Charting a river of belief back to its source

Wairimu Mukuru started sharing TikTok videos about Kikuyu culture earlier this year. Within months, the 26-year-old had gained more than 60,000 followers and received at least 1m views of her videos, where she talks about her ethnic group’s traditional practices and beliefs on topics such as mental health and sex.

Mukuru, a Kikuyu language teacher, is one of a small but growing number of Kenyans from the country’s largest ethnic group, the Agīkūyū, who are trying to revive precolonial cultural and spiritual practices. The belief systems were suppressed during British colonial rule in the 19th century, and as Christianity became more entrenched.

“Westernisation was entangled with Christianity,” said King’ori wa Kanyi, a member of the Agīkūyū Council of Elders. “A good African convert had to take a European name, dress like a European and visit the clinic instead of the herbalist.”

About 85% of Kenyans identify as Christians.

“There’s a new kind of Pentecostalism that has consumed much of how we understand ourselves,” said Kamau Wairuri, a socio-political researcher at the University of Edinburgh. “Since people are not familiar with other alternatives, those looking to practise a different kind of spirituality might not know where to begin.”

Adherents of Kikuyu spirituality say it is inseparable from their culture.

“Colonialism destroyed indigenous African religions, labelling them primitive and not good for the modern age,” said Jacob Olupona, a professor of African religious traditions at Harvard divinity school. “With time, Africans stopped seeing something good in their own traditions. Those belief systems became so marginalised that some have become like secret societies.”

Today, less than 2% of Kenyans practise traditional beliefs. But experts say many people practise indigenous belief systems alongside Christianity or Islam. Some Kikuyu elders say there has been a slow but gradual shift in attitudes within the community.

“Many people are now rejecting European-imposed religious

Spiritual divide The efforts to revive traditional beliefs have not been welcomed in all quarters. Some members of the community, especially those over 50, strongly oppose the revival, says Mukuru’s teacher and spiritual guide, Kariithi wa Njenga. Many have embraced Christianity.

and cultural identities,” said Kanyi, adding that among the Agīkūyū, there is a term for the efforts to revive indigenous beliefs, which translates as “restoring the river to its original course”.

Experts say interest has grown as a rising number of the African diaspora returned over the past decade, in search of their ir anc ancestral traditions. “It has emboldened d those th who are practising it at home,” said sa Olupona. Nevertheless, those looking to reclaim their heritage face challenges. Most African spiritual belief systems are an oral tradition.

“There’s a lot that has been washed away,” said Mukuru, who has been exploring the Kikuyu cultural and spiritual history for several years.

Some accounts of the Agīkūyū way of life were written down by the Kikuyu historian Godfrey Muriuki and Louis Leakey, a Kenyan-British archaeologist who lived among the community for most of his life. Mukuru says a lot of the history can also be found in the community’s language, sayings, songs and stories by Kikuyu writers such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.

Those who try to re-engage with the traditions, like Mukuru, also face pressure to adopt it wholesale. She does not agree with some Kikuyu traditions, such as female genital mutilation, for example. But she says the traditions include a range of beliefs, including many that are progressive.

Under Kikuyu cultural practice, women were in charge of agricultural production, the community’s main source of livelihood. Mukuru was surprised to discover that the culture was also matrilineal and sexually liberal. “Sensual dances were used as a way to gauge sexual synergy with the opposite sex,” she said.

Environmental protection was also important. “Treating animals and plants with respect is a mark of spiritual maturity among the Agīkūyū,” said Kanyi, adding that the community attached spiritual significance to mountains and trees, and ate a mainly plant-based diet.

Experts say community practitioners have become custodians of an important history and culture. “If we lose these religions, it would be a big loss for the world,” said Olupona. “We would have lost an entire civilisation.”