Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests

The Mijikenda community is composed of 9 different tribes who live along the coast of Kenya. They are closely related but distinct people—the Kauma, Chonyi, Jibana, Giriama, Kamabe, Ribe, Rabai, Duruma and Digo. They share a common linguistic and cultural heritage. Traditionally, each group lives in its own hilltop village (kaya) on the ridge along the Kenya coast, between the towns of Kilifi and Vanga. In the past, the Mijikenda tribe was also referred to as the Nyika tribe, a near-derogatory term implying bush people. "Mijikenda" literally means nine homes or nine homesteads (in Swahili), referring to the common ancestry of the Mijikenda people. The nine Mijikenda sub-tribes are believed to be nine different homes of the same tribe. Each sub-tribe speaks its own dialect of the Mijikenda language. Mijikenda Origin and History Mijikenda oral history traces the origin of the tribe to the southern regions of Somalia. It is believed that the Mijikenda people escaped constant attacks from the Oromo and other Cushitic tribes, and settled in the coastal ridges that were easier to defend. Historically, the Mijikenda have had close interactions with the Persian, Arab, and Portuguese traders who frequented their home territory along the Kenyan coast. This interaction and subsequent intermarriage with the Arabs gave birth to the Swahili culture and language. As a result, the Swahili language - Kiswahili - bears a close lexical similarity with all dialects of the Mijikenda people.