Their origin myth is as follows: "In the beginning, Mulungu created a man and a woman. This was the couple from heaven and he proceeded to place them on a rock at Nzaui where their foot prints, including those of their livestock can be seen to this day. Mulungu then caused a great rainfall. From the many anthills around, a man and a woman came out. These were the initiators of the 'spirits clan'- the Aimo. It so happened that the couple from heaven had only sons while the couple from the anthill had only daughters. Naturally, the couple from heaven paid dowry for the daughters of the couple from the anthill. The family and their cattle greatly increased in numbers. With this prosperity, they forgot to give thanks to their creator. Mulungu punished them with a great famine. This led to dispersal as the family scattered in search of food. Some became the
Kikuyu, others the
Meru while some remained as the original people, the Akamba." The Akamba are not specific about the number of children that each couple had initially borne. The Akamba believe in a monotheistic, invisible and transcendental God,
Ngai or Mulungu, who lives in the sky (
yayayani or
ituni). Another venerable name for God is Asa, or the Father. He is also known as Ngai Mumbi (God the Creator) na Mwatuangi (God the finger-divider). He is perceived as the omnipotent creator of life on earth and as a merciful, if distant, entity. The traditional Akamba perceive the spirits of their departed ones, the
Aimu or
Maimu, as the intercessors between themselves and Ngai Mulungu. They are remembered in family rituals and offerings / libations at individual altars.
The Akamba family , 1850s In Akamba culture, the family known as (Musyi) plays a central role in the community. The Akamba extended family or clan is called
mbai. The man, who is the head of the family, is usually engaged in an economic activity popular among the community like trading, hunting, cattle-herding or farming. He is known as
Nau,
Tata, or
Asa. The woman, regardless of her husband's occupation, works on her plot of land, which she is given upon joining her husband's household. She supplies the bulk of the food consumed by her family. She grows maize, millet, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, beans, pigeon peas, greens, arrow root, cassava, and yam in cooler regions like Kangundo, Kilungu and Mbooni. It is the mother's role to bring up the children. Even children that have grown up into adults are expected to never contradict the mother's wishes. The mother is known as
Mwaitu ('our One'). Very little distinction is made between one's children and nieces and nephews. They address their maternal uncle as
inaimiwa and maternal aunts as
mwendya and for their paternal uncle and aunt as ''mwendw'au
. They address their paternal cousins as wa-asa
or wa'ia
(for men is mwanaasa
or mwanaa'ia
, and for women is mwiitu wa'asa
or mwiitu wa'ia''), and the maternal cousins (mother's side) as
wa mwendya (for men
mwanaa mwendya; for women
mwiitu wa mwendya). Children often move from one household to another with ease, and are made to feel at home by their aunts and uncles who, while in charge of their nephews/nieces, are their de facto parents. Grandparents known as (
Susu or (grandmother),
Umau or
Umaa (grandfather)) help with the less strenuous chores around the home, such as rope-making, tanning leather, carving of beehives, three-legged wooden stools, cleaning and decorating calabashes, making bows and arrows, etc. Older women continue to work the land, as this is seen as a source of independence and economic security. They also carry out trade in the local markets, though not exclusively. In the modern Akamba family, the women, especially in the urban regions, practice professions such as teaching, law, medicine, nursing, secretarial work, management, tailoring and other duties in accordance with Kenya's socioeconomic evolution. The Kamba clans are: Anzauni, Aombe, Akitondo, Amwei (Angwina), Atwii, Amumui, Aethanga, Atangwa, Amutei, Aewani, Akitutu, Ambua, Aiini, Asii, Akiimi, Amũũti, Amũũnda.
Naming and Kamba names Naming of children is an important aspect of the Akamba people. In most but not all cases, the first four children, two boys and two girls, are named after the grandparents on both sides of the family. The first boy is named after the paternal grandfather and the second after the maternal grandfather. Girls are similarly named. Because of the respect that the Kamba people observe between the varied relationships, there are people with whom they cannot speak on "first name" terms. The father and the mother in-law on the husband's side, for instance, can never address their daughter in-law by her first name. Neither can she address them by their first names. Yet she has to name her children after them. To solve this problem, a system of naming is adopted that gave names which were descriptive of the quality or career of the grandparents. Therefore, when a woman is married into a family, she is given a family name (some sort of baptismal name), such as "Syomunyithya/ng'a Mutunga", that is, "she who is to be the mother of Munyithya/Mutunga". Her first son is to be called by this name. This name Munyithya was descriptive of certain qualities of the paternal grandfather or of his career. Thus, when she is calling her son, she would indeed be calling her father in-law, but at the same time strictly observing the cultural law of never addressing her in-laws by their first names. After these four children are named, whose names were more or less predetermined, other children could be given any other names, sometimes after other relatives and / or family friends on both sides of the family. Occasionally, children were given names that were descriptive of the circumstances under which they were born: • "Nduku/Katuku" (girl) and "Mutuku/Kituku" (boy) meaning born at night, • "Kiloko" (girl) and "Kioko" (boy) born in the morning, • "Mumbua/Syombua/ Mbula" (girl) and "Wambua/Mbua" (boy) for the time of rain, • "Wayua" (girl) for the time of famine, • "Makau" (boy) for the time of war, • "Musyoka/Kasyuko/Musyoki" (boy) and "Kasyoka/Kasyoki" (girl) as a re-incarnation of a dead family member, • "Mutua/Mutui" (boy) and "Mutuo/Mwikali" (girl) as indicative of the long duration the parents had waited for this child, or a lengthy period of gestation. • "Munyao" (boy) for the time of famine • "Mueni/Waeni" (girl) for the time of visitors • "Maundu" (boy) for the time of multiple activities/things • "Muthami/Muthama" (boy) for the time of migration Children were also given affectionate names as expressions of what their parents wished them to be in life. Such names would be like • "Mutongoi" (leader) • "Musili" (judge) • "Muthui" (the rich one) • "Ngumbau" (hero, the brave one) • "Kitonga" (wealthy one) Of course, some of these names could be simply expressive of the qualities displayed by the man or woman after whom they were named. Very rarely, a boy may be given the name "Musumbi" (meaning "king"). I say very rarely because the Kamba people did not speak much in terms of royalty; they did not have a definite monarchical system. They were ruled by a council of elders called ''king'ole''. There is a prophecy of a man, who traces his ancestry to where the sun sets (west) (in the present day county of Kitui) who will bear this name. A girl could be called "Mumbe" meaning beautiful one or "Mwende" (beloved); Wild animal names like
Nzoka (snake),
Mbiti (hyena),
Mbuku (hare),
Munyambu (lion), or
Mbiwa (fox); or domesticated animal names like
Ngiti (dog), ''Ng'ombe
(cow), or Nguku'' (chicken), were given to children born of mothers who started by giving stillbirths. This was done to wish away the bad omen and allow the new child to survive. Sometimes the names were used to preserve the good names for later children. There was a belief that a woman's later children had a better chance of surviving than her first ones.
Kikamba music The Akamba people's love of music and dance is evidenced in their spectacular performances at many events in their daily lives or on occasions of regional and national importance. In their dances they display agility and athletic skills as they perform acrobatics and body movements. The Akamba dance techniques and style resemble those of the
Batutsi of
Rwanda-Burundi and the
Aembu of Kenya. The earliest, most famous and respected traditional Kamba soloist who can be documented was
Mailu Mboo and came from "Kwa Vara" Now
mwingi. The following are some of the varieties of traditional dance styles of the Akamba community: •
Mwali (plural
Myali), a dance accompanying a song, the latter which is usually made to criticise anti-social behaviour. •
Kilumi and
Ngoma, religious dances, performed at healing and rain-making ceremonies; •
Mwilu is a circumcision dance; •
Mbalya or
Ngutha is a dance for young people who meet to entertain themselves after the day's chores are done. •
Kamandiko, or the modern disco usually held after a wedding party. Dances are usually accompanied by songs composed for the occasion (marriage, birth, nationally important occasion), and reflect the traditional structure of the Kikamba song, sung on a pentatonic scale. The singing is lively and tuneful. Songs are composed satirising deviant behaviour, anti-social activity, etc. The Akamba have famous work songs, such as
Ngulu Mwelela, sung while work, such as digging, is going on. Herdsmen and boys have different songs, as do young people and old. During the Mbalya dances the dance leader will compose love songs and satirical numbers, to tease and entertain his/her dancers.
Clothing and costumery The Akamba of the modern times, like most people in Kenya, dress rather conventionally in western / European clothing. The men wear trousers and shirts. Young boys will, as a rule, wear shorts and short-sleeved shirts, usually in cotton, or tee-shirts. Traditionally, Akamba men wore leather short kilts made from animal skins or tree bark. They wore copious jewellery, mainly of copper and brass. It consisted of neck-chains, bracelets, and anklets. The women in modern Akamba society also dress in the European fashion, taking their pick from dresses, skirts, trousers, jeans and shorts, made from the wide range of fabrics available in Kenya. Primarily, however, skirts are the customary and respectable mode of dress. In the past, the women were attired in knee-length leather or bark skirts, embellished with bead work. They wore necklaces made of beads, these obtained from the Swahili and Arab traders. They shaved their heads clean, and wore a head band intensively decorated with beads. The various kilumi or dance groups wore similar colours and patterns on their bead work to distinguish themselves from other groups. Traditionally, both men and women wore leather sandals especially when they ventured out of their neighbourhoods to go to the market or on visits. While at home or working in their fields, however, they remained barefoot. Schoolchildren, male and female, shave their heads to maintain the spirit of uniformity and equality. Currently the most popular Kamba artist include; Ken Wamaria, Kativui, Kitunguu, Katombi, Maima, Vuusya Ungu etc. Ken Wamaria is rated as the top artist in Ukambani and the richest Kenyan artist (Kioko, 2012).
Media and news channels Vernacular radio stations in Kenya where Kamba is the primary language spoken are as follows: • Athiani FM • County FM • Mang'elete FM • Mbaitu FM • Musyi FM • Syokimau FM • Thokoa FM • Mwatu FM • Wikwatyo FM Kyeni TV is a TV channel which broadcasts primarily in the Kamba language. Mauvoo News is an online news website which covers current affairs and local news touching on Kenya's three Akamba people Counties of Makueni,
Kitui and Machakos in the English language. ==Notable Akamba and people of Akamba descent==