Thread by @HistoryKE

#HistoryKeThread: Charles Dundas’ 1915 Notes On Luhya Superstitions

Charles Dundas was among the earliest British administrators in Ukambani and Luhyaland.

He noted down some superstitions of various sub tribes of the Abaluhya community from western Kenya.

These were published in the journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in circa 1915.

Among the Maragoli, noted Dundas, stumbling was considered a bad omen. It was worse if one stumbled with his left foot. And in the event one stumbled on his right foot twice in succession, he would return home.

If one stumbled with both feet in succession, it meant that two different troubles were in store.

On the Wanga sub tribe, Dundas noted that they believed that a left foot stumble betokened luck. A right foot stumble, on the other hand, was a pointer to a looming misfortune.

Dundas also shared a few things about the Bukusu. The community believed that if one came across a certain kind of big ants called nafusi, it was a sign that one would be given plenty of beer and food by the person whom one was about to visit.

Even if one wasn’t visiting anybody, Dundas further noted, encountering the nafusi ants meant some good fortune or luck lay ahead for that individual.

Back to the Maragoli, the community generally considered sneezing to be a bad omen. If a person sneezed repeatedly before taking up an activity, he would put it off for some time “if it was possible for him to do so”, wrote Dundas.

It was the same with the Wanga, who also believed that if a fit of sneezes preceded a visit to a friend who was sick, the sick person would recover.

If one met with a certain rat called elvengi, wrote Dundas, it was a bad omen in a general way among the Maragoli.

In contrast, meeting a small antelope (ekisusu) was a very good sign, as was an encounter with a silver squirrel with a long, bushy tail.

However, this community (Maragoli) considered an encounter with the esimindwa (red hawk) a bad sign.

Dundas wasn’t done yet.

If the enyiru bird twice crossed a Maragoli’s path just in front of him and ‘whistled’, “he must return home at once as this is a very bad omen”.

In the same community, if an owl (elikuli) cried near a homestead, it was believed that one of the persons living there would die soon. To prevent this from happening, the owl was driven away with a firebrand.

And if a Maragoli heard a big fox, called ekivwi, this was a bad omen in the sense that it heralded the death of an eminent member of the community or clan person.

Does anyone recognize any of the foregoing superstitions? I stumbled on Dundas’s findings in a rather threadbare book and so some spellings of Luhya words may be erroneous as the writings weren’t so legible.