Chapter two 1. The The initiation Tharaka initiation traditional andand thethe age-classes society, passageas ofwe age.

based on two dynamic principles the one o f the The whole kinship, population and that participated one the age. in equal manner in public life, according to t heir sex and their age-groups or age-classes appurtenance. The age- classes had, infect, a structural function in the socio-political system. They were organize d according to linear internal promotional mechanism set in motion by the initia The subdivisions did not have equal relevance in the Tharaka age-class system. F tion. or this reason I denominated age-classes only those male or female groupings rit es; That had a certain unitary social life from which the non members were exclu ded; that had autonomy in some decisions regarding the social life of the group . I named age-sections the subdivisions internal to every age-class. I designate d as a age-groups, the whole of either male or female children not yet initiated , not yet involved in the dynamics of the passage rites, and therefore not havin g as yet any specific social organization. And, finally, I indicated with the term age units Nthuke those conceptual units composed by the sets of sets all th e males circumcised in a unique open period of circumcision, or all the female e xcised in a period of time gong from the opening of one period of circumcision t o the opening of the next one. They were of the male circumcised during the open period. I indicated with the same term also the conceptual units composed of al l the elders of the Garu, who left the age-class of nthaka to enter that of the Kiama's elders at the same Ntwike celebration. The age-unit of the circumcision was the most important. It received, and still receives today, a proper name, co mmon either to the males or to the females. Everybody in his life passed trough all the systems of the previous stages to pass to the following. But nobody ever The changes opposition the age-unit. and mediation of the groups, of the sections, and of the age-clas ses generated innumerable relations of cooperation and conflict. The dynamic int egration of the social system was reached trough the distinction of the roles an d of the status. The entry of the individuals in the roles and of the acquisitio n of the various status constituted events of enormous importance, that roused o r could arouse tensions and conflicts. Therefore the society conferred rites. Th ose helped to overcome or to central the tensions to mystical and magical notion s. Not all the fasces of the initiation had importance in the dynamically formation of the groups, of the sections and of the age-classes. In the male initiation I think we should evidence thee stages, because of their fundamental characterist ic. They are: the puberty rites Kirimu the circumcision male ntano; and the firs t initiation of the elders Kiama gia nkomango. In fact these stages were structu ring the four main divisions of age, in wych the male half of the society was di vided. The vive were the age- group of the aiji nkala (21) and the age- classes of the The female aijipopulation ruge (22),was of divided the nthaka, in age-classes and of the with akurupow ba and Kima. autonomy in the co ntext of their own socio-cultural activities. The age passage of the female moie ty of the society were scanned by the physiological rhythm. They has four groupi ngs, the age-group of the puberty (mithera, sing. muthera), which extended from birth to puberty (menarche); the age-class of the girls (matiga, singitiga), whi ch extended from puberty to matrimony (children generation); the age-class of t he married women (ekuru, sing. mwekuru), which extended from matrimony to the cl imacteric; the age-classes of the elders (ajuju sing. juju) which extended from the climacteric onwards. The three age-classes we and are still structured by th e following there initiation stages: the first is that one characterized by the excision (ntana female ntana); the second one is the matrimony (ujukanya) the th ird one is that constituted by the esoterical rites of the elders, I could not i n any The structure come to of know male those age-classes latter ones. system was complex. Infact, the three age-clas ses has internal subdivisions the children from birth to pre-puberal age constit uted the age group of the "uncircumcised that do not net move far from their mot hers" (aiji nkala). This was not was not socially organized. Each nkala lived wi th his When the family boy reached and slept thein pre-puberal his mother's age, hut. he abandoned his mother's and entered in the age-class of the "open uncircumcised youth" (aiji ruge), that lived in th e "house of the uncircumcised youth" (kiburu gia aiji). The stage of the initiat ion that ratified the passage was that of the Kirimu. The aiji rugo's age-class included three successive age- sections: the one of the "timid in charged of cle aning the ashes" (mwinji wa mpuramuu) the one of the "white feathers (mbwinjeru)

and the one those "when they stop, they make the soil to trembe" (nkinyantihi) . Their age, approx based on the real growth of the individual in relation. The accomplishment of the roles connected to each age-section. The passage from one to the other was determined by the circumcision of those belonging to the last s ection, and by their consequent going out of the Kiburu gia aiji. The appurtenan ce to it gave a certain cohesion to the group of the aiji ruge cumeised. From it s life. The latters stood aside and did not intervene if not for a certain super vision The circumcision mare or less (male occasional. ntano) was the second stage of the initiation. It had it s determining apex in the operation of the removal of the prepuce. The young ame n entered the adult life through the complex whale of the rites and ceremonies, that commonly come to be indicated whit the term circumcision. It is evident th at either the tern circumcision, or the term excision (in the female initiation) The areyoung extremely nkinyanthi reductive asked even to be though enroled commonly in for used. circumcision when they became st rong and courageous emoragli and had completed the educative cycle of the aiji r uge. All the youth circumcised in the same period, formed an age- unit (nthuke). The members of the new age-unit were then incorporated in the age-class of the nthaka, and entered in the "houses and communities of the nthaka" (garu gia ntha ka). This age-class was divided in three age-sections: that of the "eat-little-a nd-in a hurry" (ng'erome) (23): that of the "exercises- to-the- politeness" (nt haka), The age-unit and that structured of the elders by theof circumcision the garu (akuru , when baentered garu). the garu, joined the first age-sections. The successive passages did not take place any more in group s but were individual. These constituted a succession of internal promotion dete rmined by the attainment of some fundamental goals in the life of an individual. Each ng'orema had to cancel his personal impurity called "the big impurity" (K irugu). he had to get married; to have the first sen, and celebrate the rite of the social identification of the new Bern (nkuriru ya mwana e nguuru ya nguu) ( 24) . When he has reached this last step he passed to the nthaka age section. Wh en his first sen came to be circumcised and he together with his wife celebrated the ceremony of their own hair (cfr. pp.) then he passed to the akuru ba garu a ge- section. Then he would wait for the ntwike celebrations, in order to enter t he initiations The members of the of the there elders age-sections of the Kiama. were commonly called by the term nthaka. T hey enjoyed much autonomy in the organization of the daily life of the garu. Whi le for the decisions regarding the external secio-political life, they depended en the council of the elders. Anyhow their position was of notable prestige. The y ware adults with big responsibilities. The main of which were: territorial def ence (they were also warriors), the maintenance of the internal order of the cl an and of the tribe, and the management of their individual families (if thy tri be, and When a circumcised the management young ofman their entered individual into male families part of (ifthe they same were age-class married). and, l east the When of all, Mugwe sleep opened in the Ntwike same house. celebration, the akuru ba garu entered the fir st initiation stage of the elders of the Kiama (akuru ba Kiama). The akuru ba ki ama constituted the most important age- class, at political and social level. Th is was divided in three age-sections: "The council of the stone"(Kiama gia nkoma ngo), "the pricking council" (kiama gia rwamba). They were ratified by the there The homonymous passage from stages one ofsection the initiation. to the other did not occur by the attinement of par ticular goals , but was determined by the pressure excised by the elders of the garudynamism The to enterof the the first age-classes age-section was developing of the akuru according ba kiama. to an approximately rhy thm of time. We must not attribute an absolute mathematical value to such a rhyt hm, even if it is possible to delineate approximately its recurrence cycles. Whi le the circumcision took place about every. five years, the ntwike was celebrate d every fifteen or twenty years. The entry of the akuru ba garu section members into the kiama gia nkomango provoked a forward push of its members. These latter The passed age of in the a group members to the of these Kiama sections gia nkubiri wasageapproximately rwamba. the following: Kiama gia nkomango, from 45 to 65 years, kiama gia nkubiri fro, 65 to about 80 years , Only Kiama the gia last rwamba, age- class from 80 has years fullonwards. significance for the running of the political power. the three age-sections alternated to power according to the mechanism of succession set in motion by ntwiko. In fact the word ntwiko means" breach" and w as the occasion for the handing over (or breaking) the authority of an age- clas s tomembers The social the next consideration ofone.(cfr. the kiamaBernardi of the gia rwamba, individual 1959, who 22). where increased the oldest with and age had reached full s ocio-political maturity, occupied the most prestigious status. The age, however, was and ambivalent factor. On one hand, the social age was theoretically direct

ly proportional to the authority, one the other hand, in practice, the biologica l age, for obvious motives of physical and psychological decline, was inversely proportional to the possibility of caring out the roles connected to the running of the power. the elders of the Kiama gia rwamba limited, in practises, their a ctivity to the conservation of the traditions expecially the mythologica-religio us ones. The influence of the single elder in the concrete exercise of power was determin ed more by his personal qualities than by his age. The psychological factors had great wight. Among them, had great importance the superior intelligence, the re ady intuitions, the fluency of being well-like by every body in the lifetime. Th erefore, emerged the agambi (ing. mugambi) among the elders independently to whi ch section thy belong. They were the "good orators", "people gifted with average or superior intelligence, but always skillful speakers, and able in public rela tions. 2. To The concept understand They were batter ofacknowledged time either the assystem the natural of agespokesmen classes and of the or the elders initiation council.one The is traditional good-even ifconcept brieflyof take time inof consideration the Tharaka. In fact it find its dynamically and Tharaka The structural traditional principleconcept in the of initiation. time was fundamentally cyclical. They structu red it in three cycles: one minimum, one medium and one maximum. The minimum cyc le, prevalently ecological, was scanted by the alteration of the four season: th e first of the rains and of the sowing (kiatho) it was followed by the dry seaso n and by the harvesting (muratho), then the second rains and sowing season (ntha The medium and the maximum cycles were instead specifically of structural charac no). ter. The medium one was constituted of four or five minimum cycles and was scann ed by the initiation circumcision rite. Whit reference to the circumcision, it w as divided in two periods: a "closed period", much longer, in which the circumci sion were not celebrated; an "open period ", mush shorter by there or four seaso n, in The maximum which cycle they were was composed celebrated. of about four or five medium cycles, and was scan ned by the celebration of the ntiwike and by the initiation of the elders. we ca n say that for the Tharaka, as for the Near (in the study of which Evens- Pricha rd theorised "in one sensethe alldistinction the time structural, between ecological because it time is conceptualization's and structural time)of coll ateral activities, coordinated or of cooperation "(Evens -Pritchard 1975,154). I n fact when the Taraka refer to season time, their attention is not turned so mu ch to the meteorological phenomenons as such, but rather to the economical or ac tivities train that they make possible. If for example one asks a mother when wa s her sen born,, she will reply: "In muratho, when we harvest such and such orlo ps",Tharaka The or In to nthano, indicate during thethe year, circumcision". still today, prefer referring to an important social or natural event that had characterised int, and only in a second time to . The theTharaka abstract beside numeral theorder cyclic oftime the concept, European had calendar. elaborated also the unidirection al one. In fact the succession of the circumcision celebrations did not on ly scan the medium cycles of time but it gave place also to the formation of th e age-units (nthuke), and thus furnished even the essential elements for the tra ce of uni-linear time. Such elements were made up of the names of the nthuke lis ted in a chronological order. The trace was fairly rough and purely approximate , because the intervals between one open period of circumcision and the followin g one were not equal, and also because the list of the nthuke varied notably acc ording The fact tothat the the people name that of each announced nthuke it, was since taken itthe wassocial transmitted or natural by heat. event, tha t characterised the period of time passed from the last circumcision, reveals an historical consciousness not bonded to a repetitive or mythical of the history, but to concept of the history, to concrete human events, considered distinct f romcourse Of the myth. the depth of the historical consciousness is not too extended. we can say that it belongs to what Mbiti calls sasa (new), micro-time. It is the tried past, even if its description is scanty and enriched by the vivacity of the narr atortime The fantasy. of the myth instead, is part of the zamani (the past). It is macre-time , that overlaps the sasa feeds it and founds it. (mbiti, 1969). The zamani furni shes the sasa with the fundamental values. It predominates in time of the rite. We would commit an error if we would think with Elide that this important parall el running of the myth with the time of the history nullifies the memory of the historical 3. I think The initiation it useful consciousness as make to a dynamically (Elide to some 1974,10-13). global continuum consideration on the initiation, follow ing I "The present the word interpretation the gukurua detailed (initiation) give by the description in the Tharaka, of its Tharaka single before. language rites. has a profound significa nce.compete The It means expression instruction forgive indicating step bythe step. initiation is "matagaria ma muntu ma g ukurua" (translated letterally, "stop to a person to the growth in knowledge"). Formerly it had the meaning of step by step method of instruction, as in school

one has the first second, third, class etc. The passages were taking place by th e. It could be defined a system of permanent initiation, in wick only the elders of the last age-section, if not the same group of the ancestors, should be conside red Tharaka The fully initiated. "mategaria ma muntu ma gukurua", in its more extended sense goes coi ncide with the formal inculturation achieved by degrees. Each stage of the life ( that is the belonging to an age-class) could be considered as an initiation to the successive stage. In this well the comparison used by Chabari Ntherema (".. .. as we new have in the school the first, second, third, etc classes") in wick it is the class that is taken in to consideration and not only the promotional exam from one class to another. But if we consider such initiation concept in a mere restricted sense, it includes only the passage rites of Kirimu nthano, ujuk ania, kiama gia nkemange, kiama gia nkubiri, kiama gia rwamba and the esoteric r ites of the female elders initiation. We must add also some confirmation rites, tightly bonded to them, like the Kagita, the gatanga and the waathi. It seems to me that, however restrictive we may be, it is impossible to reduce the Tharaka initiation at the pure ritual moment. Let us observe, for example, the structure of the initiation stage of circumcision (ntano, male), that sanctions the passa ge from the age-class of the aiji ruga to that one of the nthaka. We can see th at it presents us a dynamic continuum of ritual and extra-ritual moments. They p lait from the feast of the "burial of the dance" (kuthiga rwimbo) to pass to the incorporation complex separation to theand garu, segregation and finally rites to the of whole four successive season duri ng which all the neo-ng'eromo had" to apart in silence and listen". A tutor was assigned to each of them during this last period. he was instructing him and tea ching him the new age-class language and dances. After that we cold consider con cluded this stage of initiation. Anyhow, this limit attenuates if we consider th at immediately it should take place the "cancelling of the kirugu" rite, that ch ange intrinsically the person and give him the possibility of acceding to matrim ony, and that the successive age-section is that of nthaka; that is, to the let ter, of "those that learn (from the akuru ba garu) the politeness" (uthaka) we c old conclude saying that the Tharaka traditional initiation is structured in a t rainritual The of stages, moment with ratifies an alternation the new status. of ritual Themoments passagewithe from en extraage-class ritualto ones. the ether is achieved in it. In the extra-ritual moment, the individual - guided bef ore by a tutor and helped fathered by the ether members of his age- cassa- must carry He must toconstruct fulfilment the innew theperson, daily life givethe substance processto started the new instatus, the ritual put himself moment. in a real condition to carry out the roles connected to it, and mature to be rea dy for This process the successive is following passage a learning of the and age.a change rhythm that is more accelerate d during the youth time, and it reaches its apex during the celebration of rites The of Tharaka passage.initiation is of "dramatical" and " instructive" type. The instructi ve a cultural ratifications of the stages of the natural psyche-physical growth of the They have individual. the permanent function of giving him a place and a significance in the In structure this process of thethe social candidate system. is accompanied by the initiation "father" or "mot her. This persons are different wether by the parents or by the ether classifica tioninitiation The social fathers father oror mothers. mother present the candidate. They vouch for him in fro m of the society. They assist him during the rites, and they give him the ritual instruction. The individual has got a different father or mother or for every i nitiation Among the elements stage. of initiation we must actentivoly consider the secret. It is important because it has got a structural function in the dynamics of the ageclasses system. from the kirimu onwards, each age group has its secrets. The ca ndidates come to know it in the course of the esotorical rites of the relative i nitiation A symbolical stages. and hermetic They must language rigourously is thought keep it. to the initiation to facilitate th em in keeping it. Thus they can communicate among themselves without being under stood The importance by the non-initiated. of the secret does not so much lie in its contents, that could al so be irrelevant, but in its functions and the actions. Nevertheless it usually regards the symbols, the formulas and the actions that make part of the esoteri c rites The initiation of the secret initiation. has structural functions. It acts as an element of distinc tion between the groups and the age-classes, and of internal integration and coh esion in each of them. Its, extension coincides with that of the class that poss essed it, and its duration is limited in time. Each individual, being the son of the tribe, has the natural right to Know all the secrets. He does it trough the passages of age process and trough its relative stages of the initiation. His s

ocial value clearly distinguishes such secret from these whit found the secret s The ignorance of this distinction has often carried the foreigners- who came in ociety. contact The ignorance whit found of this thedistinction secret society. has often carried the foreigners - to consider some initiation groups or age-classes as secret societies. The opinions express ed by the Europeans one the Njuri of the Meru (see p.) constitute an exemplary c asethe In of end, the wrong I think effect it useful of this tolack lie a ofspecial knowledge. stress on the significant cultura l reality that we can point out in the Tharaka initiation process. That is the i mpotence given by the Tharaka to the real growth of the individual, to his evalu ative rhythms to his personal zeal. The latter is exalted and rewarded with the possibility the Tharaka initiation is a concrete example id how the rites can ce lebrate D think it individual's useful to male achievement, some global and considerations not only the triumph on theoh initiation, the socialfollowin unity. g the interpretation give by the Tharaka, before D present the detailed descript ion of "The word itsgukurua single (initiation) rites. in the Tharaka language has a profound significan ce it means instruction given step. The complete expression for indicating the i nitiation is "matagaria ma muntu ma gukurua" (translated laterally, step of a pe rson to the group method of instructions, as in school one has the first, second , third The could classe. be defined a system of the last age-section if the same group of the a ncestors The Tharaka should concept be of considered the initiation, fully initiated. as we can deduce "by the definition matag aria mantu ma gukurua" The passage were taking place by the means of rituals and This feast" explanation (Chabari give Ntherma, byChabari 1975).Ntherema, elder of the tribe, evidences the fund amental traditional characteristics system of the of Tharaka the initiation: its continuity. In this system, e ach stage is to be considered as part of a unique process, of a continuum, that developers whit the, physical, physiological, psychological grout of the individ ual, along (21) Aiji Nkala the whole (sing. arcMwiji of his Nkala) life are means theof male rituals children ...... of the hi life. first age grou p, or rather until the initiation stage of the Kirimu. The term aiji indicates t he children or youth not circumcised. The term nkala derives from the verb Karia or Kalia = to rest in same place; it refers to the fact that the children of th is age did not stray very far from the house, did not eat or sleep in other hous es orAiji (22) in the Rugo "house (sing. ofMwiji the uncircumcised Rugo) are theyouth" youths(kiburu of the first gia aiji) age class. The ter m rugo derives from the verb Rugura = to open; means "to him that is open to the (J. The secrets, mwinji Mugaowa aiji rugo tompuramuu: and he M'Makanya divided that can themselves was M'Kwenga, learn the same the in 29.IV.1975) secrets". of those belonging to the first age section c onstituted by the smallest, just incorporated. The expression derives from mwinj i = timid; wa = of the; mpura = removal; muu = ashes. Their specific work was th at of keeping clean the kiburu, of removing the ashes from the fire place and se e mnuinjeru: to firewood. was the name of those belonging to the second age section constitut ed by the adolescent. The term derives from mbwi = feather and njeru = white. Th ese were the rapresentatives, the messengers of the kiburu totem the vastest cla nical Nkinyanthi: community. was the name of those belonging to the third age group, constitute d by the oldest uncircumcised youth. The term derives from the verb kinya = to t read, tocrush with the foot, and nthi = earth, ground. Their specific work was t hat of guiding the kiburu, teaaching the others all that they had to learn, and of training themselves for combat; infact in case of necessity they could be cal led upon (23) Ng'oromo to combat (sing. atand theplural) side ofderives the warriors. from the verb koromo = to eat little an d in haste, not able to eat enough because one is in a hurry. The food eaten in this way is called nkoromo, he who eats it in this manner, ng'oromo. The term in dicates that the ng'oromo had important roles, of which the military and police activity, that occupied them continuosly: therefore they had to stay alert alway s. The attribution of such characteristics to the first age section is however r estrictive in as much these were common to all the three age sections of the gar u. (24) Nguruu ya Nguu: "This rite was celebrated by the parents of the child". It was celebrated at considerable distance (from brth), when the child had a certai n age. The celebration included (the following elements): a goat, the mitimikuru , the mpau ya kindaji, and that of the iraa (for these elements cfr. 183). The c eremony came to be celebrated in the early morning. The baby was covered with an apron (kathari) of the mother. The father lifted the edge of the apron and ackn owledged the identity of his son; then they sprinkled him with white powder (ira a) all over the body, the face included. The white powder was mixed with castor oil. Thus to smear it, instead of the hands they used the mitimikuru. What remai ned came to be direclty poured on the body of the son. Then the goat was slaught ered and to the child applied strips of skin (nkooro). Done that, they took out

from the hut of the mother the mathangu. The mathangu were accompanied by the fe et of the goat, including the clogs (thagiru). The mathangu are the twigs used t o sweep away the excrements of the child. This excrements were removed only the day of nguruu ya nguu. When this rite terminated the parents carried the baby in the fields, where they gave him the semolina, then carried him home. (M'Mugwongo -17.7.1977). Nkuriru ya mwana "this rite came to be celebrated together with the previous, when the mother had the first menstruations after the birth. This event could be The evidenced makuri indicated by nothingthe theperiod makuriof fixed separation, at the entrance that continued of the for house. four days. The fourth day, after the wife was at the river to wash herself, the husband was in formed by the father or the mother, that came to know of the thing in time by hi s wife. Now, the evening of the fourth day was slaughtered a goat and applied on to the body of the child strips of skin (nkooro). When all was over and after h aving made the feast, eating meat and foot, they (husband and wife) went to bed togehter and had a sexual intercourse to generate another child. If the wife rem ained pregnant, it was said that the child had found a successor (mwana agukurir wa). Four days after, they razored the childs head (mwana akenjiua) and was ado rned with a string of beads made of the seeds from the mugumo tree, mwonkia, mur aria, and mukengejia. The relatives and the neighbours went to see the child and carried with them gifts, necklaces and bracelets, which the mother coserved. Fr om this moment, if he was the first son, the father passed to the first age sect ion of the garu to the second, from that of the ng'oromoto that of the nthaka" ( M'Mugwongo, These rites are 7.7.1977). still celebrated today by those people that have not reached tru + a _ ] y s u o m k i c e g q w %christianism. (c) ' $ + 3 : c k a u _s o X k^ @ ]q m I ko im gk ei cg aI _e nyself ]c a_Ntugi ]have witnessed % k{y;w@uHc sy Mk qw y qn ou yp s m y q k w So i u , V g Kaanthungu Kamuthanga Kamanyaki Kathunthini Kiuga Mpunja Nthemgani Nkuthe it" (J. Mugao, 1.7.1977). y! T] h] |] E u w y $ 2 9 F ] ^ W > C @] \: ]0 u" a _ 2 > y I ] 5 ` ]B8 LC E ? Z: [; y F B] V] j] ~] _ W ? u S3 y I ] d sSf *E ] ? ~> y D] X] l] 9/ -C q h \: ]; y I J ]q b5 y < q$ s > ? y ] C < s y ? F] Z] n] f_ K jy y #& d5 ? = '? K q W o\ w & r! ? C e c ? I. = y ] %& ;6 ? K H] \] p] y m?L q t! M= y h_ q C ? K. y ?6` & >6 y ] w 1 k ? +# O= @ y J] ^] r] GD ? .... y AL ?e` & y u i '= @ y ] ND y L L] `] t] _( y l g` . = y ...D y L ] & a( 9 y N] b] v] l )yl a0 y > jM a eb 9 ( y ? ] 'D y c0 ? P] d] x] ;l y w c+ ++ y ? V (r) 2 ? ] yW R] f] z] \ -+ ? yW ? O y ] yy] T] h] |] njM ? b yp? ? yd lM yr ? ??dp"f -N y/N n'f y1O lk y3O ]0 j yP ...l 2ya "2 P Aq wa dQ 4'q u a w+ V fQ W OW 4O *E ? s+ W ? V ?5 0E W 'q qq y E5^ E X oq w h5 E (tm)X fQ^ mr u rR o5 %F y)r ^ kX s u tR B6 )F T ^ iX q s +r I6 qF ^,r g o q w ; } Y