COMMUNITY CENTER

Tuesday 6 September 2011

TRADITIONAL KAMBA MUSIC

Traditional Kamba Music

They are various types of music and dance among the Kamba community, which were classified according to the age of the participants. The performance of traditional Kamba dance depended on the occasion, time and the purpose of the dance at any particular time. As a result, there were different types of dances. To each of the dances, there was a particular set of costume as well as instruments. In addition to that, each dance had a particular place and time allocation. The dances included:

i.Kilumi

Traditionally, the Kamba people believed that this dance would drive away the evil spirits or rather demons of a possessed woman. It was a dance for married women including the elderly. It took place at the home of the woman believed to be possessed by evil spirits or at the home of the village’s witchdoctor. The elderly married women began the dance at night while the young married women joined them during the day. It involved vigorous dancing which they believed was the most effective tool for driving away the evil spirits of the possessed women in the society. The dancing costumes were black sheets decorated with white beads, flywhisk (muingu) and shakers (iamba). The instruments of the dance were drums and whistles. The young women in the dance blew the whistles while the elderly women acted as the drummers. All the dancers put on traditional strong scented oil known as kyutu.

ii.Nzulya/ngutha

It was a dance for young men and women, which took place at in a village field, kituto. It was solely for entertainment though the participants would at times decide to compete. Several clans met in the kituto and each clan danced separately during competitions. The dancers grouped themselves in pairs and maintained a distance of about two meters between the individuals in a given pair. The dance involved two steps forward and backward. The dancers wore a black clothe, kaniki, decorated with white buttons and one-cent pieces, tuwela. Whistle blowing was a fundamental in this dance. When the dance reached climax, the pairs crossed lines, the men sat on their heels and their counterparts knelt while both touched each other’s shoulders. This marked the end of the dance.

iii. Mbevi

This was a dance for young and energetic boys and girls. The people considered it as a tiring dance thus it only lasted for approximately ten minutes. The major accompaniments of the dance were three whistles and a set of four drums. At the climax of the dance, the boys jumped about four feet in the air followed by several somersaults.

iv. Kilui/kiveve

There were two forms of kilui: A ceremonial dance took place after a girl married. The girl’s age mates met at the newly married girl’s home and performed the dance as a way of bidding the girl goodbye. It began in the early afternoon and ended immediately after sunset. The other was performed after a day’s work in every village at the kituto. It was mainly for boys and girls in a given clan. For the participants, it was a chance for choosing partners as well as for courtship. The other form of leisure dance was known as mwasa. The instruments in these leisure dances were two drums. Besides enjoying the dance, the participants enjoyed beer.

v. Kisanga

A ceremonial dance that was performed during thanks giving occasions- after the community had a good harvest. All the members of the community irrespective of their age joined in the dance. They met under a certain sacred tree, kitutu, where they sacrificed a white goat to both Mulungu and the community’s ancestors. The goat was slaughtered by the village elders under the leadership of the overseers.

THE KAMBA TRIBE

The Kamba Tribe

The Kamba people are the Fifth-largest ethnic community in Kenya after the Kikuyu,

Kalenjin, Luhya and Luo communities. They are approximately 2.5 million people. A large number of this population occupies the lower part of the Eastern Province, in the districts of Makueni, Machakos, Kitui and Mwingi popularly known as Ukambani. The Kamba people are not only found in Kenya but also in other countries such as Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are different versions of myths explaining the possible origin of the Kamba people.

The creation myth is the most popular among the people. This myth has two versions. The first version stipulates that Mulungu, the creator of the universe, created the first man and woman and placed them on top of one of the hills in Mbooni district- Nzaui. The two then became the parents of the entire Kamba community. According to this myth, Mulungu also created all that is in possession of the Kamba people. The other version of the creation myth says that the Mulungu did not place them on top of Mt. Nzaui but pulled them from the earth via a hole on top of the mountain. The two then became the ancestors of the Kamba people. Mulungu then provided them with domestic animals and brought rain to the land. These two versions constitute a core part in the oral traditions of the Kamba people.

Historians argue that Ukambani has been the homeland of the people for approximately the last four centuries. They exclusively state that they came from the plains of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the Southern part of Kenya . They migrated into Kenya in the 14^th century and settled in Taveta until the 17^th century when they dispersed to the lower parts of the Eastern province. The major reason for migration was their search of water and pasture for their livestock. They possessed large herds of domestic animals particularly cattle and they practiced farming. Despite their relentless search for fertile lands, they settled in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Eastern province. The Ukambani region faces recurrent crop failures due to drought and large swarms of locusts that invade their crop fields. However, some spiritual experts attribute the recurrent crop failures in Ukambani as a punishment for killing a man of God, Dr. Ludwig Krapf.

The basic unit of the traditional Kamba community is the extended family, which forms one of the fundamental foundations in the Kamba community. Members of the extended family constitute a clan, mbai. The elderly members of the clan form the council of elders who oversee all the activities of the clan. They also set the rules and regulations that govern the whole clan and punished all who broke the rules. The clan plays a pivotal role in protecting the cultural values of the community because the Kamba people strongly believe that culture is the hallmark of people’s consciousness.