Kamba woods/trees

Some native trees and their uses.

1. Mukau: wood
2. Kitungu: Live fence, wood?
3. Muuku/Kiuuku: Traditional mortars and pestles (ndii na mithi), fuel tree for traditional brick kilns (kuvivya ndumbia), leaves are a last resort food for cattle and goats in drought times, firewood
4. Kilaa: fuel tree for traditional brick kilns (kuvivya ndumbia), leaves great food for goats, fruit pods greatly loved by cattle and goats during summer months (August, september), firewood
5. Kinina: one of the best fuel tree for traditional brick kilns (kuvivya ndumbia), riverine plant good for stemying soil erosion at river banks and depressions (matwiku), leaves are a last resort food for cattle and goats in drought times, firewood
6. Kiatine: the treated fruit is used in fermenting sugarcane juice/honey/sugar solutions to make traditional beer (kaluvu)
7. Kitithi/Mutithi: Good for firewood
8. Itula: Nice red wood, live fence?
9. Musemei: leaves great food for goats, fruit pods greatly loved by cattle and goats during summer months (August, september), firewood
10. Kikuyu/Mukuyu: riverine plant good for stemying soil erosion at river banks and depressions (matwiku) truly majestic when mature
11. Kyumbu: riverine plant good for stemying soil erosion at river banks and depressions (matwiku)? truly majestic when mature
12. Kitoo: wild fruit tree, fruits very yummy, honey harvesting by bees?
13. Kilului: leaves are a last resort food for cattle and goats in drought times, one of the best fuel tree for traditional brick kilns (kuvivya ndumbia), goats and sheep love chewing on the fruit during summer months (August, September)
14. Kyuasi: Inner bark produces red dye for use in dying sisal fibre. Truly majestic when mature
15. Ikonge (Agave sisalana): Leaves are squeezed in an implement called Kikunio to produce white fibre. Fibre is used to make ropes, sacks and baskets (syondo). Cattle chew on the leaves during extreme drought.
16. Kithulu (Croton Megalocarpus): Nothing great to say about this tree other than I have one in my kyuu kya n'gombe. Seriously dries up area around its base. No grass, beans, maize...nothing will grow there. I think it's a bad tree, though I have seen cattle and goats chew on the seeds during extreme drought.

Kamba wild fruit

😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋 There are many useful fruits that grow in the wild. Children and others used to eat them when herding cattle, fetching firewood, going to fetch water in the stream or strolling around the bush and country roads. I will list some i remember, or hear of from other people. To my knowledge, none of these is poisonous. May have some value if consumed eg nutritional, nostalgic etc.

1. Ndavisi: Fruit of Mutavisi (Lantana Camara) tree. Small berries black when ripe and green when not ripe. Chew the ripe berries and swallow concentrate/pulp, spitting out broken seed and debris. Very sweet.
2. Ngaatu: Bulbous fruit of a grass species. We ate this one when we begun getting hungry at 11ish 12ish when herding. mildly salty, likely replenishes body salts.
3. Ngalawa: Fruit of Kikalawa tree. Small round fruit, yellow when ripe green when not ripe. Chew on ripe fruit to extract and swallow fibrous sweet pulp.
4. Ngomoa: Fruit of Kikomoa tree. Round fruit, brown skin when ripe green skin when not ripe. Pierce open ripe fruit by biting. Chew skin and seeds inside to extract and swallow very sweet and dense pulp.
5. Mamee: Fruit of Kimee tree. Round green fruit, test for ripeness by shaking fruit. You will hear the sound of loose seed, pulp and juice hitting on the shell from inside. Crack open by hitting on/with rock/metal or other hard surface. Slurp down yummy contents, spitting out the seeds.
6. Namba: Fruit of Kiamba (Adansonia Digitata) tree. Ovalish fruit with hard brown shell when ripe. Crack inside for whitish grey fibrous and pulpy seeds and enjoy. Spit out seeds after sucking pulp. Enjoy in moderation to avoid developing sensitivity on teeth.
7. Muu: Fruit of Kimuu tree. Small round fruit, black when ripe green when not ripe. Chew on ripe fruit to extract and swallow deeply rich and yummy black pulp. Beware goring by a warthog when harvesting. Warthogs are known to love the fruit immensely.
8. Matoo: Fruit of Kitoo tree. Small round fruit, green fruit bursts and releases sweet aroma in surrounding air when ripe. Chew on ripe fruit to extract and swallow deeply rich, sticky and yummy golden brown thick juice. Be patient with the chewing bit, it can exercise your jaws quite a bit. Spit out dry white debris after enjoying.
9. Ndului: Fruit of Kilului tree. Small oval fruit with hard pulpy and very fibrous seed, yellowish when ripe green when not ripe. Remove skin and chew on ripe seed to extract sweet pulp and fibre. Spit seed after.

Kamba medicine

This one is about traditional Kamba medicine. They were herbal concotions that the ancestors used to address the diseases of their time. This is not medical advice, discretion is advised for anyone who wants to use. In time, i will broaden this to include more Kamba and other traditional African remedies people speak about. Sometimes I include the anecdote as it was related to me. Kamba/African name/s written first. Botanical name, where available, follows in italics. Then the disease/s treated, mode of preparation/consumption and finally anecdote, where available, in italics and quotes. If possible, I will include photos of these herbs in future. 1. Munzee (Kamba), Bidens Pilosa: Eye diseases ie aching eyes, eyes with pus, clogged eyes (uyiwa metho ta me ivuti). Pound leaves, add little water, press to drop juice drops in both eyes. "Munzee ni ndawa nzeo ya metho mayalya, me masovi kana uyiwa ta me ivuti. Kima matu, ongela kalwu na uiviviiya metho" - Wayua July 7 2019 2. Muthingii (Kamba): Hearing loss, ear disease. Pound leaves, add little water, press to drop juice drop/s in both ears. NB: For eye and ear treatments, treat both even when only one is affected. "Ngenda kwathana miti ya ndawa ite nzika, ukethia mundu umiseuvya ndawa alika mbesani imwe, nina ili; munzee na muthingii. Muthingii ni ndawa ya matu malindanu. Kima matu, viva ilovoto wikie matu eli onetha ni kumwe kuwau. Ni munini nai mulindanu matu ukethia ndiiwa. Natembeiie kundu kwingi na mwaitu (Kalama) nginya twesa ukomana na kiveti kimwe ki kyandiitie na muthingii na nzia ino" - Wayua July 7 2019 3. Musavula (Kamba): Diarrhoearing and vomiting blood, Wounds. Mix (pounded leaves?) with blood and "muyoo wa imaa" and drink concotion for condition 1. Eat leaves and seeds for condition 2. "Musavula ni ndawa nzeo vyu. Uvulanasya na nthakame na muyoo wa imaa. Mundu ukwituwaa na utavika nthakame aivoa itina wa isaa. ndawa isu niyo twaitie mwiitu wa Kioko wa Muambi nayo. Kuisaa musavula, matu na i ngii, ni kuiitaa itau"-Bosco July 7 2019 4. Musemei (Kamba): Flu. Boil the inner bark in water/bone soup/other food to prevent and treat flu. 5. Mutaa (Kamba): Constipation. Pound leaves, add water, extract juice and drink. 6. Mauta ma n'gombe (Kamba): Stomach ache. Heat over charcoal. Apply on stomach, massage/knead with moderate to high pressure for 15-30 minutes. 7. Mumbaume (Kamba): 8. Yiia ya ivavai (Kamba): Toothache. Cut of leaf and drop white milk/sap on aching tooth. 9. Kikuyu (Kamba): Toothache. Drop (leaf juice? sap??) on aching tooth. 10. Ikonge (Kamba) Agave Sisalana: Fresh/not so old wounds. Puond leaves to extract juice. Pour juice on wound. Powerful disinfectant. 11. Mauta ma transformer (African): Fresh burns. Apply thin coat. Cures burns almost instantly. 12. Kiluma (Kamba) Aloe Vera: Malaria. Boil chopped leaf in water. Drink a cup twice or so daily. 13. Mualuvaini (Kamba) Azadirachta Indica: Malaria. Boil chopped leaf in water. Drink a cup twice or so daily. Boil and bath in concotion too. 14. Uti/Muti (Kamba): Constipation. Pound leaves, add water, extract juice and drink. 15. Kyaa kya n'gombe (Kamba): Mosquito repellant. Burn dry cow dung and let smoke circulate inside the room. 16. Songe (Kamba): Temporary sensitive teeth (Ngaati) like when you eat unripe mangoes, body salt replenisher. Chew leaves during condition 1, chew leaves occassionally for condition 2. 17.Ndonga (Western) Potassium permanganate KMnO4: Wounds at any stage. Warm water and put in basin; add and wash wound. Powerful disinfectant.

Kamba life: migration and settlement

On May 5 2012, I queried dad, my mason and Nduki on some aspects of Kamba migration. Dad said that kambas first settled around Mombasa before moving inland. Actually he made postulates about their earlier settlements. Before the 12th century they arrived in the area now called DRC/central africa. In the 14th century, they were already migrating and were in Tanzania. They were herders and farmers. In the 15th century, their migration route had brought them to the Kenyan coast and moved inland. (Some claim the Chaggas,Digos, Taitas, Kambas, kikuyu and likely others left DRC as one tribe/group and have differentiated along the migratory route) The first kamba inland settlement was in the general area covered by mbooni mountains. Apparently settling in mountains was a thing in ancient times. It is claimed there was a fight between 2 clans at Mbooni (Ekuua and Avai should be their names, need to confirm) leading to the first migration. One of these groups moved to the Kilungu mountains. I posit that expansion into areas around these 2 locations (Mukuyuni, Nzaui, Tawa, Mbumbuni, Kaumoni etc) has been organic. Later, some kambas moved to machakos area. The migration to Machakos and beyond is fairly recent; (late 19th century?) early 20th century. Some kambas from Kilungu (and mbooni?), including my grandad, Josephat Musembi Muthwa, moved to Machakos (c.1910) to be employed in white settler farms. Dad claims that the kambas who now occupy the greater kitui (kitui county) migrated from the Mbooni and Kilungu mountains in the 1920s. I said i find this hard to believe because im sure in the 1960s, these people were speaking the present well developed kamba dialect called kithaisu. I do not believe this was developed in 40 or less years. In 1940's (1942), kambas began settling in the part of Makueni district from wote inward/southward. Earlier, this area was uninhabited by humans. Only wild animals and birds; including leopards, rhinos, elephants, hyenas, antelopes, wildebeests, pythons, vultures etc; were found. Probably grandpa moved here with his family in 1947. My dad was born here in 1952. Mutua the mason said that rogue/failed whites are the ones who were sent as adminstrators to this area to oversee its being turned to a human settlement; if not to be killed by the wild animals. Nduki is my neighbor. She is definitely over 90. She was born in Kilungu. Later, their dad moved with the family to machakos area to work and live in the settler farms. This family later moved through kangundo area to kabati (kilimambogo?) area to work and live in the settler farms. She says that coffee and sisal is what the settlers grew in their large scale farms and life was much better than in these modern times. Acceptable housing, food and probably clothing was more easily available. Nduki probably married musyoka mwikuyu in kabati. They moved to makueni in the early years of the settlement. Some of her peers moved from kabati to settle in mwea.

Sections/Categories of posts

I have 3 in mind but this could change. There will be posts about Kamba life. Because this is a broad area of discussion, there will all so be subcategories such as migration and settlement, tribal/community life, kamba wars, dances, medicine etc. There will be posts about the kamba language. Finally, relevant comments and queries will form a category. I'm yet to know how i will tag each post. (suggestion?)

State of Kamba culture today (2012 onwards)

I would be surprised to meet any Kamba who knows or adheres 100% to Kamba culture. Its long been a globalized world where cultures have fused. Many of present Kambas are the modern westernized globalized type whose knowledge of Kamba is, on average, as good as knowledge of another or other cultures. A good example is me. My command of Kamba language, for example, is as good as my command of English and Swahili. No problem there, i feel; its a dynamic world (links to evidence of this modernization).

I therefore will not blog about this modern Kamba. I will blog about the Kamba who lived before and in early colonial times. It is in these times that kamba culture was fully adhered to. I will rely on reliable folklore. Many living Kambas, especially those born before the sixties, have good knowledge of kamba culture (some photos; Dad, Patrick, Nduki, Mbeke etc).

Practically all of Machakos and Makueni counties is modernized. But in remote areas of Makueni and especially Kitui counties; significant levels of Kamba culture are still practiced (map highlighting these areas). I hope to visit and verbally or otherwise capture these for record.

The purpose of the blog

To discourse generally about Kambas and their culture. Discourse on personal specific projects on kamba culture.Thus contribute to documenting and preserving the culture of the Kamba people. I believe this has academic and practical value. No tribal or racist agenda.