The Bukusu Circumsition Ceremony! !! So I was born and bred in - TopicsExpress



          

The Bukusu Circumsition Ceremony! !! So I was born and bred in Bungoma county, land flowing with milk and honey. Every August of the alternate years, two things would make the holiday bombastic, maize harvesting, yes we would roast and eat maize the whole day until constipation became a way of life. Then we had the great circumsition ceremony. Today I want to share the little I remember of this fabulous ceremony, more so after my mum informed me this morning that Chinyimba zimeanza kulia, yes its happening this August. So when we were kids, the wasinde who were boys of between 10 to 14 would join the initiation ceremony to join the club of real men, you were considered a boy if you were a msinde. So many of our neighbours in Sinoko village underwent the traditional circumsition ceremony. Let me use am example of one, I will call him Wafula, to explain what exactly happens. For a period of two weeks, Wafula either with peers in his stage or alone would start beating (khupa) chinyimba (some sort of bell hitting a metal bangle of sorts) to alert the village that he was now on board. He would move with a group singing to circumsition celebration songs from home to home kuita. So when they come to your home, you congratulate him or them with a token, cash or chicken et al. I remember they would come home at times when my mum was away and my siz and I would resort to hide under the bed, and usually, if no one comes out to give something, they would just harvest a little of your maize and go. After two weeks, Wafula accompanied by his villagers would walk beating chinyimba to his maternal uncles, the place where his father paid dowry for his mum and one of those cows or assumed to be will be given to Wafula and he will come home with it singing and dancing. We enjoyed following Wasinde but at a safe distance, the only problem is that you would not realise how late it would be getting and you only get to arrive home after the chicken, Sema viboko!! Then the big day would arrive. At 5 am, the time my mum would be busy praying for all our problems and thanking God for all, we would hear that famous song, Ohhh ohhh ooooo ohhh ohhh, Ohhh ohhh ooohhh, hao, hao ooohhh, and we would know Wafula is coming from the river, the way he came from his mothers womb dressed only in mud. I dont know what exactly would happen at the river but the boy would be taken there like 3 or 4 am and brought back by 6 am all in mud ready for the knife. Before my mum says amen, we would sneak out of the house and hide in a bush coz it was taboo for girls to cross in front of the mob. The minute they all passed, we would join from the back and sing and dance with the rest. When we get to the home, there would be a moment of complete silence and Wafula would walk like a man to the place where he would face the knife, place a long stick at the back of his head and legs apart as if to tell the curcumsiser, bring it on!!!. The guy would appear from some crowd quickly cut the boy and leave him bleeding and disappear. Wafulas mum who was all along hiding in the hut praying that her son does not ashame her by shedding a tear (which was taboo) is informed that it has been successful. She will come out of her hut with her peers screaming in joy, then the whole crowd would break into song and dance, Wafula ndikhwaera koo, ndi khwaera.....Wafula would be allowed to sit still legs apart and bleeding and start receiving gifts. The ceremony would end at about 8am and Wafula is now a man called Omufulu. He would then start terrorising young girls in the village now that he is a man. ANY QUESTIONS? ADDITIONS? CORRECTIONS?
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 06:40:52 +0000

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