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100-541: The reserve is located entirely inside the region of Dar es Salaam, making it the largest land protected area in the urbanized region. with and is bordered by five villages: Msumi, Msakuzi, Mabwepande, Mpiji Magoe, and Mbopo. It is located 80 m to 186 m above sea level, 45 km northwest of the city center, and 16 km from the Indian Ocean. The Zaramo phrase Mabwe Pande , which translates to "stones of Pande" in English,

200-923: A Bantu ethnic group native to the central eastern coast of Tanzania , particularly Dar es Salaam Region and Pwani Region . They are the largest ethnic group in and around Dar es Salaam , the former capital of Tanzania and the 7th largest city in Africa. Estimated to be about 0.7 million people, over 98% of them are Muslims , more specifically the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam. Zaramo people are considered influential in Tanzania popular culture, with musical genres like Sengeli originating from their community in Kinondoni District. Their culture and history have been shaped by their dwelling in both urban and rural landscapes. The original Zaramo language, sometimes called Kizaramo ,

300-549: A Bantu ethnic group who predominantly live in Kenya stretching from Nairobi to Tsavo and northwards to Embu , in the southern part of the former Eastern Province . This land is called Ukambani and constitutes Makueni County , Kitui County and Machakos County . They also form the second largest ethnic group in 8 counties including Nairobi and Mombasa counties. The Kamba are of Bantu origin and they are originally believed to have originated from Congo. They are also known as

400-464: A liwali . The British first established a Township Authority made up of selected Europeans and Asians before experimenting with a number of "native administrations." The town was made into a separate district and divided into six wards, one under each elder. Finally, in 1941, the Township Authority received a native affairs sub-committee and its first African members. These measures included making

500-411: A Zaramo headman the chief of the entire township, establishing a council of six elders, each of whom represented a grouping of tribes from one direction, and making the town a separate district. Population increase altered Dar es Salaam's entire character. Many Zaramo settlements, particularly Buguruni, were subsumed by the shanty cities the immigrants established. Magomeni had a population density that

600-458: A girl's female power and her fertility. A girl has a reproductive cycle within society-one that starts with her first menses, continues to her initiation, marriage, birth of her children, and finally ends with the puberty of her grandchildren, at which point her reproductive cycle is over. The girl novice, also called mwali, is secluded in her mother's house for anywhere between two weeks and one year. Earlier documentation states that this process in

700-589: A great famine. This led to dispersal as the family scattered in search of food. Some became the Kikuyu , others the Meru while some remained as the original people, the Akamba." The Akamba are not specific about the number of children that each couple had initially borne. The Akamba believe in a monotheistic, invisible and transcendental God, Ngai or Mulungu, who lives in the sky ( yayayani or ituni ). Another venerable name for God

800-467: A head band intensively decorated with beads. The various kilumi or dance groups wore similar colours and patterns on their bead work to distinguish themselves from other groups. Traditionally, both men and women wore leather sandals especially when they ventured out of their neighbourhoods to go to the market or on visits. While at home or working in their fields, however, they remained barefoot. Schoolchildren, male and female, shave their heads to maintain

900-928: A higher importance being placed upon sufficient grave marking. Traditional Zaramo grave figures have a variety of names: mwana hiti (no longer in contemporary use,) nguzo za makaburi (translated to "grave posts,") mashahidi wa makaburi (translated to "grave witness.") These figures are considered witnesses or representation of the deceased. Mwana hiti grave figures are separate from mwana hiti initiation figures, and were mainly used for headmen or chief graves. Sometimes grave markers are created as marionette-like, wooden puppets called motto wa bandia to become mnemonic honorary devices. Staffs, aside from their use as walking supports, are used as ritual aids, titular symbols, and representations of power. Specific staffs are usual signifiers of chiefs, diviners, and linguists. Literally translated to "small stick," kifimbo staffs are small staffs used mainly for military authority. It

1000-475: A large number of homes. However, it is noteworthy that neither Shomvi nor Zaramo had much real estate because Dar es Salaam's explosive growth from humble beginnings had engulfed both native groups. Nobody took Shomvi and Zaramo seriously when they both occasionally asserted that they "owned" the town. Shomvi were primarily fishermen, while Zaramo, who came from a less developed educational region, were "very submerged"—a characteristic that set Dar es Salaam apart from

1100-454: A rate that was three to four times their percentage of the overall Kenyan population.' The Kamba people successfully resisted an attempt by the British colonialists to seize their livestock in an obnoxious livestock control legislation in 1938. They peacefully fought the British until the law was repealed.Among the Akamba people, lack of rain is considered an event requiring ritual intervention. As

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1200-641: A result of Zaramo's disregard. Resources for resistance were offered by indigenous religious organizations like the Kubandwa Cult and the Uwuxala Society. Long-established populations were not always opposed to Christianity, though. Only eleven of the 150–200 waalimu in Uzaramo were reported to be able to interpret the Koran rather than merely recite it in 1912, when it was claimed that students at Koran schools learned

1300-411: A result, they perform a ritual rain making dance called Kilumi. It is a healing rite designed to restore environmental balance through spiritual blessings, movement, offering, and prayers. According to Akamba, Kilumi has been present since the very beginning of Kamba existence. This ritual emphasizes symbolic dance movements as a key force in achieving the goal of the ceremony. The heart of the dance ritual

1400-535: Is Bantu , belonging to the Niger-Congo family of languages. However, in contemporary Tanzania, only a few speak it, and most speak Swahili language as their first language, as it is the trading language of the East African coast and the national language of Tanzania. Kizaramo is still used in many Zaramo rituals, such as the mwali rites, though they often appear alongside Swahili translations. By oral tradition,

1500-608: Is Asa, or the Father. He is also known as Ngai Mumbi (God the Creator) na Mwatuangi (God the finger-divider). He is perceived as the omnipotent creator of life on earth and as a merciful, if distant, entity. The traditional Akamba perceive the spirits of their departed ones, the Aimu or Maimu , as the intercessors between themselves and Ngai Mulungu. They are remembered in family rituals and offerings / libations at individual altars. In Akamba culture,

1600-441: Is a physically strenuous task, which is the main reason a woman may retire from the practice. Good clay is the most essential part of Zaramo pottery, with many potters choosing to mix several types of clay to achieve maximum durability through the firing process. A pottery wheel is not used; instead, "pinch pot" techniques (generally for smaller vessels) and coiling methods (generally for larger vessels) are used. After being formed,

1700-530: Is an important aspect of the Akamba people. In most but not all cases, the first four children, two boys and two girls, are named after the grandparents on both sides of the family. The first boy is named after the paternal grandfather and the second after the maternal grandfather. Girls are similarly named. Because of the respect that the Kamba people observe between the varied relationships, there are people with whom they cannot speak on "first name" terms. The father and

1800-434: Is continued into death, in which the spirits of the dead, mizimu , only bring misfortune upon the living. Illness, death, infertility, and poor agriculture can all be attributed to the spitefulness of mizimu. Tambiko are funeral rites where the family clean the grave and offer food and drink to each other and the deceased. Sometimes a temporary hut is built around the grave to act as a shrine. After Tanzanian independence in

1900-663: Is directly correlated to that of chiefs in Tanzania. By the early-mid-20th century, much of Zaramo pottery consisted of internal creations and imports from Europe, Japan, and India. Most of Zaramo pottery consists of ceramic water jars and earthenware cooking pots and dishes. Pottery is generally made for kitchen-use, thus resulting in two main types/uses: vessels for liquid (narrow-rimmed) and vessels for cooking and serving food (open and curved rims.) Cooking dishes may range from 5-12 inches in diameter and 2-3 inches in height, usually topped with an open, flared rim. General cooking pots are called chungu, while dishes made specifically for

2000-444: Is either held in the hand or tucked between the upper arm and the torso. Kifimbo hold no functional use, and are considered purely symbolic. Traditional kome staffs are tall staffs made from blackwood ( mpingo ) and are carved to possess animal and human (women) decoration. Mwana hiti were common top decorations before Tanzanian independence. Kome staffs are typically associated with chief power, and so their decreased presence

2100-422: Is given a family name (some sort of baptismal name), such as "Syomunyithya/ng'a Mutunga", that is, "she who is to be the mother of Munyithya/Mutunga". Her first son is to be called by this name. This name Munyithya was descriptive of certain qualities of the paternal grandfather or of his career. Thus, when she is calling her son, she would indeed be calling her father in-law, but at the same time strictly observing

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2200-424: Is given upon joining her husband's household. She supplies the bulk of the food consumed by her family. She grows maize, millet, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, beans, pigeon peas, greens, arrow root, cassava, and yam in cooler regions like Kangundo, Kilungu and Mbooni. It is the mother's role to bring up the children. Even children that have grown up into adults are expected to never contradict the mother's wishes. The mother

2300-410: Is home to two endangered, one vulnerable, and four near-threatened animal species. The three taxa that are believed to be strictly unique to Pande—Tricalysia bridsoniana var. pandensis, Shirakiopsis sp. nov., and Leptactina sp. A of FTEA—are among the plants of conservation concern. The bat population in the reserve is very diverse. An excellent example of an Eastern African Coastal Forest was Pande in

2400-488: Is important to Zaramo agriculture because it can grow with very little rain. For Zaramo people who live on the coast, fishing is also popular for both personal consumption and trade. Some Zaramo may also choose to brew beer, make charcoal, or dig for copal for a living. Those with specialized professions, mafundi , or as healers and diviners, mganga , rarely work those positions full time, often working agriculturally to supplement. The independence of Tanganyika in 1961 and

2500-399: Is its spiritual essence; in fact, it is the spiritual aspect that distinguishes the dances of Africans and their descendants worldwide. For this reason, it is important to understand the nature of rituals. Dance rituals take participants on a journey; they are designed to foster a transformation moving them to different states, with the ultimate goal of invoking spiritual intervention to resolve

2600-403: Is known as Mwaitu ('our One'). Very little distinction is made between one's children and nieces and nephews. They address their maternal uncle as inaimiwa and maternal aunts as mwendya and for their paternal uncle and aunt as mwendw'au . They address their paternal cousins as wa-asa or wa'ia (for men is mwanaasa or mwanaa'ia , and for women is mwiitu wa'asa or mwiitu wa'ia ), and

2700-456: Is present) or white beads as jewelry. Mwali hiti are meant to spark a "nurturing consciousness" within the mwali to instill a desire to have children. They also act as the main socializing for the mwali during her seclusion, measuring her skills as a future mother and teaching her the responsibilities of womanhood (i.e. taking care of oneself and children.) Mwali must treat the mwana hiti as her child, bathing it, oiling it, dressing

2800-425: Is seen as a job that complements the agricultural and domestic responsibilities assigned to women. Apart from most of Africa, Zaramo women do not sell their pottery in markets, instead operating on an order/commission system. While any women may choose to practice pottery, many women are taught by older relatives when they are mwali , a time when girls are secluded in the home and normally learn domestic skills. Pottery

2900-470: Is simpler to map out Islam's political stance by the 1950s. Not only was it growing almost as quickly as Christianity, but Muslims also appeared to be adhering to their religion more rigidly than before. However, a lot of cultural resistance endured. Few Zaramo Muslims frequented mosques, and their female rituals remained largely non-Islamic. Urban Islam was occasionally quite superficial, notably in Dar es Salaam. Even

3000-440: Is termed as nhulu or "growth." The initiation process takes place during the dry season and about once every three years. Each novice, mwali, have a designated instructor, mhunga, who guides the youth through the circumcision process, teaches Zaramo sex lore and practice. Once the mwali are circumcised, they are brought to an initiation hut, kumbi, where they are taught, and then are not permitted to bathe for two weeks. Once

3100-495: Is the source of the name Pande Game Reserve. It is rumored that cutting stones into little pieces for trade took place inside the Reserve Area a very long time ago. As a result, Mabwe Pande was given to the location where that activity took place. The Eastern Arc / Coastal Forest Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the world's top priority regions for biodiversity conservation, includes Pande Game Reserve. The area of Pande closest to

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3200-402: Is then carried to a mkole tree where is circumcised as well by an operator, or mnhunga. She is then returned to her family and she is celebrated with an mbwelo dance. Mwana Hiti figures may also be referred to as mwana nya kiti, mwana nya nhiti, or mwana mkongo. These names stem from mwana, meaning "child," and nya kiti and nya nhiti meaning "wood" and "chair." Mkongo refers to

3300-524: The Batutsi of Rwanda-Burundi and the Aembu of Kenya. The earliest, most famous and respected traditional Kamba soloist who can be documented was Mailu Mboo and came from "Kwa Vara" Now mwingi . The following are some of the varieties of traditional dance styles of the Akamba community: Dances are usually accompanied by songs composed for the occasion (marriage, birth, nationally important occasion), and reflect

3400-587: The Belgian Congo branch and the son of slave parents, was one of the committee members. He also had a significant home. Two notable leaders were from the Zaramo: Ramadhani Ali, the first vice-president and a trader, and Ali Saidi, a building inspector who served as the association's treasurer during the 1930s. Both later served as leaders of the Wazaramo Union, with Ramadhani Ali serving as King of

3500-534: The Mariakani , Kinango, Kwale , Mombasa West (Changamwe and Chaani) and Mombasa North (Kisauni) areas of the coast of Kenya, creating the beginnings of urban settlement. They are still found in large numbers in these towns, and have been absorbed into the cultural, economic and political life of the modern-day Coast Province . Several notable businessmen and women, politicians, as well as professional men and women are direct descendants of these itinerant pastoralists. In

3600-507: The South American country of Paraguay form two groups: Kamba Cuá and Kamba Kokue with the former being the most famous. They arrived in Paraguay as members of a regiment of 250 spearmen ('lanceros de Artigas'), men and women, who accompanied General Jose Gervasio Artigas , in his exile in Paraguay in 1820. The Kamba Cuá are famous for their African traditional ballet that is described as

3700-463: The mwali are allowed to bathe again, their mothers in the village hold a village dance, mbiga. After eight more days the mwali return to the village and their instructors burn the kumbi and anything else related to the initiation. The mwali are now men of society and celebrate with mlao, a dance of emergence. Female initiation begins with a girl's first menses. The rituals associated with female initiation are performed to protect and enrich

3800-570: The mwana hiti can also double as a tambiko , or "sacrifice," as a means to create stronger ties with the spiritual world. Men are the carvers of mwana hiti , many creating reputations for their highly sought after figures. Mwana hiti are only commissioned, and there cannot be more than one figure commissioned by a family at a time. Carvers also cannot create mwali hiti if a family already possesses one. The carver creates mwana hiti out of one piece of wood (or gourd) that he picks out, though any decorations for hair or jewelry must be provided by

3900-453: The mwana hiti vary, the average being around 10 centimeters. They can be projections of a child, a woman with a child, or an mwali. Mwana hiti are cylindrical figures with depictions of a head and torso of relatively equal size and usually no arms, legs or genitalia. Breasts and a navel are often present as well as hair. Facial features are simple and abstract, occasionally not being present. These figures may be decorated with metal (if hair

4000-743: The plain-backed sunbird , and two absolutely unique plants, look to be on the verge of extinction. Despite the availability of project staff, transportation, and other resources, the reserve continues to deteriorate. This Dar es Salaam Region location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Africa protected areas related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zaramo people Dar es Salaam Region ( Temeke District , Ilala District , Ubungo District , Kinondoni District , Kigamboni District ) Pwani Region The Zaramo people , also referred to as Dzalamo or Saramo ( Wazaramo , in Swahili ), are

4100-607: The "central cultural identity of the Afro-Paraguayan community". The Kamba speak the Kamba language (also known as Kikamba) as a mother tongue . It belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Kikamba has no letters c, f, j, r, x, q and p in its alphabet. The Swahili language reveals closer ties to the Akamba mother tongue, this being due to the various interactions of

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4200-697: The 'Akamba.' They are closely related in language and culture to the Kikuyu , the Embu , the Mbeere and the Meru of whom together they form the GEMA community, and to some extent relate closely to the Kambe and the Giriama of the Kenyan coast. The Kambas are concentrated in the lowlands of southeast Kenya from the vicinity of Mount Kenya to the coast. The first group of Kamba people settled in

4300-594: The 1960s, an increasing number of Zaramo people have requested to be buried in their home villages on private land or on church grounds. The influence of Islam and the increase of urbanization and literacy have been marked as responsible for the decline in traditional Zaramo figure grave posts. The majority of contemporary grave markers are slab markers with written sentiments and notifiers. Decreasing land availability in Dar Es Salaam has led to an increase in unmarked grave sites holding multiple bodies, which has resulted in

4400-492: The 19th century. Conversion to Islam among the coastal Zaramo people began in the 19th century. These historic events, states Stockreiter, have influenced the politics and inter-ethnic relations in 20th-century Tanzania. Initiation rituals are required for the youth of the Zaramo people to become full-fledged members of adult society. Theses rituals generally happen around puberty and the female's first menses. The male ceremony

4500-402: The Akamba people with Arab traders for centuries. Like many Bantus, the Akamba were originally hunters and gatherers but later became long distance traders because of their knowledge of the expansive area they inhabited. They also had good relations with neighbouring communities as well as excellent communication skills. They would go on to later adopt subsistence farming and pastoralism due to

4600-605: The British colonial government during one of their raiding expeditions on the local populations. Muindi Mbingu was arrested for leading another protest march to recover stolen land and cattle around the Mua Hills in Masaku district, which the British settlers eventually appropriated for themselves. JD Kali, along with Paul Ngei, joined the Mau Mau movement to recover Kenya for the Kenyan people. This movement took place between 1952 and 1960. He

4700-598: The European fashion, taking their pick from dresses, skirts, trousers, jeans and shorts, made from the wide range of fabrics available in Kenya. Primarily, however, skirts are the customary and respectable mode of dress. In the past, the women were attired in knee-length leather or bark skirts, embellished with bead work. They wore necklaces made of beads, these obtained from the Swahili and Arab traders. They shaved their heads clean, and wore

4800-546: The Kaguru, Kwere, Kutu, Kami, Sagara, Luguru, Ngulu and Vidunda peoples. The majority of the peoples of Tanganyika were patrilineal , but there are signs that many of them were once matrilineal . Some of these matrilineal peoples, like the Zaramo, Luguru, Mwera, and Makonde , were able to survive in the south-east where tsetse may have prevented men from acquiring cattle to pass on to their sons. The Zaramo society has been historically victimized by slave raids and slave trading by

4900-709: The Kamba live in Mbeere South region and in Taita–Taveta County they are mainly concentrated in the Taveta region. They share a border with the Maasai people and are literally separated by the Kenya-Uganda railway from Athi-River to Kibwezi . Up until late 20th Century the Maasai and the Akamba communities were involved in persistent cattle-rustling and pasture conflicts especially on the pasture-rich Konza plains. This attracted

5000-591: The Kikuyu, the Embu, the Mbeere and the Meru, moved into Kenya from points further south. Most of the Akamba people live in Kenya, and are concentrated in the lower eastern counties of Machakos , Kitui , and Makueni . According to the national census of 2019, there were 4,663,910 Akamba people in Kenya, being the fifth-most populous tribe in the country. Machakos is the most populous of

5100-565: The Koran in Arabic without grasping its meaning. Magic and literacy frequently intertwined. It was customary to read the entire Koran aloud to honor ancestors or to purify a community. A passage from the Koran served as a standard amulet, and ink diluted in water served as a standard medication. A Zaramo Muslim immigrant worker named Abdulrahman Saidi Mboga is credited with introducing superior rice varieties and irrigation methods to South Pare . It

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5200-502: The Marini and one of the most prominent Africans in Dar es Salaam. These men had completely different interests and unifying principles than Watts or Matola did. The organisation was split throughout the 1930s between proponents of a territorial alliance of educated men and supporters of harmony between the various social classes in the city. Africans in the town were governed by the Germans via

5300-647: The Queen" during the Mau Mau Emergency , a press release by the East Africa Command went on to characterize the Kamba as a "fighting race." These sentiments were echoed by other colonial observers in the early 1950s who deemed the Kamba a hardy, virile, courageous, and "mechanically-minded tribe." Considered by many officers to be the "best [soldierly] material in Africa," the Kamba supplied the KAR with askaris (soldiers) at

5400-605: The Shomvi could not meet his demands, they offered for him and his family to live with them on the coast, where they would receive an annual tribute instead. The war and its results were said to be the founding of the Zaramo. Undoubtedly after the Maji Maji rebellion, it was a period of significant Islamic expansion. Before 1914, the Ngindo , Zaramo, and Zigua peoples in the coastal hinterland had been heavily influenced by Islam. Since then,

5500-493: The Swahili-Arab traders of Zanzibar . To resist this persecution, they developed stockade-fortified villages. Many ran away from the coast, and would return during the daytime to farm and fish. Zanzibar Arabs, state William Worger, Nancy Clark and Edward Alpers, however pursued their slave raiding into the mainland, where they would seize pagan Zaramo adults and children, gag them so they would not cry out, and then sell them to

5600-667: The Zanzibar Archipelago in 1963 and their subsequent formation of the United Republic of Tanzania led to a significant shift in Tanzanian culture, as well as the Zaramo culture. In 1963, 132 chiefs and headmen were removed from their political positions as government executives. The decreased status of chiefs and headmen has led to the dwindling of their numbers and traditions associated with them. Zaramo people hold their dead with high respect and reverence. They believe that life

5700-435: The Zaramo are said to be descendants of the Shomvi people under the lead of the warrior-hero, Pazi in the early 19th century. The Shomvi, a mercantile clan living in what is present-day Dar Es Salaam were attacked by an offshoot group of Kamba people from Kenya . The Shomvi sought help from the warrior, Pazi, who lived in the hinterlands. When Pazi defeated the Kamba, he asked for salt, cloth, and other luxuries in return. When

5800-480: The act of frying are called kaango or kikaango (depending on size), with smaller bowls being referred to as bakuli. Chetezo or Kitezo are shallow dishes made to be placed on shrine pedestals to hold incense offerings. Mtungi are large pots, sometimes reaching 2 feet high, that are made particularly to hold water for bathing and drinking; a household generally has two of these vessels, one for each use. Sometimes mtungi are replaced with buckets or oil drums,

5900-521: The availability of the new lands that they came to occupy. Today, the Akamba are often found engaged in different professions: some are agriculturalists, others are traders, while others have taken up formal jobs. The Kamba also practiced Barter trade with the Kikuyu, Maasai, Meru and Embu people in the interior and the Mijikenda and Arab people of the coast. Over time, the Akamba extended their commercial activity and wielded economic control across

6000-828: The central part of the land that was later to be known as Kenya (from the Kikamba, 'Ki'nyaa', meaning 'the Ostrich Country.' This was derived from the reference they made to Mount Kenya and its snow cap similar to the male Ostrich), from the Indian Ocean in the east to Lake Victoria in the west, and all the way up to Lake Turkana on the northern frontier. The Akamba traded in locally produced goods such as sugar cane wine, ivory , brass amulets, tools and weapons, millet, and cattle. The food obtained from trading helped offset shortages caused by droughts and famines experienced in their Kamba land. They also traded in medicinal products known as 'Miti' (literally: plants), made from various parts of

6100-576: The city of Dar es Salaam has also been designated by Birdlife International as an "Important Bird Area." The reserve was first declared a forest reserve in 1952, and in 1990, Government Notice No. 461 upgraded the reserve's conservation status to that of a game reserve. Through this deal, the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority took over administration of it from the Forest Division. According to IUCN threat categories, Pande

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6200-550: The coastal area's major religion. By 1913, Muslims were up half of the Zaramo population. Both from the coast and up north from the Rufiji, where Zaramo tracked the boys' jando initiation ceremony that contributed significantly to the spread of Islam, proselytizing had taken place. Zaramo started performing Islamic circumcision. Islam in the coastal region and its hinterland typically made it difficult for missions to be effective. The Benedictines relocated their operations inland as

6300-596: The cultural law of never addressing her in-laws by their first names. After these four children are named, whose names were more or less predetermined, other children could be given any other names, sometimes after other relatives and / or family friends on both sides of the family. Occasionally, children were given names that were descriptive of the circumstances under which they were born: Children were also given affectionate names as expressions of what their parents wished them to be in life. Such names would be like Of course, some of these names could be simply expressive of

6400-622: The encounter between the African people, Arab-Swahili trader intermediaries and the European powers, but it broadly coopted the older slave-driven, social stratification model. According to Elke Stockreiter – a professor of History specializing on Africa, the slaves seized from Zaramo people and other ethnic groups such as Yao, Makonde and Nyamwezi peoples from the mainland and brought to the coastal Tanzania region and Zanzibar sought social inclusion and attempted to reduce their treatment as inferiors by their slave owners by adopting and adapting to Islam in

6500-410: The family known as (Musyi) plays a central role in the community. The Akamba extended family or clan is called mbai . The man, who is the head of the family, is usually engaged in an economic activity popular among the community like trading, hunting, cattle-herding or farming. He is known as Nau , Tata , or Asa . The woman, regardless of her husband's occupation, works on her plot of land, which she

6600-563: The family. The Zaramo people have borrowed from the general Swahili and the once-occupying Arab culture in terms of dress such as wearing a skull cap, Islamic festivals and Muslim observances, but they continue some of their pre-Islam traditions such as matrilineal kinship, while a few pursue the Kolelo fertility cult and the worship of their ancient deity Mulungu . The traditional practice of Mganga or medicine man, along with Muslim clerics offering services as divine healers, remains popular among

6700-412: The government, urging instead a paramount chief to guide the Zaramo toward progress. Urban ethnicity was not just a means of survival, but also a productive effort to forge groups that could work well together in colonial society. The term, "Zaramo," in scholarly studies also reflects a macro-ethnic group. The larger Zaramo group consists of Zaramo proper, but includes a number of related peoples such as

6800-411: The hair (of which the mwali wears the same style,) and feeding it. If she fails to complete these motherly tasks she may be denied fertility in the future. Fertility is prized in Zaramo culture as children are seen as economic and cultural goals for prosperity and legacy. If a woman encounters fertility after her initiation is over, she may choose to repeat seclusion and mwana hiti rites. This means

6900-469: The impoverished Zaramo communities. The Zaramo people are settled farmers who also keep livestock and fish. They also are migrant workers to Tanzania's capital city and tourist sites, considering business, or biashara, their job. They live in pangone or shanty clusters of villages. They produce staple foods such as rice, millet, maize, sorghum, and cassava, as well as cash crops such as coconuts, legumes, cashews, pineapples, oranges, and bananas. Cassava

7000-499: The interest of colonial government who created Cooperative Society and the later the establishment of Konza , Potha and Malili Ranches where the proposed Konza Technology City sits. Apart from Kenya, Kamba people can also be found in Uganda, Tanzania and in Paraguay . The population of Akamba in Uganda is about 8,280, 110,000 in Tanzania and about 10,000 in Paraguay. The Kamba people in

7100-514: The land and neutral standing with many of the other societies they traded with. During the colonial era, British colonial officials considered the Kamba to be the premier martial race and sharp-shooters of Africa. The Kamba themselves appeared to embrace this label by enlisting in the colonial army in large numbers. After confidently describing the Kamba serving in the King's African Rifles (the KAR, Britain's East African colonial army) as loyal "soldiers of

7200-653: The latter part of the 19th century the Arabs took over the coastal trade from the Akamba, who then acted as middlemen between the Arab and Swahili traders and the tribes further upcountry. Their trade and travel made them ideal guides for the caravans gathering elephant tusks, precious stones and some slaves for the Middle Eastern, Indian , and Chinese markets. Early European explorers also used them as guides in their expeditions to explore Southeast Africa, due to their wide knowledge of

7300-401: The less strenuous chores around the home, such as rope-making, tanning leather, carving of beehives, three-legged wooden stools, cleaning and decorating calabashes, making bows and arrows, etc. Older women continue to work the land, as this is seen as a source of independence and economic security. They also carry out trade in the local markets, though not exclusively. In the modern Akamba family,

7400-540: The manufactured alternatives being more durable, though they keep the water less cool. Mtungi tend to have more fragile necks prone to cracking and chipping. There is not much distinction between pottery for everyday use and pottery for rituals, such as ceremonial mwali bathing, healing rituals, and grave offerings. Everyday pottery may be used, though many ceremonies require the vessel to be new. The majority of potters in Zaramo culture are women, who are called fundi wa kufinyanga or "masters of making pottery." Pottery

7500-517: The many anthills around, a man and a woman came out. These were the initiators of the 'spirits clan'- the Aimo. It so happened that the couple from heaven had only sons while the couple from the anthill had only daughters. Naturally, the couple from heaven paid dowry for the daughters of the couple from the anthill. The family and their cattle greatly increased in numbers. With this prosperity, they forgot to give thanks to their creator. Mulungu punished them with

7600-400: The maternal cousins (mother's side) as wa mwendya (for men mwanaa mwendya ; for women mwiitu wa mwendya ). Children often move from one household to another with ease, and are made to feel at home by their aunts and uncles who, while in charge of their nephews/nieces, are their de facto parents. Grandparents known as ( Susu or Usua (grandmother), Umau or Umaa (grandfather)) help with

7700-560: The mkongo tree, of which many mwana hiti are carved from. All of these names refer to the mwana hiti as a "child of wood." Mwana hiti may be represented in other forms besides figures such as walking sticks, staff, stool, musical instruments, and grave posts among others. Mwana hiti don't belong to individuals, but to families, and they are passed down generations, sometimes up to 40 or 50 years. Mwana hiti are usually made of wood, however some Zaramo traditions say they should be made of gourds as gourds are symbols of fertility. Sizes of

7800-487: The modern times, like most people in Kenya, dress rather conventionally in western / European clothing. The men wear trousers and shirts. Young boys will, as a rule, wear shorts and short-sleeved shirts, usually in cotton, or tee-shirts. Traditionally, Akamba men wore leather short kilts made from animal skins or tree bark. They wore copious jewellery, mainly of copper and brass. It consisted of neck-chains, bracelets, and anklets. The women in modern Akamba society also dress in

7900-402: The mother in-law on the husband's side, for instance, can never address their daughter in-law by her first name. Neither can she address them by their first names. Yet she has to name her children after them. To solve this problem, a system of naming is adopted that gave names which were descriptive of the quality or career of the grandparents. Therefore, when a woman is married into a family, she

8000-513: The numerous medicinal plants found on the Southeast African plains. Maingi Ndonye Mbithi, commonly referred by his peers and locals as Kanyi, from Kimutwa village in Machakos was known for his concoction of herbs mixed with locally fermented brew (kaluvu) with the ability to heal cancerous boils (Mi'imu). The Akamba are still known for their fine work in wood carving, basketry and pottery and

8100-621: The ostensibly Muslim Ngindo rarely performed Islamic marriage. During the British period, the founding members of the African Association included representatives from the three most influential African communities in Dar es Salaam in the 1920s: the Manyema , and Zaramo. Effendi Plantan, the former head of the ex-askari community, had raised its secretary, Kleist Sykes. Mzee Sudi, the Manyema leader for

8200-445: The other capitals of East Africa. The trible associations of the 1950s were heavily focused on rural improvement in addition to urban welfare. The Wazaramo Union was the best illustration. The Zaramo did not require an association to bury or care for them because he lived so near to the town. However, the Wazaramo Union was home to about 3,500 of the 6,500 tribal union members who were enrolled in Dar es Salaam in 1955. Its main priority

8300-481: The past could have taken up to five years. The mwali's paternal aunt is usually assigned as her shangazi , or the one who takes over the mwali's teachings and ceremonies. The initiate is taught domestic responsibilities such as housekeeping, childcare, sexual and moral behavior, and mature interaction in society. During seclusion, the mwali is not allowed to speak, work, or go outside, to symbolize her death and put emphasis on her re-emergence as symbolic birth. She

8400-410: The past. The forest has been mined since the 1950s for charcoal , poles, and lumber. The majority of the large trees have been cut down, and the forest area appears to have decreased by about 60%. In other places, large tracts of grass and weeds that are kept in check by periodical fires have taken the place of forests. As a result, some species within the reserve, including the black-and-white colobus,

8500-531: The pottery are left to dry out for two to seven days before being fired, not in a kiln, but a wood fire. The vessels are placed on top of a fire, and more wood and plant material are placed on top of the vessels. Firing lasts two to three hours. If the pottery is to be colored, they are colored directly after firing. Kamba people Modern ethnicities Diaspora Performing arts Government agencies Television Radio Newspapers The Kamba or Akamba (sometimes called Wakamba ) people are

8600-412: The present day county of Kitui) who will bear this name. A girl could be called "Mumbe" meaning beautiful one or "Mwende" (beloved); Wild animal names like Nzoka (snake), Mbiti (hyena), Mbuku (hare), Munyambu (lion), or Mbiwa (fox); or domesticated animal names like Ngiti (dog), Ng'ombe (cow), or Nguku (chicken), were given to children born of mothers who started by giving stillbirths. This

8700-548: The present-day Mbooni Hills in the Machakos District of Kenya. This was in the second half of the 17th century, before spreading to Machakos, Makueni and Kitui Districts. Some authorities suggest that they arrived in their present lowlands east of the Mount Kenya area of habitation from earlier settlements further to the north and east. Others argue that the Kamba, along with their closely related Eastern Bantu neighbours

8800-439: The problem at hand. Akamba resistance to colonial "pacification" was mostly non-violent in nature. Some of the best known Akamba resistance leaders to colonialism were: Syokimau , Syotune wa Kathukye, Muindi Mbingu, and later Paul Ngei , JD Kali, and Malu of Kilungu. Ngei and Kali were imprisoned by the colonial government for their anti-colonial protests. Syotune wa Kathukye led a peaceful protest to recover cattle confiscated by

8900-459: The products . Their artistic inclination is evidenced in the sculpture work that is on display in many craft shops and galleries in the major cities and towns of Kenya. In the mid-eighteenth century, a large number of Akamba pastoral groups moved eastwards from the Tsavo and Kibwezi areas to the coast. This migration was the result of extensive drought and lack of pasture for their cattle. They settled in

9000-417: The qualities displayed by the man or woman after whom they were named. Very rarely, a boy may be given the name "Musumbi" (meaning "king"). I say very rarely because the Kamba people did not speak much in terms of royalty; they did not have a definite monarchical system. They were ruled by a council of elders called king'ole . There is a prophecy of a man, who traces his ancestry to where the sun sets (west) (in

9100-602: The region has primarily become Islamic, with the exception of Maasai, some of Bonde (whom had a long history of missions), and to a lesser extent, Matumbi . The last barrier to the Islamization of the Digo in the north was eliminated by the destruction of Lutheran artifacts. When missionary work began in the south after many Mwera and Makua stopped practicing Christianity, polygynous marriages and other barriers made it difficult for many converts to return, which led to Islam becoming

9200-452: The spirit of uniformity and equality. Currently the most popular Kamba artist include; Ken Wamaria, Kativui, Kitunguu, Katombi, Maima, Vuusya Ungu etc. Ken Wamaria is rated as the top artist in Ukambani and the richest Kenyan artist (Kioko, 2012). Vernacular radio stations in Kenya where Kamba is the primary language spoken are as follows: Kyeni TV is a TV channel which broadcasts primarily in

9300-461: The three Ukambani counties, with 1,421,932 residents. This is followed by Kitui (1,136,187 residents) then Makueni (987,653 residents). They make up the second largest ethnic demographics in each of the urban city - counties of Nairobi and Mombasa as well as Taita–Taveta , Kiambu , Muranga , Kirinyaga , Kwale and Kilifi counties. They also form the third largest ethnic group in Embu , Garissa , Meru and Kajiado counties. In Embu county

9400-502: The traders. Sometimes during famines, such as in the 19th-century rule of Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar , desperate Zaramo people pawned and sold each other to survive. The Zaramo society's history has long been influenced by the coastal encounter between the Arab-Persian and African populations typical of East Africa, since the 8th century. During the colonial era, the influence came from

9500-554: The traditional structure of the Kikamba song, sung on a pentatonic scale. The singing is lively and tuneful. Songs are composed satirising deviant behaviour, anti-social activity, etc. The Akamba have famous work songs, such as Ngulu Mwelela , sung while work, such as digging, is going on. Herdsmen and boys have different songs, as do young people and old. During the Mbalya dances the dance leader will compose love songs and satirical numbers, to tease and entertain his/her dancers. The Akamba of

9600-403: The women, especially in the urban regions, practice professions such as teaching, law, medicine, nursing, secretarial work, management, tailoring and other duties in accordance with Kenya's socioeconomic evolution.The Kamba clans are: Anzauni, Aombe, Akitondo, Amwei (Angwina), Atwii, Amumui, Aethanga, Atangwa, Amutei, Aewani, Akitutu, Ambua, Aiini, Asii, Akiimi, Amũũti, Amũũnda. Naming of children

9700-592: Was done to wish away the bad omen and allow the new child to survive. Sometimes the names were used to preserve the good names for later children. There was a belief that a woman's later children had a better chance of surviving than her first ones. The Akamba people's love of music and dance is evidenced in their spectacular performances at many events in their daily lives or on occasions of regional and national importance. In their dances they display agility and athletic skills as they perform acrobatics and body movements. The Akamba dance techniques and style resemble those of

9800-455: Was imprisoned in Kapenguria during the fighting between the then government and the freedom fighters. Their origin myth is as follows: "In the beginning, Mulungu created a man and a woman. This was the couple from heaven and he proceeded to place them on a rock at Nzaui where their foot prints, including those of their livestock can be seen to this day. Mulungu then caused a great rainfall. From

9900-454: Was more than double that of Nyamwezi, although many Zaramo lived in Buguruni in the far west, which blended into the surrounding landscape. According to a survey conducted in 1956, the majority of homes were constructed using small business owners' or artists' money. It also revealed that several ethnic groups, like the Manyema, Yao, and Makonde who were among the town's first settlers, possessed

10000-549: Was to promote rural Uzaramo. The objective of the Zaaramo Union according to its secretary, was to construct the "UNITY, BESTIR LIFT UP", of the Wazaramo and their country in the essential matters. To this end, it purchased and operated two lorries to transport people and agricultural produce between towns and rural areas, established nine branches in the tribal area, and campaigned against "the old out-of-date Wakilis" recognized by

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