Thread by @kavsmaina

How the Kikuyu constructed huts & the ceremonies attached to the process are fascinating. From the location, to the kind of wood & thatch used, to the partitions & placements of the different areas within the hut. Thought went into every facet of construction.

#SKB1903

When a man wished to build a hut it was normal to call his pals and relas to help but not before he himself had begun the works. This was known as kwiarukira mwako and until he had he had no right to tumana for assistance. He must demonstrate willingness & ability to do the work

Hut building came with regulations. The builder & those helping him could not do the following during construction;
1. Eat meat sacrificed in connection with a death
2. Touch honey / honey beer
3. Have intercourse with any woman
4. Eat meat of an ox, bull or cow.

The builder

therefore had to initiate most work of cutting down the trees needed & preparing the hut poles himself before he tumanad. This ensured they finished construction asap so that his pals would have to endure these restrictions for a shorter time.

After selecting the Kiea ( site) & before clearing the space, the man had to sprinkle some uncooked millet flour mixed with water ( githambio) as an offering to the ancestors. Saying as he did so " Tuhei mwako mwega" ( give us a good building).
The rest of the mixture was put in

a little gourd ( gitete) and put in a hollow log as building proceeded. The main building had to be accomplished in a single day sufficiently for it to be slept in that first night. A hut once erected could not be left empty even for a night till all ceremonies connected with it

were completed. The first fire was kindled in the new hut the same evening. Huts of those initiated by Kikuyu guild customs kindled their fire by bringing in an ember from a garden fire. Those initiated by Ukabi customs kindled it with fire sticks.

This fire must not go out.

If it did that night before house was finished, furnished & blessed with beer; a ram would be slaughtered by athuuri a kiama & a fresh fire lit ceremonially with fire sticks. A small piece of the ram had to be put in with the kindling as the new fire was lit. More githambio was

sprinkle on the floor as further offering to the spirits. Then a banana was roasted in the new fire and given to a little boy or girl to eat. Following days were spent completing the partitions & putting a platform over the fireplace ( this was to prevent sparks from the fire

flying up to the thatch). When it was complete, the hut owner cut two sticks each of the mutheu & muthakwa trees. Fixing one of each kind into the wall on either side of the door. This was to ward off any evil from befalling him or his family should any of the hut building taboos

have been broken by those who helped him build. Beer brewed after construction was njohi ya kuruguria nyumba ( beer for housewarming), its chief purpose was an offering to the ancestors. Later, the man had to slaughter a ram in the courtyard holding it with its head facing the

entrance to the new hut as he killed it. The meat was cooked in the new hut as further ceremony gukuria nyumba ( to make the house grow up). This was not a sacrifice but a precaution because at any time, a sacrifice might be needed in connection with that hut & the first animal

slaughtered for a new hut & its occupants was meant to be only for meat & fat. Not sacrificial.