The Swahili world
It comprises some 3,000 km of coastline along the East African coast between Somalia and Mozambique, as well as the surrounding islands and archipelagos, including Lamu, Mombasa, Pemba, Zanzibar, Kilwa and even the Comoros. It's a land of intermingling, where people of different origins have lived side by side for centuries and, together, shaped its history. But the cosmopolitanism of the population can be explained above all by the long-standing and regular relations established between the two continents of the Indian Ocean basin: Africa and Asia. It is the result of the integration of Persian and Arab migrants, particularly from Oman and Yemen, into African coastal societies. The meeting of these two continents has left its mark, manifest in architecture, music, religion, cuisine and dress.
The Swahili language is a blend of Arabic and other indigenous languages. Apart from English, it is the language of communication between ethnic groups in Kenya. But on the coast, Swahili is the mother tongue and culture of a significant proportion of the population, of mixed origin.
The Bantu
Originally from West Africa, the Bantu arrived in the Lake Victoria region in successive waves. These farming populations colonized the central highlands and part of the regions around Lake Victoria. Linguistically and culturally very homogeneous, this group is dominated by the Kikuyu tribe (the largest in the country, today accounting for 22% of the total population), traditionally found north of Nairobi.
Their role in the country's independence and their entrepreneurial spirit enabled them to monopolize political power for almost thirty years. Their influence is less great today, but remains decisive nonetheless. The Meru and Embu, farmers who live on the slopes of Mount Kenya, are very close to the Kikuyu. Their neighbors, the Kamba, who occupy the semi-desert regions between Nairobi and the coast, are reputed to have acted as a trade link between the Swahili of the coast and the tribes of the interior. Today, these former traders work in tourist crafts, livestock farming and the army. In the west of the country, between Lake Victoria and Mount Elgon, live the Luhya. This dense conglomeration of diverse populations, subject to multiple cultural influences, lives from agriculture and, to a lesser extent, livestock farming. Their "cousins", the Gusii and Kuria, live a little further south.
The Nilotic peoples
The Nilotes are a herding people who came from the Nile valley around 2,500 years ago. Their contacts and exchanges with the Cushite and Bantu populations led them to take up agriculture and fishing. A distinction is made between the Southern, Eastern and Western Nilotics. The first group is the oldest. The Kalenjin are a group of ethnic groups (Kipsigi, Marakwet, Tugen, Nandi...) who occupy a large part of the fertile highlands of western Kenya. Only the Pokots, who live north of Lake Baringo, have preserved their pastoral activities. The second group, which arrived more recently (around a thousand years ago), is made up of nomadic pastoralists who have managed to preserve their traditions. The most famous are the Maasai, alongside their northern cousins, the Samburu. The Maasai take their name from the language they speak, Maa (which the Samburu also speak).
So far, these tribes have managed to preserve their traditions and fight vigorously for their vital rights. This is perhaps what makes the Maasai the best-known ethnic group in the country, even though they are in a very small minority, representing just 2% of the population. In the same group, we also find the Turkana. These nomadic pastoralists, perfectly adapted to arid regions, live west of Lake Turkana. Suffering from repeated droughts, some of the Turkana have turned to fishing, unfortunately without much success. Finally, the third group is made up of the Luo, who arrived in the Lake Victoria region around 500 years ago. Originally from Sudan, today they are excellent farmers and fishermen. They also enjoy a reputation as intellectuals, holding important positions in higher education and, more recently, in politics, due to their significant demographic weight.
The Maasai, a Nilote people straddling Kenya and Tanzania, were sung by colonial romanticism as the nomadic shepherd par excellence. English writers saw the noble warrior criss-crossing the plains, spear in hand, dressed simply in a red tunic. Some Maasai have retained a semi-nomadic existence, moving their villages according to water sources.
In terms of their social structure, the Maasai people are made up of five original clans (seven according to some specialists) corresponding to the five sons of the founding ancestor and subdivided in turn into several groups. Supreme authority is exercised by the "laibon", a chief, priest and sorcerer in one. Everyone's social role is defined by custom and ordered according to age. Young Moran warriors are responsible for herd security. The Council of Elders selects twenty-nine of them, endowed with superior moral and physical qualities. These young Morans are given a higher hierarchical status, which they retain for the rest of their lives. Two of them stand out even more: the "olaigue-nani", spokesman and leader of the age group, and the "olotuno", spiritual leader of the age group. Rites of passage are one of the most important aspects of Maasai culture. The ceremonies of ilmoran (warrior) and eunoto (passage to adulthood) are the two most important stages. The first takes place just after circumcision: young Maasai (aged 12-14) are then considered warriors (Morans). For six to ten years, they live among themselves, away from their families. This long period of apprenticeship is designed to strengthen and support each other. To prove their courage, the Morans had to kill a lion. This tradition, now forbidden, is still practiced in exceptional cases. The Maasai live with respect for wildlife, and their knowledge is increasingly put to use in wildlife conservation. Some of these former "lion killers" are now becoming "protectors", working with associations and NGOs in this field. The eunoto takes place around the age of 20, and lasts four days, with dancing and singing. The highlights of the festival are the cutting of the Moran's hair, the milk ceremony and the meat ceremony. As an adult, the young warrior can marry.
Family life is regulated according to the roles and functions of each member. Women enjoy the use of the animals' milk. They are feared and respected, but must undergo female circumcision and endure difficult living conditions: they build and maintain the huts, care for the animals, transport water and wood, and carry out all household chores. Their life expectancy is lower than that of men. They leave the children and Morans to look after the herds, and spend their time chatting and roaming the bush. The traditional Maasai diet is cow's milk, blood and sometimes meat. All bush trees and their roots are also consumed according to their properties.
Modern life is upsetting the traditional way of life of this semi-nomadic people of herders and warriors. Displaced several times in recent history, some of them have moved towards a way of life outside their ancestral customs. Many have "reconverted" to tourism (employed by the many camps and lodges in parks and conservancies), and sometimes to anti-poaching work. They are, however, among the most traditional of Kenya's peoples, and it's always far from the cities that you'll come across them. For the wilderness, which they respect, protect and fear at the same time, is and will remain their first home. Unfortunately, the epinal image presented to tourists is often instrumentalized and folklorized for commercial purposes.
The Cushitic peoples
The first populations to colonize Kenya were the Couchites, related to today's Somali (Somali refers to the inhabitants of Somalia, Somali to the ethnic group). They introduced animal husbandry, agriculture, irrigation and many practices and customs still in force today (notably the burning of pastures and circumcision). These populations were gradually assimilated, and their language now survives only in a few isolated tribes (the Dahalo living on the banks of the Tana delta, for example). By contrast, a second, more recent wave of Cushitic immigrants arrived from the north in the 14th and 15th centuries.
These pastoral populations, culturally quite similar, are characterized by a particularly complex social organization. The main groups are the Somali, Rendille and Oromo (Gabbra, Boran, Orma...), who make up the majority of the population in the north-eastern quarter of the country. The former comprise around ten clans (Degodia, Gurreh, Ogaden, Hawiya...). Muslim in religion, they are camel breeders as well as dynamic traders. The latter are a small tribe of nomadic pastoralists living between Marsabit and Lake Turkana; they are culturally quite close to their geographical neighbors, the Samburu. Finally, the Oromo, a group of several tribes, live with their herds along the border with Ethiopia.
Minorities from the colonial empire
As in most former British colonies, the Indo-Pakistani community here is sizeable. Although their numbers are modest, their economic influence is considerable. They control virtually all businesses and monopolize key positions in real estate and services. It's almost impossible to find a store in town that isn't run by an Indian.
