The Kamba people, at any rate the Kitui section, have nothing corresponding to the Ku-chiaruo ringi rite of the Kikuyu, but when the child is about six months old it is moved from its mother’s bed and thenceforward sleeps on a little bed by itself. If the husband cohabits with his wife during this period the child has to be placed on the mother’s back.
Circumcision.—As previously mentioned, the A-Kikuyu are circumcised according to two systems, some according to one and some according to the other. [[80]]
- (1) Ku-ruithia ukabi, i.e., Masai fashion.
- (2) Ku-ruithia u Kikuyu or Gikuyu, i.e., Kikuyu fashion.
The actual surgical operation is the same, but according to the Masai system the boys stay and sleep in the hut for four days after the operation, and then go out, shoot birds, and wear the skins of the birds on the head and neck. When the new moon appears their heads are shaved, and each one then goes to his home. The head of the village cannot sleep in the hut where the circumcised youths are staying until they are well.
According to the Kikuyu system the youths remain in the hut for eight days; on the day of the operation a sheep is killed, and on the ninth day the father of the children takes them away to their homes. The head of the village sleeps in the hut where the youths stay after the operation has taken place.
KIKUYU CIRCUMCISION FEAST.
SUGAR CANES OVER VILLAGE GATE.
EATING CEREMONIAL FOOD.