Introduction

~To know a man, Walk a mile in his shoes~

-Anon.

We vtend to often generalize communities as barbaric or try and make our communities seem better than others

without the thought that what shaped us to be the way we are was not necessarily the same force that shaped the

other tribes.

Man becomes what he is due to what pushes him on the outside. Though we can say that man has free will and

can decide which direction his life will take, he is however bound to respond to his environment.

The same applies to music as a part of mans life.

Factors affecting the Abaluhya community

The Abaluhya community has over the years been under certain external and internal stimuli that resulted in

certain notable imprints as concerns their music.

some of these are:

Ethnic composition/ Language

Neighboring tribes

Certain Political Aspects

Migrational movements
Ethnic composition/language

The Abaluhya of Kenya are one of the most diverse communities in Kenya, consisting of seventeen

sub-nations ('tribes') i.e.

Babukusu Banyala Bachocho

Batiriki Basamia Bakabalasi

Barakoli Babesukha Batachoni

Banyore Babetakho Bawanga

Bakhoya Bakisa Bamarama

Bamaraki Barechea

All of which are further sub-divided into an intricate web of clans and sub-clans.

This has resulted in a musical culture that has a common "denominator" but at a surface glance seems

totally different.

e.g.

In the naming of certain dances e.g. The Bukhulu circumcision dance of the Tiriki is the same as the

Obukulu/Bukulu of the Maragoli.

In the wording, i.e. songs may have a common tune but due to the slight variations in language,

they end to sound different. e.g. Isugudi - Isukuti

One would argue that being one sub-nation/'tribe' the Abaluhya should have a common language, but

contrary to this, the differences in the languages of different clans can be so different as to render one clan

totally unable to understand another.

The Abaluhya
People
Neighboring Tribes

No man is an island. whether willing or not of this fact , no man at any one time is able to live on his own. At

any one moment, he is interacting with everything and everyone around him even without them having to

engage him in conversation.

The Abaluhya were no exception.

According to F.E. Makila, the Babukusu enjoyed periods of peace with their Nilo-hamitic neighbors i.e. the

Kalenjin and Maasai

Gideon s. Were points out a number of different interactions between certain neighbors of the Abaluhya and

the Abaluhya themselves specifically. the Bagishu, the Basoga, , the Luo, the Kalenjin and the Teso..

These interactions went as far as intermarriage, sending of Abaluhya children, more often than not boys, to

stay with their Maasai and Kalenjin neighbors, and even during seasons of drought, the Maasai and

Kalenjin would sometimes sell their children to the Abaluhya as a way of getting food..

During these exchanges, it wouldn't be realistic to think that the children left their homes a clean slate

waiting to be rewritten with the cultures and norms of the 'tribe' they were going to live with. Instead it would

be more realistic to assume that the children who went ended up mixing the two cultures forming a sort of

'slang' as concerns language, culture and due to its inclusion in the cultural sphere, music.

E.g.

As per George Zenoga-zake The Banyore and Kisa who border the Dholuo as well as the Samia, who apart

from bordering the Dholuo can be found in Uganda among the Gishu have borrowed customs, culture,

names and dances from their neighbors , while those Abaluhya who neighbor the Nandi and Nyagori and

those bordering Uganda have borrowed their customs.

In addition, the Kabras and Tiriki enjoy dancing the the Nandi Sindorio.

This pretty much shows that there was and probably still is an exchange of ideas and culture as far as

neighboring tribes are concerned and as a result an exchange and integration of musical ideas as part of

the cultural experience.

The Abaluhyas Neighbors
Certain Political Aspects

The Abaluhya like any other nation were exposed to certain political aspects that assisted in shaping them

as a people and culture.

These would be aspects like domestic disputes which resulted in the formation of splinter factions who

would move away from the main group and settle among other communities resulting in the formation of a

totally new, hybrid community and thus a change in songs and dance, E.g. The Basoga and the Bagishu,

though now neighbors of the Babukusu, somehow share a common origin, thus one would assume that due

to certain political aspects, they separated from the main group so as to continue as a people.

Another aspect would be warfare. Though with this aspect, it is more on the development of songs and

dance. Peaceful communities would more often than not have songs that reflected their nature i.e. songs

that went with their way of life, as a result they wouldnt have war songs because they would have no idea

what war is. However, this isnt the case with most African communities. Considering the scarcity of fertile

land to move to, communities were always at war with each other constituting the need for war songs for a

number of reasons:

- As a prayer to the gods for strength

- As a morale booster for the soldiers

- As a way of scaring the enemy if they had sent any spies or if the dance was performed on the

battlefield

Another aspect of this would be the political organization of the Abaluhya as a people. The Abaluhyas

political systems were extremely diverse. This can be seen in the statement given by Pratt who points out

that the only people who attached political authority to their leaders were the Bawanga, thus with the

Bawanga, their music would have been mostly to entertain the chief, where as with other clans it would

have been to entertain the community.

Also certain Abaluhya communities had ways of life that would indirectly affect the amount of time dedicated

to improving certain aspects of lifee.g. the Babukusu, used to construct stone walls when at Sirikwa and

then resorted to mud walls when they moved to Busia and Bungoma districts. This was as a way of making

the general populace feel secure, and as a military advantage, to prevent any surprise attacks from their
enemies. This would result in a people more at ease and thus more able to further develop their culture as

concerns song, dance and life in general.

One last aspect is the political image, or image as a whole. At a certain time, the Babukusu were referred to

as Ketosh by the neighboring Kalenjin communities due to their methods of ruthless fighting.

Also there was a myth among the Abaluhya of a snake that flew and breathed fire, that was killed by a

Bukusu thus giving the Babukusu a fierce nature. These traits would also be reflected in their music.
Migrational movements

The Abaluhya like any other tribe were not originally where they are today. Due to certain factors like

famine, epidemics or the mere spirit of adventure, they migrated.

The effects of this were similar to those we see from their neighbors. Considering their route to their current

place of repose, the Abaluhya brushed shoulders with a large number of communities. Whether in war or

extending a helping hand, these communities more often than not left a mark, whether lasting or not, that

would later affect the Abaluhya community, e.g. The Babukusu boast having Kalenjin, Maasai, and even

Ethiopian blood, which would indicate various intermarriages with the said communities and an exchange of

culture as well.
The Abaluhyas Migrational
Movements
Conclusion

As was said in the beginning, we cant generalize and lump together all tribes, trying to compare their levels

of development on various aspects of life and expect them to be the same.

Even two Identical twins brought up in the same household, turn out differently, how much so two different

communities with totally varying histories and backgrounds.

The differences would be staggeringly endless.

 KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

MAIN CAMPUS

SCHOOL OF VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

MUSIC DEPARTMENT

A paper in partial fulfillment of the course requirements for MHC 122

Title: Polyphony over the Ages

Student Name: Jonathan Opinya

Student No. M25S/6278/2006

Presented To: Prof Omondi