How Kikuyus Conceptualized Time.

Seasons, Age-groups and Age-sets

Keeping chronology and the passage of time in a society where there was no writing can seem like quite a task in today’s world. African tribes however, adapted ways to not only record time but to predict seasons and weather patterns. Advanced calendars, synchronized with celestial events kept people on time. Festivals, cultivation, raids and even leadership terms hinged on these calendars. I have leveraged on the extensive research on the Kikuyu tribe to present an example of this.

Times of the day were marked based on the position of the sun. Morning is called rucini/ irathîro literally meaning ‘sunrise’. When the livestock had been grazing in the fields they would seek shade from the trees to nap at around noon or lunchtime. This period was called mîaraho ie naptime. The evenings were known as hûaini/ ithûîro. Hûaini translates to ‘in the flower’- a description of the sunset. Ûtukû is nightime.

Kikuyu cultivation

As an agricultural tribe, the Kikuyu calendar was dictated by the rainfall seasons and named from the crops planted in each. There were two seasons each called a mwaka/kîmera; what we would consider a year in todays terms. Unlike Gregorian years though, each kîmera was about 6 months long. A kîmera was divided into about 9 parts. This differs depending on the consulted source. The two seasons (imera) also varied in length. Even today, we have the long rains and the short rains.

First we have kîmera kîa njahî or the season of black beans. This is the long rains season from March to September. During this period, Kikuyus planted blackbeans (njahî) and it is from this factor that the season got its name. Then there was kîmera kîa mwere. It refers to the short rains period starting from October to February. Mwere is Kikuyu for bulrush millet which was the principle crop of this period.

Bulrush millet.

Kikuyu lunar months

1. Kîhu- This means ‘a big pregnancy’ alluding to the heavy clouds associated with this season. Unlike the Gregorian calendar which starts with the dry month of January, the Kikuyu year began with the abundance of rain. Corresponding roughly with the second half of March to February in the first kîmera, it was a month that was met with celebration when the rains fell or despair if the rains failed. Another reason to celebrate was, the rains marked the end of the raiding season because Kikuyu’s archenemy, the Maasai, rarely raided during the rains.

2. Wathima- From April-May or the first half of November depending on the kîmera.

3. Gathano- May-June or the second half of November. In A Political History of Murang’a, Mukaru Ng’ang’a notes this as a foggy period especially in the regions adjacent to the Nyandarua Ranges. In these areas, the entire foggy season up to around August was known as Gathano.

   

   Gathano foggy season as seen today in Murang’a

4. Mûthaatû- Last half of June. During this period, the crops in the farms would began to flower.

5. Mûgîra Njara- the first half of July. A very cold period. It was less defined in kîmera kîa mwere often being counted together with surrounding months. Weeding on the farm would take place in this month.

6. Gacicia also called Gathano ka Rũgũru- Last part of July or November depending on the season. In the Njahî season, the southern parts of Kikuyu-land around Kiambu would experience fog commensurate with Gathano described above.

7. Mwûria nyoni- This was the period when the crops in the farm were almost ready for harvest usually around August or December depending on the season. Children would be sent to the farm to scare and hurl stones at the birds threatening the crops. The harvest would usually take place around this season

8. Kagaa- One of the warmer months of the season. Was around August or January. Was accompanied by feasts and important ceremonies like circumsicion (irua)

9. Mûgaa- the last month of each season. Marked by intense raiding.

Age-group System

The initiation ceremony which was carried out in kîmera kîa mwere served as an annual milestone. Individuals who were initiated at the same time belonged to the same age-group which would be named and used to demarcate time and reference events that took place during that period. In With a Prehistoric People, Scoresby Routledge studying the Kikuyu in Nyeri, noted that each name given to an age group describes an important event that took place that year.

Here are some examples from the plague-stricken decade of 1890-1900

• Ngigî (1892)- there was a large invasion of locusts (ngigî) which affected the food production of the short rains season.

• Nyongo. (1893) -This is the year rinderpest struck cattle in East Africa. Nyongo was the Kikuyu name for that disease

• Nûthi (1898) - The year of the jigger.

Age-set System

An age-set or riika refers to a generation and is the largest time-period used. A riika encompassed several age-groups who were combined to form one military regiment. Indeed, apart from marking time, the riika system served to supply the tribe with warriors as discussed in previous posts.

As the warriors climbed the ranks, they would mature enough to join the council of elders. They took over the leadership of the tribe and become the ruling age-set in a widely celebrated ceremony known as itûîka. Ridge by ridge, the new generation would take up leadership in a process that would take over a year as the change took effect across the land.

Kikuyu warriors of the Junior class.

According to A History of the Kikuyu by Godfrey Muriuki, the riika was named as the generation was marked such that people would refer to ‘at the time of Maina’ in reference to when the Maina age-set was in power for instance. One could also say ‘it happened when the Iregi were warriors’ meaning the Iregi ageset had not yet taken leadership but formed the warrior class. Just like months and agesets, the specific order of age-groups varied from source to source. Even the corresponding years are estimates which may be off for as many as 5 years considering we are comparing different calendar systems.

• Mwangi (1898-) - The last ageset in Kikuyu. Took power quite late having been delayed for long due to interference from the colonial government. The likes of Senior Chief Koinange belonged to this age-set.

• Maina (1862-1897)- This age set witnessed first contact with the European as well as the accompanying plagues. The Maasai Civil Wars we discussed were also fought during this period resulting in an influx of Maasai refugees into Kikuyu land. This age set is not to be confused with the Maina ageset of the Kalenjin which existed in an earlier period but was eventually decommissioned.

• Iregi (1827-1861)- The Iregi is remembered in Kikuyu tradition as the greatest ageset. In The Somali Problem, we mentioned that it is during their reign that the Somali attempted to invade Kikuyu land. The vanquishing of the Cushitic tribe added a lot of prestige to the tribe especially in the Nyeri region. The legendary battle of Sagana referenced in Kenya’s Lost Tribes was also fought and won by this age-set summarily annihilating the entire of pygmy people known as the Gumba.

  The Somali Problem

  What this ageset is remembered for the most however, is the rebellious nature of its members. Iregi is from the kikuyu verb kûrega meaning ‘to defy’ or ‘to refuse’. Immediately after the itûîka ceremony was complete, the age set began to cause a stir that would shift the very fabric of Kikuyu culture.

  According to oral tradition, up until this ageset took power, Kikuyu was a matriarchal society. Men were oppressed under women’s rule. The Iregi plotted to overthrow this rule and the processes with which they did so gave birth to many of the existing Kikuyu leadership institutions. They would sit for long in the forest plotting the coup, an activity that eventually bore the kiama (council of elders). The length of these proceedings necessitated nourishment. A goat would be carried for slaughter and eating. A rite that persisted even after their mission was complete(mburi ya kiama).

  Legend has it that they impregnated all their wives at the same time and pit them in fights against each other a month before they were due. In this weakened state, the men took over leadership turning Kikuyu society into a patriarchy while simultaneously doubling the population. Men now exercised full authority over livestock, land and women. To safeguard this, men began to pay dowry, while previously it was the women who did. Further, the Kiama was officiated becoming the official ruling organ of Kikuyu politics. The format of the homestead was changed. Men stayed in their own separate hut (thingira) from whence they would meet with their sons to mentor them in the ways of a Kikuyu man.

  

  Kiama in session

  The Iregi were a legendary ageset credited with bringing about a political revolution. Kiama literally means ‘miracle’ signifying the impossibility of the task they had set their minds to and yet they accomplished it. Although it is translated to ‘Council of Elders’ the kiama should be referred to as the Council of Truth.

  Gûtirî wa Iregi atûire is a Kikuyu proverb which means to ‘no one of the Iregi ageset is still alive’. This saying was used to inspire courage in the face of certain death especially during the Maumau war. If all members of the great Iregi ageset eventually died, surely death is coming for everyone sooner or later.

• Ndemi (1792-1826)- Ndemi comes from the verb ‘gûtema’ meaning ‘to cut’. This alludes to cutting trees ie. clearing bush for settlement. Apart from expanding further away from Murang’a, it is during the reign of this industrious ageset that Kikuyus crossed the South Chania River into what became the territory of Kiambu. The arable forested region was occupied by the hunter-gatherer tribe known as Ndorobo or Ogiek or Athi.

  Through an elaborate series of ceremonies and intermarriages, the Kiambu land was bought and occupied ridge by ridge by Kikuyus. No wars of conquest were fought. These ceremonies are partly responsible for the absorption of the Ndorobo tribe into Kikuyu.

  The north and westward expansion of the Kikuyu in this period is also responsible for the escalation of conflict with the extinct forest dwelling pygmy tribe known as the Gumba. A conflict that culminated in the Battle of Sagana fought by the successive ageset. More of this in Kenya’s Lost Tribes

  

  A pygmy tribe in Central Africa likely related to the Gumba.

• Mathathi (1757-1791)- A lot of Kikuyu folklore is based on this period which is often referenced together with the successor (Ndemi na Mathathi). According to tradition, the ageset was taking up from a period when the Kikuyu male demographic had sunk deep into alcohol abuse resulting in the supremacy of the fairer sex. The stratification that was eventually undone by the Iregi.

  Thathi is the soup made from boiling meat. This technique of cuisine was adopted from the Maasai. Medicinal ingredients could be cooked into the soup creating elixirs and portions that went down easier. The age-set is credited with replacing the notorious Ciira ageset remembered for its moral promiscuity and endless judicial disagreements (ciira- means cases).

  

  Kikuyu men infront of a thingira with an ewe and kid

  Further back were agesets like the Cuuma- during which iron working was adopted from the Cushites and Tene which is used to refer to events that happened ‘long ago’.

  Note: Both age sets and age groups were referred to as riika.

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