Kenya Vacations
Gusii Tribe
This tribe is also called the Kisii; a name they got from the former
colonialists who found it difficult to pronounce the word abagusii.
The language spoken by the Kisii people is called ekegusii. They
make up approximately 6% of the Kenyan population. Their real place of origin is
disputable. They are believed to have originally migrated from the northern African
country now called Egypt while some sources also say that they originated in Congo
basin forests presently know as DRC (Democratic republic of Congo) alongside other
Bantu groups.
All in all, the ancestral Gusii population entered western Kenya from Uganda
and then moved on from the foothills of
Mount Elgon towards their current lands. In the process of their movement,
on the way, for two generations, they stayed at Goye Bay, by Lake Victoria then they moved initially to the Kano
plains and later, to their present location due to the population expansion of the
Luo and the Maasai and Kuria. The Kisii finally ended up in a geographical
location unique among all bantu speaking groups in that they were surrounded all
round by Nilotic tribes of the Luo, Kipsgis, Nandi and Maasai.
Eventually, they ended up settling at the highlands close to the Lake Victoria region.
The Kisii people are famous for their Soapstone carvings which
they also export and for the large banana plantations. The Kisii soapstones are
mined at a place in the southern part of Kisii called Tabaka while
the bananas are generally grown all over the Kisii highlands. Culturally, the Gusii
people play a large string instrument called obokano.
They also practice some initiation ceremonies meant to signify a shift from childhood
to adulthood. Boys get circumcised at around age 10. This was traditionally done
as a rite of passage. Soon after that, it was a time for seclusion
whereby, the newly initiated boys go under training from the older boys. Celebration
came thus called for family and communities participation. In conclusion, the Gusii
culture has been to some extent mixed with their own Bantu aspects and borrowed
then assimilated feature from the nearby tribes.
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