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

KIKUYU.

KIVATA DANCE AT KYAMBU.

This custom is still practised, for in Kyambu district a few years ago the elders for some reason wished to prevent a Kivata dance, and they resorted to the old rite.

Kivata is danced when the mawele grain is reaped. The dancers wear no clothes whatsoever; they are ornamented with a large inverted crown of ostrich feathers which is slung from the forehead to the back of the head. Strings of beads and bells are hung about the body, and plumes of colobus monkey fur are tied below the knees. In many cases the face is covered completely with yellow colouring, the loins being likewise adorned; others affect various colours in stripes and dots. The legs and arms are also coloured. The weapons carried are mostly swords and clubs; very few have spears, but the younger rikas, who look on, generally have spears. Their faces are often decorated with a broad red stripe drawn across the face and outlined with white dots.

The dancers march round in rows of from six to eight, the dancing consisting mainly in a continued jumping from one foot to the other. The women bring gourds of uji, or gruel, which they give to the dancers and thereby signify their affections. The dance is said to be a general occasion for choosing brides by old men as well as by anake.

Many of the onlookers (not the younger rikas) run madly round the whole circle, brandishing swords and leaping into the air. The name of the dance is said to be derived from this.

Even the old men who are spectators become [[268]]infected with the spirit of the dance, cast off their blankets and trot round the outside of the circle. In fact it appears to be essential to discard clothing, for if one omits to do so he is censured by his fellows. The women also follow the men with shrill cries, but otherwise they take no part.

At one of these dances several girls were noticed amusing themselves by a game exactly similar to one played by children in Europe, and which consists in clapping hands. This is called Amukiana.

When the njahe or cajanus bean is planted the Mugoyo is danced. This dance is held at night when there is no moon, and is one of the most picturesque dances of the country. A circle of fires is made and maintained by men appointed for the purpose, and round the outside of this circle stand the dancers. Richly smeared with red earth and fat as they are, the fire heightening the blaze of red, the whole scene is intensely bright in the darkness. The men stand with their backs to the fire, each holding his partner, who stands with her feet on his. Their faces and legs are slightly coloured, but the girls use no colouring beyond the red mixed with fat. Forming a diameter across the circle stands another row of dancers. The leader of the maribeta (song or verse) goes about and the rest join in the chorus. Excepting for a slight movement of the shoulders among the dancers the whole dance has an air of quietness which is presumably intentional. There are masters of ceremony who go about and check noisy persons, preserving general quiet and the regular formation of the circle. Their methods are simple and effective: two firebrands are struck together over offending couples, and a shower of sparks thus quickly calls them to order. All the men are naked but elaborately ornamented; unfortunately the vulgarity of civilisation too often mars the beauty of this picturesque scene. One smart youth has dangling on his back an advertisement for sardines, another a gaudy scriptural text, and others, similar cheap articles of [[269]]European origin. Occasionally the figure of the dance varies—the men turn facing the fire and bump up and down on their heels; another time they kneel joining hands on spears held horizontally which they sway to the rhythm of the song. The song is not startlingly comprehensible: “We went to Juja and saw a white ostrich, so we put its feathers on our heads,” and such like. The girls also join in the chorus, while the men now and again make a curious gulping sound produced from the throat. Finally at midnight, or later, the dance breaks up: each mwanake takes a firebrand, and the country is soon dotted in every direction with small spots of fire.

At such a dance a man was seen carrying a clay figure of the kind described by Mr Routledge. It was not, however, part of the ceremony, and the man who was carrying it in his hand was not dancing. This image is a common feature in dances, but its significance is not known even to the people themselves. Judging from Mr Routledge’s description, therefore, the figure must either have lost its meaning among the Kikuyu west of the Chania, or it must have acquired a new and increased significance in the Kenya area.