Are You Curious About Kenya’s Traditional Practices? – 8 Traditional Practices That Still Hold Water In Kenya.
Life in Kenya is governed by a set of cultures and traditions. These traditions vary from one tribe to another but they connect at some point and are similar across tribes. The traditions inform the life of an individual from the time one is born all the way to when one dies.
Here are some amazing traditions that will enlighten you about the people of this great Nation and their way of handling life from conception to death.
1. How is Pregnancy Special?
Life begins at conception. Traditionally, a pregnant woman is fully guarded against both the living and the spirits of the dead. This is common amongst many tribes in Kenya.
Among the Pokots, habitants of the Great Rift Valley, once a woman gets pregnant, she is put in seclusion. A helper is immediately sourced to help with chores around the home. The helper must be a trusted member of the family – the husband’s sister or the wife’s sister.
Amongst the Luhya community, once it is declared that a woman is pregnant, a bracelet of charms is put around her wrist or ankle, to protect her and the baby from evil eyes and bad omen spirits.
Some communities only let an expectant mother out if she is fully covered. ‘Bad eyes’ can cause a miscarriage or the baby being born with a deformity.
Pregnancy is traditionally a big deal and a lot goes into keeping the fetus and the mother safe. With Science and technological advancement, a lot can be solved in hospitals but still, those tiny loopholes that cause misfortune are usually sealed traditionally.
2. Naming
This is a very interesting and crucial time in a newborn’s life. Seasons play a huge role in determining names. There are names for those born during the rainy season, dry season, harvesting season, and planting season.
The time of day can also dictate a name. A baby born in the morning will be named Chepkorir or Kipkorir among the Kalenjin.
The place of birth can also determine the name, for instance, Nangila is a child born on the road in Luhya.
Dreams from elders bring names as well. At this point, the baby is assumed to be attached to an ancestor that the elder dreamt of. Should the child not be named according to the dreams or desires of the ancestors, they become so colicky and cry non-stop until they are named properly.
You have probably heard of the famous Ogbanje – The spirit babies of Nigeria. In Kenya, when a couple loses babies or experiences stillbirths recurrently, it is paramount that both parents are cleansed in herbs, known to the elders. It is also believed that the baby is a spirit sent to torment the couple, just like the ogbanje. When another conception happens, the mother is guarded by a wall of rituals throughout the pregnancy.
Immediately after the baby is born, it is taken outside the homestead and placed somewhere near the gate. Someone else, who is aware of the ritual but pretends to be a passerby, will come along, pick up the baby, and bring the baby home to the new mother.
‘The Passerby’ would then announce that someone threw a baby away and she picked it up but decided to bring it in. Such babies are given the ugliest of names, like Kundu – a thing, Makokha – ash, and Navangala – the picked.
This ritual is meant to confuse the spirits who hover around homes, waiting to claim newborns. Apparently, they don’t like babies who have bad names and those who have been ‘thrown away’.
Still, on naming, people name their children after their parents or grandparents as well. Great people in the community are also named, for example, warriors and great politicians. For instance, many Kenyans named their children Obama, after the former president of the USA because he has roots in Kenya.
3. Who Needs a D.N.A Test Anyway?
So, a baby is here, and there is doubt about paternity. What happens? A woman’s fidelity is a serious issue in the traditional concept. Though times have changed and there are better ways of handling fidelity issues and questions on paternity, many still seek counsel from the traditional pot of remedies.
Traditionally, babies who don’t belong to a particular home rarely get born. The mother might get a mysterious miscarriage or develop a complication that may require termination.
If the baby is born, chances are that the mother might lose her life unless she tells the truth about the child’s paternity.
In some communities, some rituals are performed to stop contractions, risking the lives of both the mother and child. If the mother says the truth, then, other rituals are performed to lift the spell. The baby will then be born and either taken where it belongs or initiated into the family.
Most families don’t allow children born from infidelity, so they send the mother away. In case the man is impotent, then there will be a cover-up and the baby will be raised as his, sometimes without the man’s knowledge.
In the Luo community, they let children from a different man, grow with the rest, just in case one’s own children develop some genetic complications, the out-grower will survive and continue the lineage. The Luo have this joke about paternity: When a man comes back home late in the evening and the children are still playing outside, he stands somewhere near the gate and clears his throat loudly. His children will run in the house. The one that is not truly his will run into the bush to hide.
Just like that, you will have proved which one is yours. I am just wondering: what if all the children run to hide in the bush?
4. Initiation to Adulthood
This is an extraordinary period. Everyone looks forward to this magical transition from childhood to adulthood. Both boys and girls have their own ways of transition as stipulated in the set of rules that govern their different communities. Most communities circumcise their young men. The elders and tribal specialists in this field normally do this. Some rituals that involve invoking the spirits of the ancestors, tribal dances, and drinking of traditional beer are performed.
In some communities, like the Luhya, this is usually a festive period. On the other hand, for the Kalenjin community, this is a solemnly secretive period. The boys and places used to undertake the ritual are guarded with utmost fear. Women are not allowed to go anywhere near the bushes when the initiates are in there.
Kenya still has a few communities that practice Female Genital Mutilation as a rite of passage for girls. However, this is illegal. Once the girls have been circumcised, they are normally prepared for marriage. This interferes with their education. This tradition is being phased out and soon other methods of transition for girls will be taking over.
The church and other religious bodies also play a vital role at this stage. Some families prefer taking their sons to the hospital for cuts but still take them back home to have a taste of the cultural aspects of their specific tribes.
Some tribes mark this important transition by removing six lower teeth. The Luo in particular do this for both boys and girls. Other tribes like the Sengwer and Sabaot, use tribal markings and tattoos on the body to signify the transition.
Girls get beautiful beads, for various reasons, including betrothals, amongst the Maasai, Samburu, and Jempsi tribes. Beautiful girls, I am told, get so many beads.
5. Let’s Spy for a Spouse
Once one is initiated into adulthood, what more is left? Marriage. In the past, when ready, a young man would send an emissary of close relatives to a place of interest, to inquire about a possible bride.
These were technically spies. They would check the family welfare, put ears on the ground for talks of sorcery and night running, check out if theft runs in the blood, how close the bloodline is to the interested party, and many other aspects, including beauty and physical endowment.
In most cases, the girl would not know that she is being checked out. So one day, (if she meets the standards of the man’s team) a group shows up carrying gifts to ask for her hand. She will be lucky if the team asking for her hand represents a relatively young man who is easy to love.
In some cases, it would be an old rich man, looking for a 3rd wife. Still, if the emissary impresses the girl’s parents and relatives, she could be handed over as the 10th wife.
This has significantly reduced, due to civilization and Education. Arranged marriages are rare, but sometimes spying has to be done.
Unless one picks a partner from an entirely different tribe, then chances are that they may bring home a relative. Marrying from the same bloodline is taboo. Families that hold on to the traditions still send spies sometimes without the knowledge of the couple in question, to just get an inkling of what their child is getting into.
Although it is hard to advise anyone against anything in this century, parents believe it is worth trying.
6. Traditional wedding
Every tribe has its own unique way of uniting couples in matrimony. However, some things are common across most tribes. For instance, there is what is commonly now referred to as Ruracio, which is a traditional engagement party. Here, dowry is negotiated, by teams from both sides of the interested parties, and upon agreement, the girl is symbolically handed over to the man. Dowry is very significant in Kenyan marriages. It is a sign of respect and appreciation to the girl’s parents.
Once the dowry is paid, a customary wedding is set up. These ceremonies vary from tribe to tribe. Swahili weddings are my favorite. The effort that goes into every detail, from beautifying the bride and her team, the cuisines prepared, and the music and dance are always fresh at every wedding. Weddings in western Kenya are also blasting! Talk of the Isikuti dances and lots of chicken – so much energy. Maasai weddings are very colorful and unique too. The sublime movements and songs will leave anyone witnessing awe-struck. The Nyama Choma, in customary weddings, is always so tasty.
7. So, how important are the Elderly?
All the stages of life mentioned above, are technically not possible without the elderly in the society. In Kenya, the elderly are well respected and revered since they play a very vital role in the lives of young people. There cannot be named without an elder dreaming of the name. There are no initiation ceremonies without the elderly. Some rituals can only be performed by the elderly. They are the only ones with the knowledge of who to invoke, how to go about it, which animal is fit for what occasion, and which herbs will take away what kind of curse.
One might argue and say that culture and traditions are outdated and old people should be put in facilities to wither away peacefully. It is always a valid excuse until one gives birth to a baby who cries for days without stopping. This is usually a call for traditional solutions that only the elderly understand. You reluctantly take the child home, and your grandmother says things to the baby, and you watch the toddler coo at the old woman and fall asleep in her wrinkled arms.
8. Death
Grim as it sounds, no invention has wrapped up death even in the 21st century. Death is a mystery that causes so much pain and all attempts to maneuver around it have been the ultimate human failure. In Kenya, death is treated with fear and rebuttal.
Many tribes have their own way of handling it and it varies from tribe to tribe. We have the Nomads who literally abandoned the dead, and moved to a different place to start all over again. The Maasai oiled the dead bodies and threw them in forests where animals could devour them.
In Western Kenya, death is loaded with rituals and one cannot just bury anyone, anyhow. There are rules and regulations that dictate how the news should be broken to the family, how the bereaved should conduct themselves, how the body should be dressed, who dresses the body, and how the body should be positioned in the grave among others. A Luhya for instance can never be buried outside his or her home. The spirit must be brought back home even after fifty years.
For Luos, death is a fiasco. When someone dies, there are usually staged wars with young men running around the compound of the deceased with spears and bows, wadding off imaginary spirits. It’s both scary and funny. The wailings and dramatized dirges go on for days until the body is laid to rest.
I think fusing modernity, religion, and the traditional aspect of life brings about a beautiful complexity of life. As a country, Kenya recognizes and respects each tribal conventional and cultural practices, especially those that don’t infringe on anyone’s rights or freedoms. Some traditions are slowly dropping off as modernity takes over but some are deep-rooted and run far down in the veins of Kenyans. Culture and traditions are what you want to explore next. Kenya is the best place to find a variety of unique traditional experiences. Start by contacting Come Travel Kenya, for a cultural tour.
WRITER: Emily Wekulo
