A History Of The Kikuyu Community

THE BACKGROUND

The Kikuyu, also called Gikuyu or Agikuyu, are a Bantu-speaking people who live in the highland area of south-central Kenya, near Mount Kenya. In the late 20th century, the Kikuyu numbered more than 4 ethnic groups native to Central Kenya and found in sign-making them the largest ethnic group in Kenya.

The Gikuyu, like the white settlers in the early 20^th century, were attracted to the Kenya highlands because of cool temperatures, fertile soils, and abundant rainfall. Prior to the arrival of the Gikuyu, the area was occupied by hunters and gatherers known as the Dorobo. It is not known exactly when the Gikuyu first occupied the central highlands, but their oral history indicates that the Gikuyu occupied the area for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of the Europeans in Kenya.

The Gikuyu have figured significantly in the development of contemporary Kenyan political, cultural, and social life. The Land and Freedom Movement (referred to as the “Mau Mau” Movement) during the 1950s was primarily a Gikuyu guerrilla war (a war fought without organized government troops) in response to British domination. The British had taken farming lands from the Gikuyu and given these lands to white settlers. Gikuyu were forced to work on these farms and to provide labor for cash crops such as coffee and tea. The Gikuyu nationalist, Jomo Kenyatta (1894–1978) became the first president of Kenya at its independence in 1963. He is respected among the Gikuyu for his leadership against colonialism (outside rule) and for his status as is regarded as the father of his country.

The term Kikuyu is derived from a Swahili form of the word Gĩkũyũ. Gĩkũyũ is derived from the word mũkũyũ which means sycamore fig (mũkũyũ) tree”. Hence Agĩkũyũ in the Kikuyu Language translates to “Children Of The Big Sycamore”. The alternative name, “Nyũmba ya Mũmbi”, which encompasses Embu, Gikuyu, and Meru translates to “House of the Potter” (or “Creator”)

WHERE DID THE GIKUYU COME FROM?

According 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. He was lonely and he asked Ngai for a partner. Ngai gave him a woman called Mumbi and together they got 9 daughters; Wanjiru, Wambui, Wanjiku, Wangui, Waithira, Waceera, Mwithaga, Wairimu and Wangari. To that number, they add one more: Warigia, a child born with crippled legs who is an excellent hunter, “good with arrows”, whose teeth are so white that “they lit a path in the darkness”.

The 10 clans of the Gikuyu people are named after the 10 daughters, or “the perfect nine”.

The Kikuyu moved into their modern territory from the northeast in the 17th–19th century. Their indigenous economy rested upon intensive cultivation of millet (the staple crop), peas, beans, sorghum, and sweet potatoes. The main modern cash crops are coffee, corn (maize), wattle, and fruits and vegetables. Some groups practiced irrigation and terracing. Animal husbandry provided an important supplement.

The Kikuyu traditionally lived in separate domestic family homesteads, each of which was surrounded by a hedge or stockade and contained a hut for each wife. During the Mau-Mau rebellion of the 1950s, however, the British colonial government moved the Kikuyu into villages for reasons of security. The economic advantages of village settlement and land consolidation led many Kikuyu to continue this arrangement after the emergency was ended. The local community unit is the mbari, a patrilineal group of males and their wives and children ranging from a few dozen to several hundred persons. Beyond the mbari, the people are divided among nine clans and a number of subclans.

HOW IS THE GIKUYU  ARRANGED?

The Kikuyu community is also organized into age sets that have served as the principal political institutions. Groups of boys are initiated each year and ultimately grouped into generation sets that traditionally ruled for 20 to 30 years. Political authority traditionally was vested in a council of elders representing a particular age class during its occupancy of the ruling grade. The Kikuyu believe in an omnipotent creator God, Ngai, and in the continued spiritual presence of ancestors.

The Kikuyu share common historical roots with the Kamba, Embu, Mbere, Tharaka, and Meru. All of these groups date back to a prototype population known as the Thagicu. Migrating from the North, the Thagicu settled in the Mount Kenya region sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries. As splinter groups formed, one of the groups migrated south and settled on the southwestern slopes of Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya). Archaeological evidence suggests that the people who settled there hunted game, herded sheep and goats, and worked with iron to make simple tools and weapons.

There were additional Bantu migrations from the North-Eeast, followed by periods of settlement, intermarriage, and further splintering of the Thagicu in the 15th and 16thcenturies. The Kikuyu trace their descent from one of the splinter groups that settled at the convergence of the Tana (Thagana) and Thika rivers. From the settlement at Ithanga, subgroups migrated in several directions, some north to Nyeri, others northeast to Kirinyaga, and some south to Murang’a over the next two centuries. Some migrated further South than Murang’a, toward Kiambu in the 18th century, and came into contact with a hunting people they called the Aathi. They intermarried with the Aathi and acquired land from them in exchange for goats.

WHAT RITES OF PASSAGE DO THE GIKUYU HAVE?

The Gikuyu are well known for their traditional rituals of adolescence. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, there was a custom known as Ngweko. Periodically, elders supervised gatherings of young people who would spend private time with each other for the purpose of getting to know members of the opposite sex. Young people paired off according to mutual attraction. Should a young girl become pregnant, the boy responsible was held accountable and was expected to marry the girl he had impregnated. The Gikuyu considered Ngweko to be a form of sex education. And since Ngweko was associated with reproduction, the Gikuyu considered it a sacred act of carrying out the orders of their high god Ngai to reproduce. Many elder Gikuyu believe that the missionaries made a mistake when they labeled Ngweko as sinful. The schools that were established after the arrival of the Europeans did not include sex education. Since the beginning of co-educational boarding schools, teenage pregnancies have become a major social problem in Kenya, including among the Gikuyu.

Prior to participating in Ngweko, both boys and girls undergo numerous rituals, including surgery on their genital organs. The purpose of these rituals is to enable young people to bond with others with whom they have undergone painful experiences. Clitoridectomy (female circumcision) was practiced by the Gikuyu. Many life-threatening injuries and deaths resulted, that saw many go against the female circumcision culture. Gikuyu boys however continue to be circumcised, a practice widespread in Africa and many other parts of the world as well.

Many dances and songs, called mambura (rituals or divine services), take place during initiation ceremonies. Gikuyu history is publicly enacted so as to provide a sense of community solidarity. Each irua group is given its own special name. Initiation ceremonies involve special foods and the selection of a sponsor to impart knowledge and to supervise the young person. After several days of instruction, boys and girls were taken together to a compound for their circumcision. Numerous friends and relatives gather for singing and dancing throughout the night. A special feast was made for the parents of the children. The day before the operation, there is a ceremonial dance known as matuuro . The next day the physical operations occur. Both boys and girls are expected to endure circumcision without crying or showing signs of weakness.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

In the Kikuyu community,` Music and dance, along with storytelling, were all emphasized in the past. Dancing by men and women was mandatory at initiation ceremonies, weddings, and other public events. People of all ages enjoyed dancing. There were three kinds of musical instruments in the past: drums, flutes, and rattles. The last were used for private pleasure, while drums and flutes were played publicly at dances. Song was woven into the fabric of everyday life. There were songs for babies; songs sung by girls while threshing millet; songs sung by boys while practicing archery; songs sung by families and community members during weddings and funerals; songs sung by community members and initiates during ceremonies; songs about everyday problems of life and love that were sung around the campfire; songs for drinking; songs about cultural heroes both past and present; and songs sung in praise of ancestors and the High God, Ngai.

CLOTHING

In the past, Gikuyu adults dressed in animal skins, especially sheep and goat skins. Skin tanning was a vital industry for which many men were renowned as specialists. Women’s clothing includes three pieces—an upper garment, a skirt, and an apron. Men wore a single garment covering the entire body. Young men preferred bare legs made possible by wearing short skirts, especially those made from kidskin (lambskin or goatskin) because of its smooth hairs. Elders wore more elaborate costumes—often made of fur.

European clothing is now commonplace throughout Gikuyuland. In rural areas, women wear multicolored cotton dresses or skirts and blouses. Men generally wear Western-style trousers and shirts with jackets and ties for formal occasions. Women who prefer to dress in African fashion wear long pieces of colorful cloth as skirts and wrapped around a dress.

FOOD

In the past, beer brewing was a cooperative activity between men and women. Beer was made from sugarcane, maize, and millet. Gourds were used to contain the strained juices for fermenting. Today, bottled beverages generally have replaced traditional beer for daily and social consumption. Distilleries in Kenya provide an assortment of beer and soft drinks.

Eating meat is standard for all ceremonial occasions. A popular meal, especially on Sundays, is nyama Choma (roasted meat). Goat meat is the most popular choice, although it is more expensive than beef. Chicken is also a regular treat. In the past, the Gikuyu had a ceremonial calendar that involved feasting. Boiled and roasted meat were eaten on these occasions, and beer was the beverage of choice. Although the traditional ceremonial calendar is largely a thing of the past, Gikuyu maintain an intensely social existence involving regular attendance at funerals and weddings. These events are always accompanied by an abundant supply of meat and bottled beverages.

TRADITIONAL CLOTHING

The Kikuyu traditional attire has always played a central role in their culture, beliefs and social fabric. From cultural ceremonies to social norms, these garments were not only a symbol of cultural identity but also played a part in being a unified symbol of African human sexuality. Whether it is a ceremony to coronate a Kikuyu elder or a funfest to celebrate the youth graduation from a rite of passage, the cultural garments are a binding element to the Kikuyu heritage. Although the modern fashion designs have eroded the popularity of these clothes, their prominence still reigns supreme.

The Gīkūyū traditional woman’s skirt was called  the mūthuru, a simple leather wrap-around that was accompanied  by a soft leather pubic apron that was worn under the skirt opening, mwengū at the front. The pubic apron is called the same as the gap it deals with, mwengū. The upper part of the body is protected by a cloak, nguo ya ngoro, or nyathiba, which can vary in length to just below the waist or up to the ankles. Because the skirt and apron were worn under the rather loose cloak, Routledge Scoresby writing in 1910 refered to the skirt as a petticoat. The cloak is made from three to four goat skins whose hair has been scrapped with a knife and then treated with ochre and castor oil until it was soft.

The Gikuyu women needed the skirt as it was an appropriate working garment that gave the knees and legs a lot of freedom. During cultivation and other demanding sweaty work, the upper cloak was removed or tucked around the waist being held in place by the skirt.. The skirt was made from two sheep skins, (never goat’s). It was designed to taper behind the legs so that it protected the lady nicely even when she bent over. There were no issues of indecent exposure as strong leg calfs, ikere and thighs, ciero, were highly valued as symbols of strong motherhood and were not seen as nakedness. The cloak could sometimes “accidentally” reveal a wonderful lightning grimpse of a shadowy thigh or leg something young men’s cloaks tended to do with crazy abandon. This sensuous state of affairs was one that could not be tolerated by the colonizers and was one of the first things they attacked declaring it obscene and primitive. Colonial visions of how Kikuyus ought to look like is best illustrated in the Karatina Coat of Arms, done under the direction of The College of Arms in Nairobi, an institution which until recently was nothing but an extention of The College of Arms, London.

RELIGION

The Kikuyu believed that Mt. Kenya also known as Mount Kirinyaga is a sacred mountain and Ngai is the ultimate creator.  Kikuyus historically adhered to indigenous faiths, but most of them are Christians today. Ngai is the creator and giver of all things, ‘the Divider of the Universe and Lord of Nature’. He gave birth to the human community, created the first Kikuyu communities, and provided them with all the resources necessary for life: land, rain, plants and animals.

He – for Ngai is male – cannot be seen, but is manifest in the sun, moon, stars, comets and meteors, thunder and lighting, rain, in rainbows and in the great fig trees (mugumo or mugumu) that served as places of worship and sacrifice, and which marked the spot at Mukurue wa Gathanga where Gikuyu and Mumbi – the ancestors of the Kikuyu in the oral legend – first settled.Traditionally, as now, the Kikuyu were monotheists, believing in a unique and omnipotent God whom they called Ngai (also spelled Mogai or Mungai). The word, if not the notion, came from the Maasai word Enkai, and was borrowed by both the Kikuyu and Kamba.