Bukusu tribe (Luhya)

The Bukusu are one of the seventeen Kenyan tribes of the Luhya Bantu people of East Africa. Calling themselves BaBukusu, they are the largest tribe of the Luhya nation, making up about 34% of the Luhya population. They speak Bukusu dialect.

Origins

The Bukusu myths of origin state that the first man, Mwambu (the discoverer or inventor), was made from mud by Were Khakaba at a place called Mumbo (which translates to 'west'). God then created a wife for Mwambu, a woman called Sela. Mwambu and his descendants moved out of Mumbo and settled on the foothills of Mount Elgon (known to them as Masaba), from where their descendants grew to form the current Bukusu population. Anthropologists believe that the Bukusu did not become a distinct grouping apart from the rest of the Luhya population until, at the very earliest, the late 18th Century. They moved into Central Uganda as part of a much larger group of people, many forming the eastern extension of the great Bantu migration out of central Africa. (See Origins of the Luhya.) The Bukusu clan include subdivision called ekholo.The subdivision include;Bakibeti,Bakibumbi,Batilu,Babhichachi,Baengele,Batukuika,Batecho among others.

Settlement

Together with other Luhya sub nations, the Bukusu are thought to have first settled north of Lake Turkana at a place called Enabutuku. From here they settled in Cherangani Hills at place called Embayi later to be known as Sirikwa. After the evil and bad omen befall them they dispersed taking six routes; five going around mount Elgon and one via the eastern side of Mount Elgon. Those who went via the western side of Mount Elgon included Basilikwa, Banabayi, Baneala, Bakikayi and Bamalaba. Mwalie cluster took the eastern side route and settled at Mwalie hills. This area was already inhabited by some Kalenjin sub nationalities like the Laku, Sabiny, Bongomek, Sebei etc. These groups were hostile to their new neighbors. To check and protect themselves against these wild tribes the Bukusu built fortified villages. The art of fortified villages was as ancient as the tribe right from their origin in Misri.

A replica of a Bukusu hut

The Bukusu trace their origin from Muntu we Entebe who lived in Tabasya of Misri. Muntu was a great warrior who was later deified by the people of Misri. His son Mwambu married Sera the daughter of Wasiela the son of Samba Ambarani who is believed to be Abraham the Hebrew. Mwambu founded the cities of Kush, Nabibia (Nubia), Namelu (Meroe), Rwa (Alwa) and others including Soba and Balana.[1]

Mwambu became the father of Mwaabini the inventor cum discoverer. Mwaabini was the father of Kongolo and Saba.

Masaba the father of Bukusu and Kisu led the people to Embayi which was later to become Sirikwa or the fallen kingdom. It fell after the people disobeyed their God Khakaba and so he send a giant boulder from the sky which hit the land of Mbayi causing an earthquake followed by swarms of stinging insects spread allover. Then came epidemics and other calamities forcing the subjects of Sirikwa to scatter into different directions. They dispersed and settled among the Kipsigis, the Nandi, the Samburu, the Marakwet, the Borana and even beyond. The main body is what headed south East and West under the banners of Basirikwa, Banabayi, Bakikayi, Baneala, Bamalaba and Bamwalie.[2]

Currently, the Bukusu mainly inhabit Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Kakamega and Lugari districts of Western Province of Kenya. The Bamasaba of Uganda are very closely related to the Babukusu, with many shared customs and closely related dialect. Previously, the Bukusu were referred to as the 'Kitosh' by the colonialists; this was a word derived from the Nandi and Kwavi who used the word derogatively describe the Babukusu. Kitosh means the terrible ones. they called them the terrible ones because the Bukusu warriors were ruthless and decisive in battlefields. Following vigorous campaigns by community their defenders, the name Kitosh was eventually substituted with Bukusu in the mid 1950s.[3]

Traditional life

The Bukusu lived in fortified villages, and did not have a structure of central authority. The highest authority was the village headman, called Omukasa, who was usually elected by the men of the village. There were also healers and prophets who acquired great status because of their knowledge of tribal tradition, medicines, and religion. Elijah Masinde, a resistance leader and traditional medicine man, was revered as a healer in the early 1980s.

Family

Bukusu family structure was traditionally modelled on the Luhya structure, it was and still is modelled on Bukusus culture itself. Families were usually polygamous, with the first wife accorded a special status among her co-wives. Society was entirely patrilineal: women were not present only as child-bearers but also as an indication of status. In addition, being polygamous meant more hands to work the fields, which was an advantage in a society founded on agriculture.

Children inherited the clan of their father, and were not allowed to marry spouses from either their own clan, or their mother's clan. The first son of the first wife was usually the main heir to his father, and he had a special name denoting this status: Simakulu. At birth, children were usually named after grandparents or famous people, or after the weather. Male and female names were different: male names frequently began with 'W', while female names usually began with 'N'. Thus, for example, a boy born during a famine would be named 'Wanjala', while a girl would be named 'Nanjala'. Both names share the same root word, 'njala', from 'eNjala', the Bukusu word for hunger.

Initiation

The Bukusu practised (and still practise) male circumcision. It is thought that they adopted the practice from contact with the Kalenjin at Mount Elgon. Others argue, however, that the presence of the practice in the other Luhya tribes indicates an earlier adoption, before the Bukusu settled at Mount Elgon.

In ceremonies that were spaced about two years apart, young boys of a particular age (usually about 15 years of age) would, on getting the go-ahead from their parents, invite relatives and friends to their initiation.

The initiation was a public event, witnessed by all. Going through the operation without showing any sign of pain was (and still is) thought to be an indicator of bravery. Once circumcised, an initiate became a member of an age-group.

There are eight age-groups (Bakolongolo, Bakikwameti, Bakananachi, Bakinyikewi, Banyange, Bamaina, Bachuma, Basawa), forming a cyclical system, with each age-group lasting for 10 years apart from Bachuma which lasted for 14 years from 1872 - 1886. The reason for this was the tradition that there was an old man of the age group of Basawa from the previous cycle who was still alive and he was not meant to live and see the next Basawa Eventually the old man died in 1884 and the Basawa ensued the next initiation period in 1888. It was then agreed to avoid such delays, that any man who lives long enough to appear reaching the second cycle would be killed. This has been the tradition since then. Once the last age-group has been reached, the first is restarted, and so on. For example, the Bachuma age-group lasted from 1872 to 1886: every Bukusu circumcised within this period (that is, in 1872 through to 1886) belongs to that age-group. In 1888, the Basawa age group began, and lasted until 1898. Each age group is represented once every century.

Female circumcision (clitoridectomy) is not a Bukusu practice. However, some clans are said to have practiced it. This is especially the case around Mount Elgon, where the neighbouring Kalenjin tribes also practice a form of female circumcision.

Although circumcision was universal among the Bukusu, the form of the ceremony varied according to the clan. In particular, the festivities and ceremonies accompanying the final stage of initiation, when the now-healed initiates came out of seclusion to rejoin their families as 'men', were specific to clans, and have been handed down largely intact to the present day.[4] Much was taught to these young initiatees during this time which enabled them face marriage with information. < ONZEE PETER SIMIYU-OMULUKULU WE WATOYA>

Marriage

Young boys got married at about the age of 18-20, while girls got married at about the age of 16. There were two types of first-time marriage: arranged marriages and enforced eloping. If a young man came from a well-to-do family, he would ask his sisters to find a girl for him to marry. The ability of a potential wife to cook well, bear children and work in the fields were the main attractions in a girl. Once a girl was identified, an emissary was sent to her parents to ask for her hand. The girl had no say whatsoever in the whole matter: bride price would be discussed, and then once it was paid she would be sent off to live with her new husband. This form of marriage is still common in traditional households today.

In some cases, however, the boy would be from a poor family and could not afford to pay the likely bride-price. Traditional society allowed such boys to abduct the girls they intended to marry. (The girl had to present an opportunity to be 'abducted', so her cooperation was essential.) The couple would then leave their home to live with a far-off relative for a while, until the boy acquired enough wealth to pay the original bride price, as well as a fine, to the parents of the girl. This practice has since died out.

The Bukusu highly approve of intermarriages between themselves and BaMasaaba. This is because they have quite a number of similarities in their codes of conduct, marriage customs, circumcision traditions and even folklore. Among the most famous of Bukusu marriage customs is the immense respect accorded one's in-laws. A lady, for example, treats her father-in-law with a lot of deference and respect, and they are not allowed to make physical contact in any way. The same is true of a man and his mother-in-law.

In a marriage, duties were strictly segregated. Housework and agricultural duties were done by the women and the children. The older boys looked after cattle. Young, newly married boys formed the community's warriors, while middle-aged men did nothing, mainly. Older men formed the village's council of elders, and resolved disputes. Punishment for crimes was usually on an-eye-for-an-eye basis, while petty crimes like theft were punished by the perpetrators being expelled from the village, and their property confiscated and redistributed to the wronged party.

Cattle were very important: they were the main means of exchange, alongside cowrie shells (chisimbi). Most values, from the beauty of a girl to the price of a field of land, were expressed in terms of head of cattle. Possessing cattle wealth and prosperous agriculture, the Bukusu were sometimes not only admired but also envied by neighboring communities. Occasionally intermarriages used to take place between them and the other communities. It was common practice for Kalenjin neighbors to give Bukusu their sons to look after their herds of cattle. In times of famine, which are said to have been frequent amongst their Kalenjin neighbors, the latter used to even sell their children to Bukusu. Bukusu also used to send their own young boys to grow up with Kalenjin or Maasai families, in some cases for espionage purposes.[5]

Death

Being sedentary pastoralists, they had time to care for their sick and bury their dead. A sick person was looked after until he recuperated or died. When a person died, he was buried in a grave with a warrior's weapons if he was an elder. Several functions were performed during and after the funeral ceremony. Ordinarily, burial pits ranged from 3–4 feet in depth, much shallower than today's. With people buried facing East, the direction in which the sun rises. There are 2 known clans amongst the Bukusu who bury their people in sitting position to this very day.

Sometimes wild animals like hyenas exhumed corpses from graves and ate them. Should such an incident occur, people looked for the presumed skull of the desecrated body, and when they found it, they hung it in a leafy tree. When the family of the deceased migrated, they brewed beer (kamalwa ke khuukhalanga) for the ceremony of transferring the skull with them to the new home or settlement. An old woman was entrusted with the responsibility of conveying the skull to the new site. Burial of the dead was thus, to say the least, ingrained in the Bukusu traditions.[6]

Economic activities

Bukusu accounts indicate that both agricultural and pastoral economies have been practiced by the tribe for as long can be remembered. This is authenticated by the vast amount of knowledge they have about farming practices, rich pastoral vocabulary and the broad variety of legends connected with pastoral life. Today, they farm mainly maize for subsistence and sugar cane as a cash crop in the Bungoma area, as well as wheat in the Kitale area. Cattle and sheep are universally kept, cattle mainly for milk, and sheep for meat and ceremonial functions (when a sheep usually has to be offered to elders for sacrifice). Larger or polygamous families will usually have a team of oxen for ploughing and hauliage within the home. Chicken, a traditional delicacy, are nowadays reared on small to medium scales for commercial egg production.

Politics

The Bukusu currently form one of the main support bases of the governing coalition in Kenya, through the Ford-Kenya political party led by Moses Wetangula and New Ford Kenya led by Eugene Wamalwa. Previously, they were mainly associated with opposition to the Kalenjin-dominated reign of former President Daniel arap Moi. The Political leaders among others included Michael Christopher Wamalwa Kijana,Masinde Muliro,Musikari Nazi Kombo and Moses Masika Wetangula.Peter Kisuya,Lawrence Sifuna and the current ones.

Culture

The Bukusu play a traditional seven-stringed lyre called litungu and the silili. Elijah Masinde who formalised the traditional Faith through Dini ya Msambwa was a Bukusu Elder and stands out now to have stood firm for the culture and faith of the Bukusu and hence Luhya and African peoples. Culture is a way of life,music is part of it but not all of it. In Dini Ya Msambwa, Elijah Masinde did not just resist colonialism but the extermination of the Luhya peoples way of life as eblly reported by David E Reed of the Institute of Current World Affairs in 1954

Notable people

Among the more notable Bukusu personalities past and present:

Born on January 23 1946, Hon. Sifuna is the former MP for Bumula constituency, the first MP of that constituency. He was first elected to the Kenyan Parliament on November 8, 1979 in the then larger Bungoma South constituency. Sifuna was re-elected in 1983 too. He lost to a former North Eastern Provincial Commissioner Maurice Makhanu in the 1988 General Election after Bungoma South constituency was renamed Kanduyi. Sifuna recaptured the seat during the first multi-party General Election of 1992 on a Ford Asili ticket.

Hon. Sifuna went to Sang'alo Primary School and Nalondo Intermediate School before he moved to Mariri College in Uganda, where he sat for the Cambridge General Certificate of Education (CGCE) examination. The former MP is a fully-trained chartered accountant. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants (FCA) and a Fellow of the Association of International Accountants (FAIA). Sifuna is a household name in Bungoma county popular for defending the welfare of sugarcane growers.

On the national stage, Hon. Sifuna is remembered as one of the left-wing members of parliament in the 80's (a.k.a the seven bearded sisters) who persistently attacked AG Njonjo and government policies that clamped down on the basic human rights of Kenyans. Others included Koigi wa Wamwere, James Orengo, Abuya Abuya, Chibule wa Tsuma, Onyango Midika and Mwashengu wa Mwachofi. They are part of the larger group that fought for Kenya's second liberation., Omumutilu, Kenya's Second Liberation Fighter and a member of the bearded sisters

References

  1. ↑ Wafula Msaja (2011) A History of the bukusu
  2. ↑ Ayot, Henry Okello (1977) History Texts of the Lake Region of East Africa. Nairobi, Kenya: Kenya Literature Bureau.
  3. ↑ http://immigrantnationusa.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/DER-20.pdf
  4. ↑ Were, Gideon S. (1967) A History of the Abaluyia of Western Kenya: c. 1500-1930. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Publishing House.
  5. ↑ Barker, Eric E. (1975) The Short History of Nyanza. Nairobi, Kenya: East African Literature Bureau.
  6. ↑ Makila, F. E. (1978) An Outline History of Babukusu of Western Kenya. Nairobi, Kenya: Kenya Literature Bureau.

External links

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