Culture in an African Country - Essay Example

?Culture in an African Country Culture is an outline of responses exposed, established, or devised during the group’s manner of managing difficulties, which arose from relations among its associates and between them and the environment. It is the habitual beliefs, social standards, and material characters of ethnic, spiritual, or social clusters. In this paper, I will discuss indigenous Kenyan culture, how it has contributed to the country's culture and shaped the modern Kenya way of life. Kenya is a multicultural country. There are forty-two different tribal communities in Kenya. In the traditional way of living, her people used to value the institution of marriage, respect for human life and property, morality, and exemplary leadership. Some of the several communities that live in this country include the kikuyu community, the Maasai, the Luo, the Kalejin community, the Samburu, and the Turkana community. The kikuyu This is the largest ethnic group in the Kenya. It is a sub tribe of the Abantu community. They speak the kikuyu language and migrated to the country four centuries ago. According to Kikuyu, the founder was of the tribe was known as Gikuyu. They had a Divine spirit called Ngai who lived at the top of Mount Kenya. Ngai gave him a wife known as Mumbi with whom they bore nine daughters. These daughters helped to create the nine sub clans of the kikuyu people. The kikuyu were highly successful in expanding throughout the fertile areas since they are a farming community. The main crops that they cultivated were bananas, sugarcane, millet, maize, yams, black beans, beans, and a variety of vegetables. This also formed their daily diet. In addition to cultivation, they also raised cattle, which would provide milk, hide, and skin. Goats and sheep could be used for sacrifices and purification ceremonies and rituals. The kikuyu community were traders who traded with their neighboring community through barter trade. They would organize local markets in populated areas where they exchanged cattle, agricultural produce, tobacco, iron implements, and ochre. Their main trading partners were the Maasai, Akamba, and Okiek. The kikuyu also had a well-organized political system, which would organize and administer the community. The political system would mainly be based on age groups and age sets where the elders had the mandate to administer. The basic administration unit was the family, which exists until today. The youths who wanted to become warriors in the community had to undergo circumcision. This also granted them the opportunity to marry daughters in their community. They later on graduated to the council of elders and a few of them made it into the secret council whose mandate was to settle disputes in the community (Muriuki 39-62). This culture has been incorporated in their modern lifestyles, as they are known to have an entrepreneurial culture. This has led to rural urban migration are the dominant community living in urban centers. The Maasai The Maasai had a religion with a divine spirit known Enkai. They believe one day the heaven split, and the first Maasai descended from heaven, with a large herd of cattle. They offer sacrifice of a cow to their God during important ceremonies. In addition, they have a diviner known as Laibon who they consult whenever there emerges a misfortune. The Maasai in Kenya is directly related to the Maasai in the neighboring country of Tanzania. They are Nilotic speakers who are very closely related to the Turkana, the Kalenjin, and the Samburu tribes in Kenya. They are largely pastoralists’ community who rear unusually large herd of cattle. This is the backbone of their economy. They are a sign of wealth and a measure of value to them. The young men are responsible for herding the cattle to different parts of the country where there are greener pastures. They have a culture of raiding homes to steal livestock from different communities. Similarly, to the Gikuyu community, the Maasai community politics is based on age group systems, which separate young men and girls from older women and men. Young girls on reaching puberty stage are immediately married to older men in the society who book them early in advance and start bringing in dowry. All children born legitimately or illegitimately are considered the property of the husband and family. Men would be allowed to marry as many women as they could afford. It is the responsibility of the young Maasai warriors, known as the Moran, to guard and protect the community (winks 10-63). The Maasai in Kenya is well known for their culture. They are a significant source of tourist attraction and live close to national parks and game reserves in search of pastures for their livestock. They can be distinguished by red ochre they apply on their hair that is well plaited. They also lived in temporary structures known as the Manyattas, which are built by women. The Samburu This community is related to the Maasai tribe in Kenya, but they speak a different language. Similarly, to the Maasai, they are nomadic pastoralists who mainly depend on animal rearing as the backbone of their economy. They are mainly found in the central part of the rift valley and the foothills of Mount Kenya. They speak a native language popularly known as the Samburu. They live in Samburu and Laikipia district. These areas are mainly semi arid. This tribe rears camel for transport and food purposes. The Samburu recognize their God as Nkai. They also believe in charms and have traditional rituals for fertility, protection from the enemies and other needs in the society. They recognize Islam as the religion of their enemy, Boran, and Somali neighbors. Their beliefs are based on prayers and sacrifices. They believe their god resides in the mountains, large trees, caverns, and swamps. Politically, the family is the basic unit of administration to the Samburu. They are organized in age sets. This forms the political administrative class. Young Samburu men are given young girls to marry after initiation to manhood. They also have a culture of circumcising young girls at puberty stage. A circumcised young girl would qualify to be married to the society (spencer 72-130). In modern culture, the Samburu is a significant source of tourist attraction because of some of their traditional practices. This include camel racing, held annually in the Samburu planes near Isiolo town The Luo The Luo people of Kenya probably originated in the south Sudan area via the current eastern Uganda. They are Nilotic speakers. They are located mainly in the Lake Victoria region found in Nyanza province in Kenya. They have twenty-three sub tribes. The luo believes in a God known to them as Nyasaye. Their first prime ritual is the naming ceremony. Unlike many tribes in Africa, the luo does not exercise circumcision of males. Instead, children had their six lower teeth removed as initiation into manhood. The principal economic activity of the luo is fishing. It is believed the luo followed the river Nile in search of the hub of fish for the rapidly expanding community. They settled around Lake Victoria. They made dhows and boats go fishing around the lake and rivers. Politically, the basic unit of administration as in many Kenyan communities was the family. The man was the leader of the family. One distinguishing characteristic of the Luo culture was wife inheritance, whereby, if a man died one of his close relatives or brother would inherit the widow. He must also meet all the marital rituals. The luo tribe share some practiced intermarriage with the Luhya. They until today share some common names (Kenya Information Guide Web). The Luhya The Luhya community is mostly found in the Western province in Kenya. They live at the north of Lake Victoria. They are western Bantu speakers. There are eighteen different sub tribes of the Luhya in Kenya. Unlike many tribes in Kenya, the Luhya does not speak the same language. However, deep analysis shows that, there is a deep relationship, which integrates these sub tribes. The Luhya religion is mostly characterized by animism and spirits whereby until today, they continue to show honor to their ancestors, mostly through funerals. They also have a memorable holiday, which is dedicated to the remembrance of ancestors and spiritual realm. The Luhya also believes in witch doctors and wizards. They believed in a supreme God known as Nyasaye. The economic activity of the Luhya community is farming and agriculture. They mostly inhabit the fertile western region, which enjoys equatorial climate. This has contributed to increase of food production in the area (Jenkins Web). The Luhya culture is also dominated by sporting activities whereby the some of the sporting activities include, bullfighting, cock fighting, and wrestling. They have also extended their sporting behavior to other ventures including football, rugby, and bodybuilding. The Swahili Culture The Swahili culture in Kenya began because of intermarriage between the Persian, Arab, and Bantu traders at the coast. This resulted to a new language and culture being born. This language was easy to learn and understand, and henceforth spread faster among the trading communities in Kenya. It has now been embraced, as a national language, as well as an official language. The language is now taught in schools, which has played a greater role in harmonizing the communities. Most of the Arab and Persian traders who traded at the coast of Kenya professed the Muslim faith. The intermarriage between the Bantu and the Arabs caused a wide spread of a different religion known as Islam to Kenya. This religion later spread inwards in the country, and has caused communities to abandon their traditional religion and believes. Conclusion This transitory article establishes that African culture revolve around their day-to-day economic, political and social interactions. It also helped to dictate the moral code of the society and the generations that followed. Culture is therefore a norm that is passed on from generations to another. Traditional cultures recognize the value of physical wealth is a vital ingredient to good administration. Marriage was the basic institution in a society and for a person to be considered as a full member of the society he/she had to marry or get married. This also gave a person the basic unit to administer. Intermarriage was not also common in the society since their existed some barriers such as communication, and ancestral beliefs. It also shows that for one to be considered eligible to marry, he has to have gone through all rites of passage including initiation ceremony in the community. The ancestors also played a major role since they guided the elders on where they should direct the society. Most of the jobs done were communal and people would assist one another in activities such as marriage ceremonies, funerals, initiation ceremonies, and raiding activities. Works Cited Kenya Information Guide “The Luo Tribe” Kenya Information Guide, 2012. Web 28, February 2012. Muriuki, Godfrey. “A history of the Kikuyu, 1500-1900”. London: Oxford University Press: 1974. Print. Orville, Jenkins. “The Luhya of Kenya” Web, 28 February 2012 Spencer, Paul. “Nomads in alliance: symbiosis and growth among the Rendille and Samburu of Kenya.” London: Oxford University Press. 1973. Print. Spencer, Paul. “The Samburu: a study of gerontocracy” New York: Routledge, 2004. Print. Winks, Quintin. “Tanzania - Culture Smart: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture” United Kingdom: Kuperard, 2009. Print. Read More