Abanyala ba Kakamega

Abamani is one of the key clans among the Abanyala ba Kakamega. The story of their origin paints a picture of one clan that split into two then rejoined. Indeed, there exist other groups of related Abamani among other Luhya sub tribes of Kisa and Busia. I have to state that the story of Abamani cannot be complete without making reference to the works of Gideon S Were: Western Kenya , Historical Texts , EALB , 1967 .  Welcome to the story. a) Forefathers of Abamani . The forefathers of Abamani was a Masaai called Arap Kasiamani Re. 'Re' was an idiophone or soubd call he used while controling his heard of cattle. Arap Kasiamani Re came from Maasailand in present day Narok County. He left Masailand and passed through Kapsabet before reaching Nandi Hill near Kunjulu. He then moved on and build a home near Tiriki. He came with his brother-in-law, a husband to his sister called Amwiru, who was called Ebaba. Ebaba became the forefather of Abashirotsa ( Kokwany ) After som...

The story of the origin of Abasenya in Abanyala ba Kakamega is the story of a great legendary man called Simbuchi. I have to point out that I cannot tell the story of Origin of Abasenya- The story of Simbuchi, without recognising the work done by Masakha et al (2018) in his book Abanyala ba Kakamega : A Cultural and Historical Perspective . Genesis of Abasenya At the begining of Abasenya among the Abanyala of Kakamega, it is recorded that they came into existance via assimilation of a man called Simbuchi. The assimilation rituals and oaths was so binding that there was no going back- one became a member of the new sub-tribe and acquired equal status as other tribes. The ritual will be explained elsewhere on this blog. Simbuchi was a son of Ole Kiseinya and grand son of the Arap Ronos from the present Narok County. Simbuchi moved out of his father's home in Narok in search of pasture-upon becoming a Masaai moran . From Narok area, he moved towards Mt Elgon through the l...

Owukhino wa ebasa, can be translated as the 'dance of the twins.' It is a dance done on the day of bringing out the  twins to  ' see the sun ' for the first time. It is usually vulgar in performance both verbally and non verbally. This dance is usually done by the elderly from both mother and father's families for the purpose of 'cleansing' the twin. If the family of the girl or the girl herself refused to participate in the twin dance, then the girl was send away in case of first born twins. It was an acceptible divorce case. Unfortunately for culture lovers, this dance is among the few cultural dances that is almost getting extinct due to cristianity. Birth of twins is still being witnessed but the cultural practice of the dance has now almost become dead. Its vulgar content has made it an easy target for attack. Indeed, it is a dance that cannot be showcased during Kenyan Music Festival. However, the story of the dance shall remain immortal. ...

Abanyala ba Kakamega have elaborate cultural guidelines in relation to the place of burial of a dead person. The factors considered before determining burial site include the following The marital status of the person- bachelors (abasumba), spinster (nasikoko) etc were accorded different burial site treatments. The relation with the burying clan- foreigners to the clan such as children to daughters or refugee workers were treated differently in relation to burial. Personal attributes of the dead person- albinos, those with leprosy, those with hunchbacks etc received different treatments in relation to burial. The nature of death- some death like lightening and fire could take place at the exact point of death. The sex of the dead- male and female have burial sites predetermined by culture. The age- burial place vary with age or stage of development. Presence of a home- a person is buried in a home defined by Abanyala as  engo  diferent from bachelor's hut called  esimba. ...

Drums, like other traditional musical instruments, were part of the traditional life of Abanyala ba Kakamega. One such drum was the royal drum called usekete or urekete or ya sookho . Apart from the royal drum of usekete , we had other traditional musical instruments that formed the core of the unique culture of Abanyala Ba Kakamega. The collection of Abanyala musical instruments were many: other non royal drums, omulele (flute), enyimba (jingle), etungu (lyre), ebikhorowe (palm whistles), esiriri (fiddle), ebikhuli (leg bells), emianjo (sticks), ebimuka (percussion guards), engong'i (metal ring), ebikhutu (cow bells), embumi (stick on string), esichiriba (rhino horn), olwika (waterbuck horn), walubende (ground fiddle) and ewumi (pipe) just to mention a few. It was because of these instruments' core role in traditional functions that the early Quacker Church banned their use in their early church services. However, the late 1980s campaign geared towards infus...

Nobody from Abanyala has ever died of famine. No wonder they always said ' embako si ibeyanga ta ,' that is: 'a hoe never lies'. However, that does not mean they have lived in plenty all the years. Among the Abanyala, famine is defined in term of widespread scarcity of staple food; especially, ugali made from millet flour. Most of the boys born during such seasons were called Wanjala while the girls were called Nanjala. The following major seasons of famine are documented among the people. 1. Enjala Saba-lulala This was a minor one that swept across most families in Bunyala in 1997. It was characterised by people eating only one meal in a day. 2. Enjala ya Ekorokoro It affected Abanyala in 1980. It was at this time that the government imported yellow maize. It was marked by the introduction of the new method of measuring cereals using a two-kilogram tin called ekorokoro. It was caused by drought and economic instability in the region. The same phenomenon ...

Abakwangwachi is one of the clans among the Luhya subtribe of Abanyala ba Kakamega found in Kenya and Uganda. The Abakwangwachi speak Olunyala (K) as their first language with a few others speaking Olubukusu, Olutachoni and Oluwanga. 1. The first traceable ancestor of Abakwangwachi The first traceable ancestor of Abakwangwachi is called  Wire Wirecha.  Wire's father is strongly believed was from Bakwangwa and his mother was from Basikulu.  Wire Wirecha broke off from  Bakwangwa  clan when he differed with his clansmen over installation of family heir when his father died. The stakes were high on family leadership since the heir was poised to became one of the clan leaders of Bakwangwa. By the time of his father's death, Wire Wirecha had not yet married despite being old enough to do so. Therefore, his younger brother, who had married earlier, was given the leadership mantle. In protest, Wire threatened to commit suicide. He took off armed with a rope in re...