The Maragoli, or Logoli (Ava-Logooli), are now the second-largest ethnic group of the 6 million-strong Luhya nation in Kenya, numbering around 2.1 million, or 15% of the Luhya people according to the last Kenyan census. Their language is called Logoli, Lulogooli, Ululogooli, or Maragoli. The name Maragoli probably emerged later on after interaction of the people with missionaries of the Quaker Church.[citation needed]
Maragoli also refers to the area that the descendants of a man called Mulogooli (also known as Maragoli) settled and occupied in the thirteenth century AD in the vast lands of vihiga county. Maragolis occupy the largest part of vihiga followed by Abanyore then Tiriki sub tribes.Maragoli clans include the va- masingira,Va-Gonda, Va-Mavi, Va-Sachi, Va-Saniaga, Va-Vulughi, Va-Ndega, Va-sari, Va-ng'ang'a, Va-Yonga,va-twa, va-gisemba... (The prefix Va- refers to the people or descendants, and is sometimes written as Ba-, Ava-, or Aba-.)
Maragolis have a unique culture that is rather simple but complex to other Luhya subtribes. It is believed that Lulogooli dialect is not easily understood by other Luhya subtribes, but Maragolis literally understand most of the languages in Luhya land. Many Maragolis have migrated to other areas due to land scarcity and have formed settlements in Transoia, Lugari District. Because Maragolis value their lineage, they have transferred their own local names to the places they have currently occupied. In short, they have cloned their own places so as to preserve their identity. They also name their children after their ancestors.
Origins
Oral history
[1] Maragoli history records a migration from northeast Africa. The story of the Maragoli people begins with a man called Mulogoli. He was descended from Kintu, who led the progenitors of the Luhya to their current area from an area they called Misri, now known commonly as Northern Sudan and Egypt.
When the Luhya progenitors first arrived in what is now northern Kenya, Southern Ethiopia and Southern Sudan, the ruler of the Luhyas at the time was Kitanga. The Turkana people later came to occupy the area where the Luhya ancestors had settled, and called it Lok-Kitang meaning 'the place of Kitang.' (Lokitaung is a modern town in northwestern Kenya).[2]
Mulogoli was born from the union of Andimi and Mwanzu. Andimi had three wives: Mwanzu the mother of Mulogoli; Amugovolie who had no children and Ndiegu the mother of Mwenje or Anyole (these are the Wanyore, who inhabit Vihiga district together with the Maragoli). The Nyores and Maragoli are one; they are from the same stock, the stock of Andimi. Mulogoli had a wife called Khaliyesa. She had four male children. These four make up the four major clans. The children were Musaali; Kizungu; Kilima and M'mavi.
In Maragoli, the word Abaluhya or Avaluhya means "the people of the north", "the people of the higher place", "the people from the north", or simply "northerners".
Luhya ancestors moved further south, probably along the Turkwel river. The Turkwel's principal source is the Suam river. Luhyas, a people who needed a constant source of water for their crops, animals and various industries like metalworking, and building, kept moving along the Suam River depending on various environmental or human triggers, into what is now western Kenya and eastern Uganda, and settled near the source of that river, Mt. Elgon.
They displaced a people akin to the Khoisan of southern Africa[3] and settled in their current homeland of what is now western Kenya. The Maragoli people lived in and built what are now the stone ruins of Thimlich Ohinga before the Luo moved into the area and settled.[citation needed]
Culture
Luhya culture is comparable to most Bantu cultural practices. Polygamy was a common practice in the past but today, it is only practised by a few people. However, the Avalogooli people were traditionally monogamous like the patriarch Mulogooli. Marriage was especially significant for young men as they were not allowed to own property before marriage.
About 10 to 15 families traditionally made up a village, presided by a village headman – ligutu. Ligutu/rigutu means 'the hearer/ear' – as such a ligutu can judge. Within a family, the man of the home was the ultimate authority, followed by his first-born son. In a polygamous family, the first wife held the most prestigious position among women.
The first-born son of the first wife was usually the main heir to his father, even if he happened to be younger than his half-brothers from his father's other wives. Daughters had no permanent position in Luhya families as they would eventually become other men's wives. They did not inherit property, and were excluded from decision-making meetings within the family. Today, women can inherit property and often make decisions on behalf of their families as per the judgement of Kenyan law and individual families.
Children are named after the clan's ancestors, or after their grandparents, or after events or the weather. The paternal grandparents take precedence, so that the first-born son will usually be named after his paternal grandfather (guka/guga), while the first-born daughter will be named after her paternal grandmother (guku).
Subsequent children may be named after maternal grandparents or after significant events. Some Maragoli names have particular meanings whereas others do not. For instance, names like Injugu (born during groundnut harvesting), Kabwoni (born during sweet potato harvesting) and Anzala (born during extreme drought) have meanings. Other names like Afandi, Inziria, Mwachi, Aliviza and Asava have no known meaning. Names of events are also common. For example, Imbarambara (born during road construction), Msuruve (born when a white missionary called Miss Reeves first came to Maragoli land) and Sirinji (born when money was first introduced in the land).
Traditionally, Luhyas practised arranged marriage. The parents of a boy would approach the parents of a girl to ask for her hand in marriage. If the girl agreed, negotiations for dowry would begin. Typically, this would be 12 cattle and similar numbers of sheep or goats, to be paid by the groom's parents to the bride's family. Once the dowry was delivered, the girl was fetched by the groom's sisters to begin her new life as a wife.
Instances of eloping were and are still common. Young men would elope with willing girls, with negotiations for dowry to be conducted later. In such cases, the young man would also pay a fine to the parents of the girl. In rare cases abductions were normal but the young man had to pay a fine. As polygamy was allowed, a middle-aged man would typically have 2 to 3 wives.
When a man got very old and handed over the running of his homestead to his sons, the sons would sometimes find a young girl for the old man to marry. Such girls were normally those who could not find men to marry them, usually because they had children out of wedlock. Wife inheritance was and is also practised. A widow would normally be inherited by her husband's brother or cousin. Today, wife inheritance is uncommon to non-existent.
In some cases, the eldest son would also inherit his father's widows (though not his own mother). Modern day Luhyas do not practice some traditional customs as most have adopted the Christian way of life. Many Luhyas also live in urban towns and cities for most of their lives and only return to settle in the rural areas after retirement or the death of parents in the rural areas.
The Luhya had extensive customs surrounding death. There would be a great celebration at the home of the deceased, with mourning lasting up to forty days. If the deceased was a wealthy or influential man, a big tree would be uprooted and the deceased would be buried there. After the burial another tree, mukumu, would be planted. This was a sacred tree and is found along most Luhya migration paths; it could only be planted by a righteous woman, typically a virgin or an elderly woman).
Nowadays, mourning takes shorter periods of time (about one week) and the celebrations are held at the time of burial. Ovogogo and rovego are post-burial ceremonies held to complete mourning rites.
Animal sacrifices were also traditionally practised. There was great fear of the avaroji (witches) and babini (wizards). These were "night-runners" who prowled in the nude, running from one house to another casting spells.
Most modern day Luhyas are Christians and for some, if not all, the word for God is Nyasaye or Nyasae.
The word Nyasae when translated into English roughly corresponds with Nya (of) and Asae/Asaye/Sae/Saye (God). The Luhya traditionally worshipped a god of the same name. When Christianity was first introduced in the early 1900s by various Christian missionaries from Europe and America, the Luhya took the name of their traditional god, Nyasae and gave that name to the Christian god. The first Luhyas who were converted to Christianity took words that defined some aspects of their religious traditions and applied them to Christ and the Christian god.
The first Bible translation in the Luhya language was produced by Nicholas Stamp in the Wanga dialect. Osundwa says he made this translation in Mumias, the former capital of the Wanga kingdom of Mumia. There has been a strong Christian witness among the Luhya in the twentieth century. A religious sect known as Dini ya Msambwa was founded by Elijah Masinde in 1948. They worship Were, the god of Mount Elgon, while at the same time using portions of the Bible to teach their converts. They also practice traditional arts, termed witchcraft. The movement originally arose as part of anti-colonial resistance.
Various sources estimate that the Luhya are 75–90% professing Christians.[4]
Traditionally, circumcision was a period of training for adult responsibilities for the youth. Among the Kakamega Luhya, circumcision was carried out every four or five years, depending on the clan. This resulted in various age sets, notably Kolongolo, Kananachi, Kikwameti, Kinyikeu, Nyange, Maina, and Sawa in that order.
The Abanyala living in Navakholo have an initiation of their young boys every other year, notably an even year. The initiates were about 8 to 13 years old, and the ceremony was followed by a period of seclusion for the initiates. On their coming out of seclusion, there would be a feast in the village, followed by a period of counselling by a group of elders.
The newly initiated youths would then build bachelor huts for each other called simba or esimba where they would stay until they were old enough to become warriors. This kind of initiation is no longer practised among the Kakamega Luhya, except for the Tiriki. Nowadays, the initiates are usually circumcised in hospital for health reasons and there is no seclusion period. On healing, a party is held for the initiate – who then usually goes back to school to continue with his studies. Among the Bukusu, the Tachoni and to a much lesser extent the Nyala and the Kabras, the traditional methods of initiation persist. Circumcision is held every even year in August and December (the latter only among the Tachoni and the Kabras), and the initiates are typically 11 to 15 years. Traditions have however changed with the dynamics of life, and currently, like most communities in Kenya, boys are initiated at the time the parent feels appropriate and is now usually done during infancy with symbolic rites of passage during their preteen years.
Economic activities
The Luhya are traditionally agriculturalists, and they grow different crops depending on the region. Close to Lake Victoria, the Saamia are mainly fishermen and traders, with their main agricultural activity being the growing of cassava. The Bukusu and the Wanga are mainly cash crop farmers, raising sugar cane in the Bungoma and Mumias areas respectively. The Bukusu also farm wheat in the region around Kitale. The Isukha of Kakamega area and the Maragoli of Vihiga raise tea, while the rocky land of the Nyore is used to harvest stones and gravel for construction. In Bukura area, the Khisa are small scale and only subsistence maize farmers. They also rear cattle, sheep, goats and chicken on a small scale. The Kabras of Malava area mainly grow maize at subsistence levels, with a few also farming sugar cane.
With the rapid modernisation of Kenya, many young Luhya people have emigrated to Nairobi and other towns in search of work.
Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the Equator. It is the headquarters of Kakamega County that has a population of 1,867,579.
The Luhya comprise a number of Bantu ethnic groups native to western Kenya. They are divided into 20 culturally and linguistically related tribes.
The Bukusu people are one of the seventeen Kenyan tribes of the Luhya Bantu people of East Africa residing mainly in the counties of Bungoma and Trans Nzoia. They are closely related to other Luhya people and the Gisu of Uganda. Calling themselves BaBukusu, they are the largest tribe of the Luhya nation, making up about 34% of the Luhya population. They speak the Bukusu dialect.
After the 2013 general election, and the coming into effect of the new constitution, provinces became defunct and the country was now divided into 47 counties. Each county has its own government and therefore there is no central regional capital. Western Province became the Western region, comprising four counties: Kakamega, Bungoma, Vihiga, and Busia.
Bukusu is a dialect of the Masaba language spoken by the Bukusu tribe of the Luhya people of western Kenya. It is one of several ethnically Luhya dialects; however, it is more closely related to the Gisu dialect of Masaaba in eastern Uganda than it is to other languages spoken by the Luhya.
Vihiga is a town in Kenya located on the eastern side of the Kakamega Forest.
The Gisu people, or Bamasaba people of Elgon, are a Bantu tribe of the Masaba people of eastern Uganda, closely related to the Bukusu people of Kenya. Bamasaba live mainly in the Mbale District of Uganda on the slopes of Mount Elgon.
Matungu is a small town in the Western Province of Kenya. It is located in the Kakamega County.
Mumias is a town in Kakamega County of Kenya. The town has an urban population of 116,358 . Mumias was the centre of the Mumias District. The town is linked by road to Kakamega, Busia (west), Bungoma (north), Butere (south). The village of Buchinga is located between Mumias and Kakamega.
Mbale is a town in Kenya. It is the capital and largest town of Vihiga County. It is also called Maragoli, after the indigenous inhabitants of the area.
Bunyore is a locality in the Vihiga County in the western province of Kenya. It is largely inhabited by Luhya, who speak the OLunyole dialect of the Luhya language. In the local language, the place is known as Ebunyore and its people as the Abanyore. It is divided into eight locations namely Central Bunyore, West Bunyore, South Bunyore, South-West Bunyore, East Bunyore, North Bunyore, North East Bunyore, and Wekhomo. Prior to 1990, Bunyore was under Kakamega District, divided into East and West Bunyore locations. As population increased, the former West Bunyore was split into Central, West, South and South West locations while the former East Bunyore was split into North, North East, Wekhomo and East Bunyore locations in order to better serve the people.
The Tachoni are Kalenjin who were assimilated by the Luhya people of western Kenya, sharing the land with the Bukusu tribe. They live mainly in Webuye, Chetambe Hills, Ndivisi Matete sub-county and Lugari sub-county in Kakamega County. Most Tachoni clans living in Bungoma speak the ' Olutachoni dialect of the Luhya language, and they are subsequently often mistaken as Bukusus. They spread to Trans-Nzoia County especially around Kitale, and to Uasin Gishu County near Turbo, Eldoret. Among the Tachoni clans are Abakobolo, Abamuongo, Abamarakalu, Abangachi, Abasang'alo, Abasamo, Abayumbu, Abamuchembi, Abachambai, Abacharia, Abakabini, Abamakhuli, Abasioya, Abaabichu, Abamachina, Abamutama, Abakafusi, Abasonge, Abasaniaka, Abaabiya, Abakubwayi, Abamweya, Abachimuluku. Note that the morpheme 'aba' means 'people'. The Abakhusia/abasamo of Kabras are also Tachonis who speak Kikabras.
Tiriki is one of sixteen clans and dialects of the Abaluyia People of Western Kenya. The word Tiriki is also used to refer to their Geographical Location in Hamisi Division, Vihiga County, in the Western province of Kenya. Hamisi Constituency now Hamisi Sub County is one of the longest in Kenya stretching from kiboswa(Ny'angori) to Shiru which borders Kapsabet and Musunji which borders Kakamega Forest.
The Kabras, or Kabarasi, are a subtribe of the Luhya people of Kenya. They reside in Malava that is in the Kabras Division of Kakamega District, which is neighboured by the Isukha, Banyala, Tsotso, and the Tachoni. The exact origin of the Luhya people is currently disputed, but there are historians who believe that the group came from Bethlehem and migrated to their present-day location by way of the so-called Great Bantu Migration.
The Khayo is a sub tribe of the Luhya people of Kenya. They reside in Busia County, by the Kenya-Uganda border. Their Luhya neighbors are the Samia, Marachi, Wanga and Bukusu. The Bakhayo border the Bukusu on the East, the Republic of Uganda and Samias on the West, the Marachi on the South and the Wanga on the South East. On their north, they are bordered by the Iteso, a non-Luhya Nilotic people of Kenya.
The Kisa, also known as Abakisa or Abashisa, are one of the sixteen tribes of the Luhya nation of Kenya. They occupy the Kisa area within the Khwisero division of Butere-Mumias district. The Kisa are sandwiched between the Marama of Butere, the Idakho of Kakamega and the Nyore of Vihiga district.
The Marama, also known as Abamarama, are a Luhya tribe occupying Marama Location in Kakamega District of the western province of Kenya. The town of Butere is located in west Marama and is a significant trading centre in Kakamega. They are said to have assimilated the Abashikunga sub tribe.
Nabongo Mumia Shiundu was a prince who became 17th King of the Wanga Kingdom, a pre-colonial kingdom in Kenya prominent for being a centralised, highly organised kingdom and the most advanced form of government in terms of politics, economy and military in pre-colonial Kenya. He later became paramount chief of an expansive region of Kenya at the beginning of British imposition of colonial rule in East Africa.
The Wanga kingdom is a Bantu kingdom within Kenya, consisting of the Wanga (Abawanga) tribe of the Luhya people (Abaluyia). At its peak the kingdom covered an expansive area from Jinja in west to Naivasha in the East African Rift. The Wanga kingdom was a significant African empire and the most organized structure of government in pre-colonial Kenya politically, economically, and militarily.
Nabongo Wanga was the founding father of the today's Wanga subtribe of the Luhya tribe of Kenya. He was born around 1050 A.D. His reign was between 1100 A.D. to his death around 1140 A.D.
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