The Sounds Of The Bukusu Circumcision Bells
Nothing forces one out of their sweet sleep in the wee hours of dawn, faster than the sound of the sioyaisyo. This is the song men sing for the initiates as they escort them from the river, braving the sting of early cold wind from the Chetambe Hills down the Elufwosi otherwise known as Webuye town. This happens every even year, in the months of August and December.
The Bukusu Circumcision is a legendary rite of passage, passed down from generation to generation. It is a blood-bubbling, heart-chilling, spirit-evoking experience that even non-Bukusus find intriguing. The sound of bells, Chinyimba, rung in a sing-song tune by the candidates evokes waves of excitement and thrill in both the young and the older population. This is a cultural Kumusambwa that should be experienced by both locals and non-locals.
The thrill is in the announcement that a boy is ready, the father making bells for him and the first sound the bells make awakens the dead, to receive their libation. The boy then goes around homes, inviting relatives and friends to his ceremony. On the last day, he is escorted to his maternal uncle’s home where he is given a gift of a bull, slaughtered or alive. An honored son will have the bull slaughtered and the chunkiest of meat put around his neck to signify the love from his maternal side. On the same day, he walks back home and through the night, khuminya, the transformational ceremony takes place.
The boy goes through a ritualistic process of libation pouring, cultural advice, what is normally known as khuvita, and smearing, smoking and drinking of herbal brews. This is usually a night of song and dance. This is to prepare him for the operation that should take place the following day.
At 3am, the boy is allowed to take a rest for a few hours and by 5.00am, he is awakened by the fathers and elder brothers who walk him to the river to take the oath of courage and have mud smeared on his body. He will then be escorted back home fully naked, surrounded by close male relatives, braving the shame of nakedness and childhood to his mother’s hirth where a circumcisor will chop off his foreskin as everyone witnesses. The boy should not even blink at the pain.
At this point, the mother and aunties send out the ululations to announce that their son is now a man!
Tracing its roots all the way to the Bukusu Cousins, Abagisu of Buganda Kingdom to the crevices of Mount Elgon where the first Bukusu man, a legend, Mango, to face the knife in broad daylight, this ceremony is definitely one of a kind.
It is said that once upon a time, a python broke havoc on the peaceful fertile land of Bukusu, Bungoma seated on the slopes of Mount Elgon. The python – Endemu ya Bebe, feasted on goats, sheep and even chicken in the area, causing anguish to the farmers. It crossed the line when it started sliding children down its slimy throat.
It took Mango, the father of Circumcision, a day to trap it in its cave, chop off its head with a mere knife, Embalu, and walk down the slopes of the mountain carrying the monster around his shoulders. Men sucked in air in their bushy cheeks, women slapped their thighs in horror and children shrieked in fear.
It was then that Mango, the slayer of the monster python, lowered his loin skin, and slashed off his penial foreskin, dripping blood in the red earth, as a thanksgiving sacrifice for the bravery of men in Bukusu Land. The sioyaisyo rented the air, men and boys followed suit, took the cut and to date, they had never looked back.
To experience this thrill, you might want to visit Bungoma county, scale the slopes of Mount Elgon all the way to Tranzoia, and in December, catch the Khatoti dancers of Abagishu in Uganda to punctuate it all.
By:
Emily Khalayi Wekulo.
SEO Author
Freelancer.
