesintheunitedstatesthat currentlyofferkikuyu. A new cultural centre devoted to the kikuyu, kenyas largest offers a unique experience of this tradition rich culture existing in a modern world. Mar 06, 2017 twa twa teachings for married couples special couples dinner. The case from muranga distrinct in kenya yoko ishii tokyo metropolitan university abstract this paper studies the reproduction of the kikuyu people and family planning program in kenya.
Age grades traditionally there was a circumcision ceremony for boys and girls by age grades of about fiveyear periods. Facing mount kenya is absolutely essential reading for students of kenyan culture, and remains a fine overview of the gikuyu kikuyu people, as well as a good case study for general readers in african studies. The kikuyu customs and traditions learning the roots, traditions and customs of the kikuyu tribe form research and authors of different books and most importantly from the old men and women of the kikuyu tribe. For the purpose of the present paper, the researchers purposively decided to. Paying a dowry bride price is still an important aspect of their culture. The kikuyu diet was mainly from agricultural produce. There was actually a tenth daughter but the kikuyu considered it to be bad luck to say the number ten.
Kikuyu tribe of kenya, language, music, women, people, houses. The start of an armadillo race in fredericksburg at the 300 millionth birthday party for the animals in photo. Cultural loss increased as urbanization and modernization impacted on indigenous knowledge, including the ability to play the muturiru an oblique bark flute. Kenya was written in the 1930s about kikuyu society during 18901910, the early years of british colonialism in kenya. Read on to find out the varied traditions, rituals, ceremonies and lifestyle of one the kikuyu tribe of kenya. Kikuyu is spoken in the area between nyeri and nairobi. Routledge, writing in the early 1900s noted that all the kikuyu clans in his locality took their male children through a ceremony that reenacted a birth. The culture of the kikuyu tribe is heavily influenced by music and instruments throughout their daily life. The kikuyu live on the highlands in the mount kenya region, just like the meru, chuka and embumbeere who share with them similar culture and way of life. All of these groups date back to a prototype population known as the thagicu. The kikuyu people usually identify their lands by the surrounding mountain ranges in central kenya which they call kirinyaga. Farmers, the kikuyu live on family farms, growing millet, sorghum, beans, peas and sweet potatoes.
Before 1888 and well into the 1920s, kikuyu music included kibaata, nduumo and muthunguci. In every gikuyu traditional homestead, the womans house, nyumba, belonged to a specific married woman for no two married women shared a nyumba. The great traditional gikuyu initiation ceremonies, mambura, that ushered a new generation of youth into adulthood ready for marriage involved many processes of which the circumcision of the genital organs is the most famous. Kikuyu culture is the kikuyu tribes way of life, the largest ethnic group of the kenya people. Pdf the creation of gikuyu image and identity researchgate. Feel free to correct, argue and insert the missing info note. Akikuyudancer nationalafricanlanguage resourcecenternalrc studyingkikuyu intheu. There was actually a tenth daughter but the kikuyu considered it. It was also taboo to eat fish and birds like chicken and ducks.
As we fulfill this aim, the study will also find out word formation processes that are involved in euphemized taboo words in kikuyu. In a polygamous homestead the number of nyumba corresponded to the number of wives unless the widowed mother of the man was also. The kikuyu conforming to christianity essay 599 words. Kikuyu yasmeen aslami, knight beltitane, chane jones, rachel doane reports after achieving colonial independence, the newly united kenyan people quickly lost their sense of a united nationalism due to their ethnic and social differences. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Louis believed that giving up kikuyu traditions, customs and beliefs in the name of christianity would be harmful to the rich kikuyu culture that he had experienced in his youth. I will try to describe the little i know from the kikuyu kyuk culture as i have seen it today.
Whenever a goat is slaughtered for whatever occasion there are some traditions that are followed during its preparation and consumption. The kikuyu language has almost become kenyas third language of choice. Jomo kenyatta, who would go on to be, arguably, the most important figure in kenyan history, gives a plainspoken dissertation on his people in a style reminiscent of franz boas or. Migrating from the north, the thagicu settled in the mount kenya region sometime between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Depending on a familys personal beliefs and funds, they may have a more extravagant funeral or a quick one. Complete guide on kikuyu grass fantastic gardeners. Kikuyu sexual practices gikuyu centre for cultural studies. Kikuyu african clothing african jewelry african artwork. They kept cattle and goats, but mainly for ritual purposes and as a currency for the purchase of goods and the payment of dowry. Having an evergreen, thick garden does sound like a dream come true. The third son applied fire to stones and metals and became a blacksmith. Kikuyu goat eating traditions the whims of a madman. Twa twa teachings for married couples special couples dinner.
Locally the bible is also known as ibuku riria itheru ria ngai. For example, when talking about their tradition god, ngai, he was said to have ten daughters, but since ten was forbidden, it was referred to as ninefull daughters. Parent always had a preference for a certain family and disdain for others. Approx 17% of population of kenya is kikuyu people. A warm welcome to kikuyulands kikuyu resources and books page. Kikuyu songs from my childhood this was originally posted on thoughts and stuff in t. They are only trying to get you converted so that your hearts will be softened, and you will be willing to obey the government, to forget all your grievancesj and to be. Hence, this is an android application based on this language and the best part it is free without. Kikuyu central association and the establishment of gikuyu independent churches and.
So for your convenience, we give you our handy guide on how to grow and maintain kikuyu. An extravagant kikuyu people of kenya funeral celebration may include feasts, singing, and dancing. Stanford libraries official online search tool for books, media, journals, databases, government documents and more. Their ancestral land was taken by the mzungu, which leads to the rise of maumau, the war that led kenya to get its independence. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Kikuyu, bantuspeaking people who live in the highland area of southcentral kenya, near mount kenya. For the purpose of the present paper, the researchers purposively decided to use 10 out of the many effluvia. Posts about kikuyu sexual practices written by mukuyu. Today, music and dance are strong components of kikuyu culture. Kenya is famous for its 42 cultures, but other than the nomadic maasai and samburu, not many of these are widely known to the outside world. Kikuyu pennisetum clandestinum is regarded as an environmental weed in victoria, south australia, western australia, new south wales and queensland.