Hekaya Kenya

Maintaining Our
Traditions and Culture

Are our traditions portable or static? Can the traditional practices of our forefathers so easily arranged and performed on home ground be as easily performed thousands of miles away from home? One family was determined to do exactly that.

Initiation Ceremony:
Paul Mũtĩ Karanja

In the fall of 2011,
Mũtĩ became a man.
What does this mean today?

Initiation

One family in Baltimore, MD (USA) was determined to have an initiation ceremony for their son, a ceremony as close to those done in the days past as they could get it. They asked me to be to be part of the planning of the ceremony. I was excited to be part of what I hoped would be a learning experience for me and all in attendance. On this committee, my expected contribution was clear: research on how traditional Agĩkũyũ initiation rites were done, a task I was more than happy to undertake.

The programme was carefully planned: clothing worn by the protagonists, food that was served at such times was to be served because there was a very good reason behind it, participation by the community and family mimicked that of their forefathers. I was eager and excited to do this because I realised that this would be an excellent opportunity to educate myself further, Mũtĩ and his peers, the youth of the community, and as it turns out, many adults in the community who had forgotten a lot of these customs or did not know of them.

What is initiation?

Initiation rites dra-matised the transition of an individual from childhood to adulthood. They highlighted the casting off of childhood values. Initiation conferred social status, status that came with responsibilities. In the absence of any formal centers of instruction, initiation served as one of the main education channels in many other traditional African societies.

The instruction done in this education was both practical and theoretical and covered such fields as tribal traditions, religion, folklore, mode of behaviour and the duty of adults, taboos and sex. This instruction was considered very important and anyone who did not take part in it was not considered to have been fully initiated, remaining an object of ridicule to his age group throughout his life. The initiates were vested with important roles, responsibilities and privileges in the social system.

Initiation was done in groups and these groups formed the age group system. The candidates danced together from the morning of the day before initiation and were boarded out with a host and among themselves, the members of an age set demanded and encouraged co-operation, solidarity and mutual help as a result of which an age group exhibited a strong sense of comradeship and fraternal egalitarianism. Indeed, age-mates regarded each other as actual blood brothers or sisters.

Mwanake nĩ kĩenyũ kĩa Ngai
Kikuyu Proverb

While this proverb can be translated as meaning that a young man is a part of Divinity, it is also used to celebrate the value society places on young men. They were valued as generous gifts from God to His community. It was the responsibility of the community to take care and maintain young men. This was done in appreciation of their service to the community, especially protecting it.

As adult members of the community after initiation, they were expected to play their part: become members of the warrior group and defend the country. They formed the corps of cadets and were trained under senior warriors.

Other duties included acting as executive officers to the elders, being entrusted with such activities as policing the markets, arresting habitual criminals, calling of public gatherings, promulgating rules and prohibitions etc.

They were entrusted with the more difficult tasks which were regarded as a man's job. Such duties included the clearing of virgin land and cutting poles for building houses and cattle kraals. It was they who planted certain plants such as yams, bananas and sugarcane.

The day before initiation, there were pre-initiation dances after which the candidates were boarded out with a host family. Fees were paid out for this right to have initiation ceremonies held at another's homestead.

What did all of this mean to Mũtĩ Karanja?

Mũtĩ Karanja, "I understand that going through initiation makes me an independent and responsible person"

Mr. Thomas Mwaũra Karanja came to the United States of America from his native Kenya more than a decade and a half ago. His late wife Esther, their toddler son Anthony Mwaũra and infant daughter Annette Wairimũ joined him a year later. His other children, Nellie Njeri and Paul Mũtĩ were born in the United States. In his home, he has tried as best he can, to share his culture with his children. When it was time for Mwaũra undergo initiation, Mr. Karanja invited the community to share in marking this milestone for it is a moment of pride for a family to have a young man, 'kĩenyũ kĩa Ngai', who will now be a productive member of society.

When it was time for Mũtĩ's ceremony, he consulted extensively with those in the Kikuyu community in the USA and mainly in the Baltimore – Washington area who had undergone initiation in the traditional way as well as those whose children had had this experience while living abroad. Preparations for Mũtĩ's maambura took place for over a month. The programme was carefully planned so as to flow and to give a picture of how the ceremony would have been done by our forefathers.

Paul Mũtĩ Karanja is his parents' second son. In the traditions of his people, this means he was named after his maternal grandfather. This was one of the first cultural lessons he learnt. There have been others and the latest is one that, for eons in traditional African societies, marked the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood and all that appertained to it.

Mũtĩ had undergone 'instruction' and preparation for this. Initiation was more than a physical operation for many African traditional societies. For Africans in the diaspora, initiation ceremonies are not as intensely performed as they were done 20 or even 30 years ago. Among the Agĩkũyũ of central Kenya, the physical operation was the culmination of preparations that were done over a long time and that involved the whole community, not just the individual undergoing the operation and his family.

This is the sort of experience that Karanja Mwaũra wanted for his youngest son. Members of the family and the Kikuyu community in Baltimore were involved to organise the ceremony. Mr. Karanja talked to elders to clarify what needed to be done. Some friends had gone through it with their children and were very supportive. Others offered advice while yet others did a lot of research. His father-in-law, whom Mũtĩ is named after, talked to Mũtĩ in the period of preparation and also gave his blessings.

To guide Mũtĩ through this phase of his life, Mr. Karanja ensured he had a mũtiri. This needs to be a person who is in the initiate's life. Mũtĩ was lucky to have his uncle, Mĩchael Kĩmani Kagombe, as well as his elder brother Antony Mwaũra who had undergone initiation a few years before at his side. What were they guiding Mũtĩ through?

Mũtĩ underwent the physical operation in adulthood unlike his peers who underwent it as newborns. One of his friends went to Kenya for this and when he came back, he told Mũtĩ that he “was a man” while Mũtĩ was not for he knows the 'pain'. Mũtĩ was determined to be a man.

The ceremony was held in a space rented in a commercial building in Baltimore County. Every effort was made to set the scene. Traditional Kikuyu ceremonies were held facing Mt. Kenya and we could do no less. We had a picture of Mt. Kenya on the overhead projector and the Mũtĩ's ceremony was held under the auspices of Kĩrĩnyaga. Mũtĩ, his brother, dad, cousin, mũtiri and aunties dressed in traditional wear.

Mũtĩ was escorted into the hall by his brother and mũtiri. He went and stood in-front of his father who was chatting with fellow elders and waited to be acknowledged. When Mr. Karanja finished his conversation and turned and acknowledged Mũtĩ. He then introduced him to the community as his last born child, named after the man who gave him a precious gift, the mother of his children. The community learned that Mũtĩ is a football player, plays drums and enjoys spending time with his dad.

Mũtĩ is on the cusp of adulthood. Mr. Karanja had to be sure he understood what adulthood entailed, he wanted to be sure that Mũtĩ understood what he was 'committing' to, for to shame his name, family and community would not be tolerated. Before commencing with the ceremony he asked him some questions. Mũtĩ had not been prepared for the questions his father asked, or that there would be any questions asked, but he comported himself very well.

Kenya Trivia

For how many years was Kenya under colonial rule?
Why did the British come to and eventually colonise Kenya?
The tune of our national Anthem is that of a lullaby/prayer song mothers sang to their children from this nation in Kenya.

Glossary:

mũtiri - plays the same role a godfather in a Christianing ceremony does
mwanake - young male adult Mwanake nĩ kĩenyũ kĩa Ngai Kikuyu proverb meaning: a young man is a part of divinity
mathaga - jewellery and decorations
ndorothi - staff used by young boys as they herded animals
kiumithio - young adults after initiation
mkosa mila ni mtumwa - one who lacks culture is a slave

Young Neighbors in Action
in Baltimore

St. Matthews Catholic Parish in Baltimore celebrates diversity with "immigrants from over 35 countries have come to St. Matthew making it a mosaic of the children of God." During the second week of July, Young Neighbors in Action were in the Baltimore Washington area.

The Kanga/Lesso

The Kanga/Less is an item synonymous with East and Central African women. It is a very versatile article. This piece of clothe was bequeathed the region by Portuguese colonizers. Portuguese women carried with them a handkerchief they called a lesso. When African women adapted it, they expanded its length and uses. While in some societies a girl marks transition into adulthood with her first perm, an East African girl is more likely to get a kanga. Many women do not leave home without it, carrying it in their handbags. How is this article used? Here are but some of its uses:

To argument curtains
and make them efficient in reducing
heat during hot weather

A bed-spread and decoration item
(the wall hanging above the bed)

Educative

To cover what is not well organised in a room

An apron

A headdress

A bathrobe

A baby carrier

A bride's carpet as she leaves
her home on her wedding day

After the talk, I was approached by many who wanted to know where they can buy a kanga! I took this to mean that I had effectively share a part of my culture.