Mijikenda Tribe

Hi all. Sorry it took so long to figure this blog thing out. Here is a little information about the Mijikenda tribe:

The Mijikenda are a Bantu tribe residing on the Coast of Kenya. In the Swahili language “mijikenda” means “nine homesteads.”  This explains why the Mijikenda tribe consists of nine closely related sub-tribes. While each sub-tribe speaks the Mijikenda language (similar to Swahili), they each have their own dialect. While it is fairly certain the Mijikenda are descendants of Somalia, it is not clear why they migrated to the Kenyan coast. Some speculate that they were escaping attacks in southern Somalia initiated by Oromo and Cushitic tribes.

Of the nine sub-tribes of Mijikenda, (Giriama, Digo, Chonyi, Duruma, Jibana, Kambe, Kauama, Rabai and Ribe) the most popular and well known is the Giriama tribe. In fact, so little is known about the remaining eight tribes, that Mijikenda culture is often referred to as simply the Giriama.

It quickly became clear to me, that most of my information on the Mijikenda people, would come through researching the Giriama tribe. Most of the information I gathered was rather surface level. For example, the Mijikenda operate under a family clan system, their main source of income is agriculture – coconut palm being the most lucrative crop, and the homesteads/compounds of the Mijikenda usually consist of three generations and can house up to 70 family members.

 I did however come across an interesting ancient ritualistic practice that is attributed to the Giriama tribe. The Giriama have six secret societies. Of the six, there is one secret female society called Kifudu. The Kifudu is made up of post-menopausal women – these women are responsible for the fertility of the entire tribe. While very little is known about the rituals of the Kifudu, one article on the University of Kentucky’s website, was able to shed some light on this secret society. These women are the caretakers of a shrine within a thatched roof hut that holds sacred clay pots symbolizing the ancestress of the tribe. The women of the Kifudu society will use the clay pots as instruments by putting their mouths to the opening of each pot and blowing. The resulting sound is to ensure fertility in the tribe. The Giriama believe that if these women do not perform this ritual, the young fertile women of the tribe will have difficulties during childbirth.

Chrissy