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

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 [267]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 [268]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 [269]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 [270]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. [271]

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 [272]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 [273]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. [274]