Bantu Beliefs and Magic / With particular reference to the Kikuyu and Kamba tribes of Kenya Colony; together with some reflections on East Africa after the war

by C. W. Hobley

The cow, the two bulls, and the goat are taken to the village of the murdered man; the elders, athuri ya ukuu, assemble there, and the goat is first killed at about five p.m. The murderer must not be present; if he or any member of his clan appeared at the etumo ceremonies they would probably be killed. Fourteen pieces of meat are cut from its throat, an elder impales seven pieces on a wooden skewer, and puts them into the mouth of the wife of the deceased, who eats them, and the other seven are similarly given to the brother of the deceased. When darkness comes on, the elders retire to a short distance from the village, and the widow and her brother-in-law retire to a hut and have connection; they then return and call the elders.

Upon their return the bull is killed and they receive half of its meat and half of that of the goat, the remainder being consumed by the family of the deceased. All the meat must be eaten during the night, and none of the bones must be broken, and before morning the latter must be carried out and deposited in the bush by the elders. The hides of the two animals must not be allowed to remain in the village, but are carried off by any elders who do not belong to the same mbai, or clan, as the deceased. The cow remains in the village, and becomes the personal property of the widow, who is not allowed to sell it.

The collection of the number of cattle payable as blood money generally takes some time, and the members of a man’s clan often assist him to pay. When they are all collected, an assembly of people and elders takes place at the village of the deceased, comprising members of the family and clan as well as [[236]]strangers, and a bull is slaughtered from the compensation cattle; there is a general feast, and each person takes a strip of the hide away for tying up loads. The cattle are then divided; the senior member of the deceased’s family receives one cow and pays back one bull, the maternal grandfather of the deceased receives a cow and pays back a bullock, and if there is a half-brother of the deceased he receives a cow and pays back a bull, provided that he does not live in the village of the deceased. If there is a village of the same clan near by, the head of it receives a cow and pays back a bull. None of these cows may be sold or given in exchange for a wife; if this rule is broken the recipient has to pay back a cow to the family. The bulls given in exchange provide feasts for the elders, members of the family of the deceased, and members of the clan. The remainder of the cattle are the property of the eldest brother of the deceased, who divides them between the mother and wife or wives of the deceased, who have the use of the milk. He cannot dispose of one of the beasts without the permission of these women.

The payment of the cow, bull, and goat first mentioned is of ritual importance, and is called etumo; they are necessary to protect both the family of the murderer and the murdered one from the powers of the unappeased death-dealing spirit which is abroad. Even if the killing was accidental (mbanga) the etumo payments and ritual must be observed, because it shows that there is a bad influence about or the accident would never have occurred.

In former times, if a man of one clan killed another in some inter-tribal fight, the custom was for a brother to waylay and kill a man of the clan who had killed his brother. The two deaths cancelled each other, and there was no further question of compensation, but it was considered essential that the etumo fees should be paid and the proper ceremonial observed.

One other point in connection with the weapon used in the murder should be mentioned: in Kikuyu the [[237]]spear is thrown away, but in Ukamba the weapon is nearly always an arrow, which is carried away some distance and placed on a path, the idea apparently being that it contains a harmful essence which it is impossible to remove, and the evil is believed to pass on to whoever picks it up. If this is not done the evil is said to remain with the family of the deceased.

The Kin͠gnoli Custom.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba,” p. 95, an account is given of the old form of judicial execution called kin͠gnoli which used to be customary throughout Ukamba. It is also referred to by C. Dundas in the “History of Kitui,” p. 514.

It is not proposed to describe over again the details of the procedure, but while considering the question of sacrifice, it may be interesting to point out the similarity of this practice with the judicial slaying which took place among the ancient Semites, e.g., among the Hebrews the criminal was stoned.

Professor R. Smith ably shows how the idea of an execution of this kind is not penal in one sense of the word: it is not done to punish the offender, but to rid the community of an impious member—generally a man who has shed the tribal blood.

It would appear that the repeated spilling of tribal blood is an act which annoys the aiimu of the tribe to such an extent that an ordinary sacrifice is insufficient to appease them, and a human sacrifice becomes necessary either as an expiation or to re-establish good relations: by not offering compensation for the crimes he has committed, the brothers of the criminal formally surrender him to the community and this acquits the community of any bloodstain.