|
|
KENYA
KISII TRIBE
The Bantu-speaking Gusii people (also called Kisii) occupy
what is probably Kenya's most fertile and abundantly-watered district, the
Kisii Highlands, 50km east of Lake Victoria. Rising to around 2000 metres,
the hills and steep ravines are also one of the most densely populated areas
of Kenya, with an average of 500 people per square kilometre, with a peak of
729 recorded in 1989 (probably much more now).
Until the ravages of AIDS hit western Kenya, the Gusii also
had one of the fastest growing populations in the world. The effect of all
this, not surprisingly, has been far from pacific. Kisii town is now Kenya's
second most violent place, after Nairobi; instances of mob justice in the
form of lynching suspected witches, for example, surged in the 1990s, and
the unemployment rate remains one of the country's highest.
Their history isn't any more peaceful, being an unfortunate
litany of fight from stronger and more aggressive enemies such as the Luo
and Maasai. Yet somehow, despite centuries of having been scattered about
western Kenya through force of arms, their identity and their social
cohesion has remained intact. Indeed, some might say that all these problems
are what made the Gusii who they are today, some of the most charming, open
and friendly people I was to come across in Kenya.
Also known as: Gusii, Abagusii, Kisii, Kosova, Ekegusii. They
are different from Kisii of Tanzania. The name appears to come from Gwassi,
which is a location on the shore of Lake Victoria. Ethnic group: Western
Bantu (Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Southern
Bantu, Narrow Bantu). With the exception of their Kuria near-neighbours,
they are now isolated from other Bantu-speakers. Neighbouring tribes: Luo,
Kipsigis, Nandi, Maasai, Kuria (separated by a narrow strip occupied by Luo),
Suba. Population: 1,582,000 (1994), up from 1,318,409 (1989).
Their region is one of the most densely populated areas of
Kenya, and the Gusii constitute the country's sixth largest ethnic group,
comprising around 6.3% of the national population. They are the second
largest ethnic group in Nyanza, after the Luo. The fertile and
abundantly-watered Kisii (or Gusii) Highlands, 50km east of Lake Victoria,
Kisii District, Nyanza Province, in south-western Kenya. The main river is
the Kuja and its tributaries. Total land area is about 800 square kilometres.
The altitude reaches over 2000 metres, and averages about 1850 metres above
sea level.
Agriculture par excellence, both food and cash crops.
Traditional food crops include millet, sorghum, yams, pumpkins and some
vegetables. All manner of fruits are grown in abundance, including exotic
varieties (for Kenya) such as apples and oranges. Fishing and considerable
cattle herding was practised before the Gusii were pushed up into the hills
by the Luo. The Gusii are also known for their soapstone carvings. Religion:
82% Christian, 18% traditional religion. The Kisii, or Gusii, claim Mogusii
as their founder, and have taken their name from him. From Mogusii they
track back to his great-great-great-grandfather Kintu (alias Muntu, Mundu or
Wantu) as the leader of the migration of the Bantu.
The ancestral Gusii population entered western Kenya
from Uganda and then moved on from the foothills of Mount Elgon towards
their present lands. On the way, for two generations, they stayed at Goye
Bay, by Lake Victoria then they moved first to the Kano plains and later, to
their present location due to the expansion of the Luo and the Maasai and
Kuria from 1540 to the colonial times. When in the plains the Gusii
experienced a process of evolution from individual family units, sufficient
unto themselves, towards more inclusive groupings, interdependent membership
in larger entities with distinct identities. Clans began to come into being.
Association during the migration from Kisumu under the different warrior
leaders resulted in the eventual development of sub-groups amongst the Gusii,
and these in turn incorporated the clans.
A family head was still responsible for making the daily
decisions in and around his homestead, but a clan leadership was starting to
emerge in the person of the most senior member of the most influential
family. Clan and subgroup consciousness of membership in entities with
distinct identities was fostered by the identification of group founders
with animal totems - leopards, zebras, etc. Kinship and membership in the
same totem group became synonymous. The Kisii Highlands, fifty kilometres
from Lake Victoria and two thousand metres above sea level are now where the
Gusii live. The hills may seem cold, but they are fertile, and watered with
close to a metre and a half of rain.
The Gusii exploit their highland environment for cash crops,
such as pyrethrum and tea, and for other agricultural products, such as
millet, maize, cassava, bananas and much else. Little uncultivated land
remains. Kisii District is one of the most densely populated areas of Kenya,
with 304 people per square kilometre. The Gusii have undergone great changes
environmental, economic and other - in the course of their cultural
evolution. Yet certain traits from the past persist. Whenever and wherever
possible, livestock is still kept.
Children continue to be initiated into adulthood and into the
Gusii as a group by circumcision and clitoridectomy. The crafts of basketry
and pottery are practised throughout Gusii. Like the crafts of making lyres
and other musical instruments, they may have been influenced generations ago
originally by the Luo. Perhaps the best known products of their crafts are
the soapstone carvings and the "Kisii stool," on the seat of which are
embedded coloured beads in decorative patterns. In general Gusii culture is
a blend of their own ancestral Bantu-speaking one of traits contributed by
Luo speakers, and of lesser influences assimilated from the Maasai and
Kipsigis
Up
|
|
