Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Sections/Categories of posts
Monday, April 16, 2012
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.
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.
Friday, February 26, 2010
The Kamba people
The Kamba are a tribe of the Bantu language sub-group, their ancestral territory being the Ukambani area of Eastern province of Kenya. Ukambani has four main districts; Machakos, Makueni, Kitui and Mwingi. Or following the more recent demarcations, Ukambani has 3 counties; Kitui, Machakos and Makueni (im looking to insert map of this territory; help). From their ancestral territory, the Kamba have spread.
Outside Ukambani, a significant kamba population resides in the Rift Valley and Coast Provinces of Kenya; in Kitengela, Loitoktok, Taita taveta and Shimba Hills. Significant numbers of Kamba people reside/work in all major towns of Kenya.
Reportedly, a small population of Kambas lives in Tanzania; across the border from the Kenyan town of Lungalunga. In a visit to Daresalaam, I met a few Kambas living there and one talked about a small population there.There are probably other pockets of Kamba population in a few more African countries, like Zambia, Ethiopia, Uganda and DRC. Outside Africa, it is reported there are Kambas in Paraguay; called Kamba Cua; whose origins can be traced to the Kambas through slave trade induced migration and wars of past centuries.
Older folks tell me the Kamba migrated into Kenya from Tanzania (the Mt Kilimanjaro area) and passed through Kyulu hills to first settle in Mbooni hills and Kilungu hills before later dispersing to all the other areas of Ukambani.The probable origins will likely be DRC through northern Tanzania into their ancestral lands in Kenya. It is difficult to establish when they became a distinct tribe with a separate language and culture; whether in DRC or during their migration or upon settling in Kenya because they (and most African tribes) handed down their history orally and used events to mark time as opposed to a calender. But by the 1840's, when the first missionaries traversed their ancestral lands, they report finding an homogenous and distinct tribe. I would speculate, based on genealogy I received, that by the 1500's the Kamba were an homogenous and separate tribe of people already settled in their ancestral lands.
In 2019, there are nearly 5 million Kambas in Kenya; based on the 2019 Kenya National Census figure (4.7M).
Outside Ukambani, a significant kamba population resides in the Rift Valley and Coast Provinces of Kenya; in Kitengela, Loitoktok, Taita taveta and Shimba Hills. Significant numbers of Kamba people reside/work in all major towns of Kenya.
Reportedly, a small population of Kambas lives in Tanzania; across the border from the Kenyan town of Lungalunga. In a visit to Daresalaam, I met a few Kambas living there and one talked about a small population there.There are probably other pockets of Kamba population in a few more African countries, like Zambia, Ethiopia, Uganda and DRC. Outside Africa, it is reported there are Kambas in Paraguay; called Kamba Cua; whose origins can be traced to the Kambas through slave trade induced migration and wars of past centuries.
Older folks tell me the Kamba migrated into Kenya from Tanzania (the Mt Kilimanjaro area) and passed through Kyulu hills to first settle in Mbooni hills and Kilungu hills before later dispersing to all the other areas of Ukambani.The probable origins will likely be DRC through northern Tanzania into their ancestral lands in Kenya. It is difficult to establish when they became a distinct tribe with a separate language and culture; whether in DRC or during their migration or upon settling in Kenya because they (and most African tribes) handed down their history orally and used events to mark time as opposed to a calender. But by the 1840's, when the first missionaries traversed their ancestral lands, they report finding an homogenous and distinct tribe. I would speculate, based on genealogy I received, that by the 1500's the Kamba were an homogenous and separate tribe of people already settled in their ancestral lands.
In 2019, there are nearly 5 million Kambas in Kenya; based on the 2019 Kenya National Census figure (4.7M).
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