The Agĩkũyũ

[Ɔkyeame Kwame]

The Agĩkũyũ

The Ag ĩkũyũ belong to the GEMA group - Gĩkũy ũ, Merũ, Embu and Akamba. All four nations are Bantu and the first three are pretty much one and the same, we just think the other 'speaks funny'. During our migration from our ancestral homeland, we settled in three different areas but continue to uphold the same kinship systems, traditions, culture, language and general world view.

The last in the group, the Akamba, are a Bantu people as well, but whereas the first three groups came from the North-North-East, the Akamba came from the south. Gĩkũyũ, Merũ and Embu families all intermarry without batting an eye, and we also marry the Akamba since we consider them to be our 'cousins'. But, whereas the first three are matrilineal (the children belong to the mother and get their clan, etc from her), the Akamba are strongly patrilineal. For people like me, there's no question that we belong to our mothers - it's been that way since the beginning of time. Which is not to say that our fathers don't matter. And that is why we tend to marry from either of the three groups, though of course, we marry outside every now and then, though mainly to Bantu groups. It is rare to find our men marrying outside the Gĩkũyũ unit, though it does happen sometimes.

I should also mention the Ndia people, who we consider to be proto-Gĩkũyũ. They live on the slopes of Kĩrĩnyaga (Mount Kenya) and when they speak, the regular Gĩkũyũ person must strain to catch and comprehend well.

And then again, your average Gĩkũyũ has either Maasai, Ndorobo (San) and/or Gumba blood. The Maasai and Gĩkũyũ have always intermarried. In fact, whenever you find a Gĩkũyũ girl named 'Nyokabi', you know that somewhere in her lineage, there was a Maasai woman given to a Gĩkũyũ clan in marriage, or captured in war. Our history is deep and dense and still evolving.

Our Language:

We use the vowels a, e, ĩ, i, ũ, u, and o.

The ĩ is a soft e.

The i drops like when you say 'ifa'.

The ũ is a soft o.

The e is harsh, like in the Kiswahili word 'wewe'.

The o is harsh, like in the Kiswahili word 'huko' or like when Naijas say 'Oga'.

The u lifts, like in the Kiswahili word 'umeenda'.

Also, though 'thiĩ na wega' means 'go well', it would infer that I was literally getting on my feet and walking away; or into a car and driving away. Instead, one can say Ũgĩe na kahinda kega; which means 'be okay' or 'have a good time'. Or even 'nĩtũk ũaria hĩndĩ ĩngĩ (We'll speak some other time) or even 'ũraathimwo' (be blessed). And many more.