Kuria people

Kuria

Total population
260,401 (in Kenya)
Regions with significant populations
Tanzania, Kenya
Languages
Kuria
Religion
African Traditional Religion, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Kisii, Luhya, other Bantu peoples

The Kurya (also known as AbaKurya, as they prefer to call themselves) are a community of Bantu people who inhabit Tanzania and Kenya.

History of the Abakurya and the origin of the name 'Kurya'

The people now known as AbaKurya are of diverse origins and clans. Before the twentieth century, they did not refer to themselves as the AbaKurya but by their various clans, or by the "provinces" from which they came. The Kurya people known as the Abakurya live astride the Kenyan-Tanzanian border and in South Nyanza on the Kenyan side. They are divided into clans (ibiaro) which some researchers refer to as sub-tribes, but they are not real sub-tribes as the differences among the clans are minor. The laws and practices are the same and the language is also the same among all clans with minor variations.

Each clan inhabits a geographically defined area, that is, the clans are localised. Each clan is divided into sub-clans called ibisaku; into generation-sets known as amakora of which there are only eight (8) and the same in all clans; and into age-sets referred to as ichisaro. Every clan has its own council of elders (inchama) who controlled the clan (ikiaro, singular) as political and religious leaders. The Abakurya believed in taboos and superstition and they generally feared punishment from the inchama for not observing the taboos. The punishment could be either death or barrenness or other misfortunes. The Abakurya customary law is made up of rules and practices accepted and sanctioned by the community. The custom had many do's and don'ts (taboos/superstitions) called imigiro. Even the marriage laws were full of taboos and superstition and there was automatic punishment for breaking these imigiro. Hence the laws were followed so strictly both before and after colonization, because after colonization the Abakurya went back to their original life and were not influenced by westernization.

Their strictness made Abakurya marriages (oboteti) binding to the extent that divorce was something almost impossible. Their marriage was potentially polygamous like any other customary marriage in Kenya. Marriage was valued very much, as one way of family sustenance and continuation. As such everybody had to marry and get married. Even for someone who was naturally incapable of marrying on his own like the lunatic, the dead, the cripple (irigata) among others, there was a way of ensuring that there was a wife in his name. There was also a way of caring for the barren or childless through marriage so that their houses would not be extinguished. There was no singlehood as a marital status to adults and as such even the divorcees had to remarry and every man had to marry in order to establish his own home (umugi goe). Also every woman had to be married to establish her own house (inyumba yae). Umugi and inyumba had to be sustained, that is, had to continue growing at whatever cost. All these factors led to certain marriages like ghost marriages, female to female (busino) and others. The stigma and disregard attached to divorcees, and given the fact that everyone had to marry, made people stick to their marriages however frustrating or bad some of them were.

Abakurya in the Present Day

The homeland of the Abakurya is between River Migori to the east and the eastuary of River Mara to the west. The area stretches from Migori District, Kenya on the east to Musoma District, Tanzania on the west. To the south their land borders Transmara District in Kenya and the Nguruimi area in Tanzania. To the north is Lake Victoria, with a small corridor occupied by the Luo and some other Bantu peoples.

The Abakurya are found both in Kenya and Tanzania. In Kenya they live in Kurya East (headquartered in Kegonga) and Kurya West districts (headquartered in Kehancha). In Tanzania they live in Serengeti, Tarime, Musoma town, Musoma rural, Bunda and some parts of Mwanza districts. Mara as a province in Northern Tanzania has mostly been occupied by the Abakurya since recent times.

The immediate neighbours of the Abakurya are the Maasai, Kalenjin (Kipsigis clan in Transmara west), Ikoma, Luo and Suba.

Socially, The Abakurya are divided into several clans which live both in Kenya and in Tanzania. In Kenya, there are 4 clans found: the Abagumbe, Abairege, Abanyabasi and Abakira. In Tanzania there are 13: the Abapemba, Ababurati, Abakira, Abamera, Simbete, Abanyabasi, Watobori, Abakunta, Wiga, Kaboye, Abakenye, Abagumbe and Wasweta, Abatimbaru, with other minor clans.

The Abakurya are traditionally a farming community, mainly planting maize, beans and cassava as food crops. The cash crops grown include coffee and maize. Tobacco has over time been phased as a cash crop among the people. The Kurya also keep cattle and in times past, this used to lead to inter-clan and/or inter-tribal clashes over cattle rustling.

Origin of the name 'Kurya'

The name Kurya seems to have been applied to the whole group by the early colonial chiefs mainly to distinguish them from the other Luoised groups along the southern shores of Lake Victoria who were known as Abasuba (a name which at times also included the Abakurya proper).

The Abagusii state that their ancestors originally came from "Misiri" and that they migrated with the ancestors of the Abakurya, Abalogoli, Ababukusu, and Abasuba and that they lost contact with these people in the Mount Elgon area. The Abagusii and Abalogoli followed river Nzoia Valley which eventually took them to the northern shores of Lake Victoria probably between AD 1500 and 1560. At this early stage there doesn't seem to have been significant differences between the Abagusii, Abakurya, Abalogoli and Abasuba among others. Their distinctive names and identities appear to have developed much later when they had separated into their present homelands.The origin of the name Kurya is a thorny point in Abakurya history. The major Abakurya sub-tribes such as Abanyabasi, Abatimbaru, Abanyamongo, Abakira, Abairegi, Abakenye,Abanchaari, and Abagumbe have traditions to the effect that their ancestor was Mokurya (or Mukurya) who lived in "Misiri". His descendants migrated from "Misiri" and after many years of wandering on the other side of Lake Victoria, they eventually reached and settled in the present Bukurya.

According to this tradition, the Abakurya have been divided from time immemorial into two families: the Abasai of the elder wife of Mokurya and the Abachuma of the younger wife. But this tradition does not explain how the Abakurya people got their generation sets, such as Maina, Nyambiriti, Gamnyeri on the Abasai side, and Mairabe (Norongoro), Gini, Nyangi on the Abachuma side. These generation set names are also found among other people such as the Ababukusu, Kalenjin, Agikuyu, Aembu/Ambeere and Ameru. It is therefore most probable that the early Abakurya people who brought the generation set system into Abakurya society were a splinter group from a much larger community living in the area of Mount Elgon from which the Kalenjin people, a section of the Ababukusu and the Agikuyu clusters emerged. Paul Aseka Abuso in his book A Traditional History of the Abakurya has written thus: Abakurya section of the Abagumbe, Abapemba, Abaasi and Abasonga also state in their tradition that they travelled together with the ancestors of the Kikuyu among other people from Misiri to Lake Baringo in the Kenya Rift Valley where they finally separated. Although Kikuyu history does not corroborate this point it looks as if at one time the ancestors of these people originally lived together in some area north of Mount Elgon. Perhaps the people known as Sirikwa mentioned above were part of that larger ancestral community — or possibly their descendants. This is not yet clear.

The other view of the origin of the name Kurya is as follows. Between about 1774 and 1858, some of the Abakurya people were living in Musoma district in the present Tanzania and were settled in a hilly area north of the River Mara then known as Korea hill. The inhabitants of that area in time became known as Korea people after the name of the hill, which eventually changed to Kurya hill whereby the people became known as the Abakurya. The divergent views on the origin of the name would explain why the name had not gained wide acceptance among the Abakurya even at the beginning of the last century, as people still largely identified themselves by the sub-group names. During the colonial period, it was the name Abatende (after the Abatende clan in Bugumbe area) rather than Abakurya, which was in common use among the Kenya Abakurya. Those living in Tanzania continued to be known by their totems. It is only in about the 1950s that the name Abakurya gained wide usage. In a similar manner the Mijikenda, Abaluyia and Kalenjin became generally accepted as collective ethnic names in the 1940s and 1950s, at a time when in Kenya they were seeking political recognition by the colonial authorities.

The Abakurya people appear to have sprung from too many directions to have a common historical origin, although a number of clans claim to have come from Egypt. The culture of the present Abakurya therefore is an amalgam of many different cultures which may originally have been opposed to each other in content and practice. Among the Abakurya today are found people who were originally from the Kalenjin, Maasai, Bantu and Luo speaking communities.

Between AD 1400 and 1800 when migrations into Bukurya took place, the foundation was laid for the future Abakurya cultural and political developments. Early inhabitants of Bukurya came from both Bantu and Nilotic speakers who brought into Bukurya their peculiar cultures. Predominantly agricultural Bantu came into close contact with predominantly Nilotic pastoralists. Thus a blend of cultures took place among the early inhabitants of Bukurya from the start by combining agricultural practice with pastoral pursuit as well as tendencies towards nomadic life. Today elements of Abakurya agriculture is much like that of the Abagusii and the Luo while in cattle keeping they have borrowed the practices of the Maasai, Zanaki and Nguruimi.

Before the population had increased very much, it appears that a number of the Abakurya communities developed independently without many interactions with the others. Many of those who lived at the foothills of such places as Gutura, Maheta and Gwasi tended to carry on with their mode of life as if there were no other people around them. During the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, more and More immigrants settled into the region and whether they liked it or not, the earlier communities were forced to interact with the new arrivals or at any rate to confront them. Some of the newcomers were aggressive and would not let their neighbours live in peace as they engaged in raiding for cattle and at times fought for dominance in the region. This meant that the small family clusters that had hitherto lived peacefully in the region shifted location and internal migration and resettlements were a continuous and repetitive process within and around Bukurya. In this way new social groups were formed. Many of these new societies were often swelled by splinter groups running away from other broken-up communities as a result of disruptions of war and raids. The Abamerani, for example, are said to have swallowed up many other clans.

In 2006 the Kurya population was estimated to number 909,000, with 608,000 living in Tanzania and 301,000 in Kenya. The latest (2012) anthropological research estimate the population of the Abakurya in Kenya to be about 650,000 and those of Tanzania to about 700,000.

The Kurya people were mainly pastoralists in the pre-colonial era but currently the Kenyan kuryans lean towards crop production and the Tanzanian Kuryans learn more towards pastoralism. The Abakurya are said to have abandoned Pastrolism after they were forced to do so by the Germans when they landed in the modern-day Northern Tanzania. The Kuryans in the Serengeti district are distinctly pastoralist. Details on how Abakurya started crop production and abandoned pastrolism will be available as a researcher is currently working on the same.

The Kurya are closely related to the Kisii people of Kenya both in language and physique among other cultural practices and beliefs.

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

The Abakurya people appear to have sprung from too many directions to have a common historical origin, although a number of clans claim to have come from Egypt. The culture of the present Abakurya therefore is an amalgam of many different cultures which may originally have been opposed to each other in content and practice. Among the Abakurya today are found people who were originally from the Kalenjin, Maasai, Bantu and Luo speaking communities.

Between AD 1400 and 1800 when migrations into Bukurya took place, the foundation was laid for the future Abakurya cultural and political developments. Early inhabitants of Bukurya came from both Bantu and Nilotic speakers who brought into Bukurya their peculiar cultures. Predominantly agricultural Bantu came into close contact with predominantly Nilotic pastoralists. Thus a blend of cultures took place among the early inhabitants of Bukurya from the start by combining agricultural practice with pastoral pursuit as well as tendencies towards nomadic life. Today elements of Abakurya agriculture is much like that of the Abagusii and the Luo while in cattle keeping they have borrowed the practices of the Maasai, Zanaki and Nguruimi.

Before the population had increased very much, it appears that a number of the Abakurya communities developed independently without many interactions with the others. Many of those who lived at the foothills of such places as Gutura, Maheta and Gwasi tended to carry on with their mode of life as if there were no other people around them. During the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, more and More immigrants settled into the region and whether they liked it or not, the earlier communities were forced to interact with the new arrivals or at any rate to confront them. Some of the newcomers were aggressive and would not let their neighbours live in peace as they engaged in raiding for cattle and at times fought for dominance in the region. This meant that the small family clusters that had hitherto lived peacefully in the region shifted location and internal migration and resettlements were a continuous and repetitive process within and around Bukurya. In this way new social groups were formed. Many of these new societies were often swelled by splinter groups running away from other broken-up communities as a result of disruptions of war and raids. The Abamerani, for example, are said to have swallowed up many other clans.

In 2006 the Kurya population was estimated to number 909,000, with 608,000 living in Tanzania and 301,000 in Kenya. The latest (2012) anthropological research estimate the population of the Abakurya in Kenya to be about 650,000 and those of Tanzania to about 700,000.

The Kurya people were mainly pastoralists in the pre-colonial era but currently the Kenyan Kuryans lean towards crop production and the Tanzanian Kuryans learn more towards pastoralism. The Abakurya are said to have abandoned Pastrolism after they were forced to do so by the Germans when they landed in the modern-day Northern Tanzania. The Kuryans in the Serengeti district are distinctly pastoralist. Details on how Abakurya started crop production and abandoned pastrolism will be available as a researcher is currently working on the same.

The Kurya are closely related to the Kisii people of Kenya both in language and physique among other cultural practices and beliefs.

Ancestor names (ichindoko)

Kurya also name their children after the names of the ancestors (Abhakoro). Such naming will occur if the wish of the dead grandfather or mother requested to be named a boy or girl. That is why there is mwita for both girls and boys. Some for sake of love one would like to name the ancestors as a sign that the ancestor has been reborn. A child can have two names one for obhotangi and another for endoko. My son is Chacha because he is a first born and he is called Monata a name after my grandfather. The other cause of naming ancestors will result when the child is sick or misfortunes come to a family and they seek omogabho/omoraguli to find out the problem. The omoraguli will advise to name a child an ancestor whose spirits have been troubled by the family. When naming the child, the family will be required to sacrifice (kumwensa) a goat or a cow depending on the wish of the spirits and the magnitude of the problem. Similarly names like Nyamohanga, Ryoba, Magaigwa, Nsato, Sabure, Wankuru, Ng’oina, Wanchoka, Mwikwabhe are named after the spirits. That is why when Kuryas were baptized their native names were rejected because they were assumed to be associated with the spirits (Evil spirits?).

Wakurya generations (Amakora)

Wakurya have developed a generation system which place every individual in a generation group. There are two sets of generations

The first set is called Monyasae and the other is Monyachuma.

The Monyasae has a four circle generations as follows:

Abasae—Abanyamburiti—Abagamnyeri—Abamaina

The Monyachuma has also four circle generations as follows:

Abachuma—Abangorongoro—Abagini—Abanyangi

The generations identifies an individual in the Kurya society. For example, a child of a Mosae from the monyasae generation circle will be a munyamburiti and will give forth to Omogamunyeri. No one is allowed to marry a child of the same generation. One generation circle is considered to last 25 years. A complete generation circle is hundred yearS. By knowing your generation you can easily calculate the age of your parents and grandparents. In the case of a mugamunyeri, his or her father is a Mnyamburiti.

By using the generation system you can even know when a major event took place by associating the event and those who witnessed the event if their generation is known e.g. Uhuru, Second World War etc.

Circumcision

Change from childhood to adulthood is an important Kurya ritual which transform individual to another stage of life. The change known as saro is a passage to adulthood. Every boy or girl must pass through saro to be recognised as an adult; otherwise, he is Mulisya or Mosagane.

When one is circumcised he/she is placed into an age-set (esaro). It is not the purpose of this issue to describe the circumcision process but to emphasise the importance of the ritual. In Kurya society one is recognised by the age set group. All people circumcised at the same time are given an age set (saro). When a girl is married her age set group is changed to that of the husband if their saro are different. No one is allowed to marry children of same saros, All ceremonies are done on the basis of saro or amakora. One will not be allowed to marry or married if he has not gone through circumcision. In modern times boys are circumcised in hospitals and it is slowly being accepted but looked down as an inferior process. A real mkurya should face a mosali get circumcised without a wink.

Traditionally, circumcision was done at the age around 13 years, but this differed significantly from one clan to another. The Abairege had most of their men circumcised at 15–18 years and above. However, this has changed to the onset of puberty. To this date, various organisations are working to ensure the tradition of female genital mutilation is aborted. Also, due to increased spread of HIV/AIDS organisations advocate for care during circumcision rituals. Many families are opting to take their children to hospitals and the traditional circumcision experts have now opted to use individual razors for each person during circumcision. After the cut, the boys or girls that have undergone the practice are normally led back home by fellow villagers amidst singing and dancing and money is pinned onto their shukas. The shukas are one-piece coloured sheets that the circumcised tie around themselves so as to let the blood drip freely to the ground. Once circumcision has taken place, according to tradition, the boy or girl is deemed ready for marriage.

Tools made by Kuryans

Wooden tools made by Abhabhachi (carpenters)

English Name	Kurya Name	Application of the tool
Stool	Igitumbe	Used as chair
Bed	Obhoree	Sleeping
Pistel	Ihuri	Thrashing millet, cassava
Wooden bowl	Igitubha	Utensils
Wooden hoe	Inkuro	Weeding and digging
Bows	Obhotha	Weapon
Arrows	Imigwi	Weapon
High wooden shoes	Imityambwi	Dancing shoes for sururu

Straw tools and vessels made by Abharuki (Weavers)

English Name	Kurya Name	Application of the tool
Basket	Egetonga	Storing flour
Harvesting Basket	Irikanga	Harvesting Millet
Food serving basket	Ekehe, Ekegaro	Utensils
Straw door shutter	Egesaku	Door shutter
Granary	Iritara	Store grain
Straw ornaments	Obhogeka	Worn by girls and ladies
Guard container	Ekerandi, Egesencho	Serving water, milk
Drinking straw	Orokore Beer	drinking straw

English Name	Kurya Name	Application of the tool
Cow hide	Iriho	bedding
Goat/culf skin	Egesero	Wearing as clothing
Decorated cow/goat skin	Engemaita, Embotora	Worn by ladies during ceremonies
Treated goat skin	Igisiriti	Worn by ladies and girls
Shredded skin	Amacharya	Worn by boys during initiation
Thong	Urukini, irichi	To tie cows, fireword
Shield	Ingubha	War gear
Hood, Crown	Ekondo	War gear (outfit)

Pottery products made by Abhabhumbi (potters)

English Name	Kurya Name	Application of the tool
Water pot	Esengo ya Amanche	Water storage
Milk pot	Ekenyongo	Milk storage
Huge Ugali pot	Inyakaruga	Cooking Ugali
Smoking pipe	Ighikwabhe	Tobacco smoking
Flour pot	Enyongo ya bhose	Flour pot
Vegetable pot	Iririghira	Cooking pot

Kurya names derived from events and various conditions

Kurya people also name their children according to an event which took place during the birth of a child. Some of the events are natural occurrences such as:

• Earthquake (Kirigiti)
• Lightning (Nkobha)
• Rains (Wambura/Nyambura)
• Famine (Wanchara)
• Harvest (Magesa/Mogesi)
• Floods (Nyamanche)

The list is not exhaustive.

The following list is some of the Kurya names and their literal meaning. Note that all names have deep spiritual relevance and meaning and can be interpreted differently according to circumstances and objectives as discussed earlier. This is a sample list, Wakurya have many more names than expected. It is not Chachas and Mwitas only.

Kurya names derived animals or birds

Nyamburi   =   Goat

Nyang’ombe   =   Cow

Gaini   =   Bull

Nyangoko/Magoko   =   Chicken

Wangwe   =   Leopard

Wandui   =   Lion

Nyanswi   =   Fish

Tyenyi   =   Animal

Machage   =   Zebra

Nchoka/Waichoka   =   Snake

Nguti   =   Dove

Sariro   =   Eagle

Mang’era   =   Buffalo

Nyanchugu   =   Elephant

Wankuru   =   Tortoise

Kehengu   =   Rock rabbit

Ngocho   =   Parrot

Ng’wena   =   Crocodile

Magige   =   Locust

Kinyunyi   =   Bird

Names after action or fortune.

Mokami   =   Milkman

Motegandi/ Mohagachi   =   Builder

Murimi   =   Farmer

Nyantahe   =   From Container

Muya   =   Beauty

Mohoni   =   Salesman

Motongori   =   First Harvester

Mtundi   =   Food provider

Matinde   =   Land tiler

Waitara   =   Granary

Mataro/ Machera/Mogendi   =   Traveller

Moseti   =   Hunter

Mbusiro   =   Seeding grain

Names after clans/tribes

Mwikabhe/Ikwabhe   =   Maasai

Mtatiro   =   Tatoga

Mogaya   =   Luo

Mgusuhi   =   Kisii

Nyabasi   =   From Nyabasi

Mtimbaru   =   From Butimbaru

Mystical/abstract names

Nyanokwe   =   God

Wainani   =   Jinni

Mgosi   =   From North

Wanyancha   =   From West/Lake

Mirumbe   =   Mist/Fog

Sabure   =   god of the Wanchari

Melengali   =   Sunlight

Nchota/Nsato   =   Mystical snake

Matiko/Butiko   =   Night

Ryoba/Rioba   =   Sun

Commonly used words in Kurya

Amang'ana   =   general greeting

Mbuya ohoyere   =   How was your day.

Tang'a amanche ghakunywa   =   Can I have water (drinking)

Nuuwe ngw'i   =   What is your name.

Omosani   =   friend

Omogheni   =   guest

Omokhebhara   =  a pagan. A foreigner is called umwitongo

Omosacha   =   male

Omokari   =   female

Umwisekhe   =   young lady

Umumura   =   young male

Kharibhu   =   Welcome

Okoreebhuya   =   Thank you

Umurisia   =   uncircumcised male

Iritoka   =   car (from English "car")

Isukhuuri   =   school (from English "school")

External links

• Kurya language on Ethnologue