Kaya (sanctuary)

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Kaya forest

The Kaya or Makaya are forest areas and abandoned settlements of the Mijikenda people on the coast of Kenya . They were fortified villages until the beginning of the 20th century, but have been abandoned by their residents since then. The remains were transformed into holy places of ancestor worship . Since then, committees of tribal elders have ensured that the surrounding forests are preserved. As a result of this practice, the kayas are now almost the only areas in the coastal region where the once rich forest has not disappeared through agriculture and settlement.

In 2008, ten of the 50 known kayas were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO .

description

Most of the Kaya forests are located on low hills in the hinterland of the Kenyan coast, spread over 200 kilometers. No one is further than 35 kilometers from the coast. The size varies between 30 and 300 hectares. The forest is botanically diverse tropical rainforest and belongs to the ecoregion of the northern Zanzibar-Inhambane rainforest. The forest often ends abruptly at agricultural areas where cashew , mangoes and coconuts are grown.

The remains of the former villages can be found in the woods. Usually only a few buildings have survived, but the basic structure can still be clearly read. The places were in a forest clearing and were surrounded by a circular palisade . Access was through wooden gates in sections designed as dry stone walls . Well-defined paths led to the gates, all of which were secured with additional gates for defense. The houses were in a ring on the inside of the palisade so that the center remained free. Either a grove or a thatched hut ( moro ) stood in it as a meeting place. According to oral tradition, holy objects ( fingo ) were buried there when the places were founded .

After the villages were abandoned, individual tribal elders lived there for decades. During this time, the places were transformed into ceremonial meeting places and places of worship. Cemeteries were created and the woods were used for prayer and for collecting fruits, herbs and the like. The graves, shrines and individual ceremonial structures are carefully preserved to this day. Tribal elders are buried in some cemeteries and tombstones ( vigango ) are erected in their honor .

Religious meaning

The forests and the remains of the villages are particularly protected by their status as sacred places. Deforestation, use as pasture and hunting of certain animals are prohibited. This is ensured by the elders, who not only can appoint guards, but also have the authority to impose penalties for prohibited logging, improper conduct, etc. In principle, all tribesmen are allowed to enter the kaya to pray or hold religious ceremonies under the guidance of the elders.

The Mijikenda, as far as they are not converted to Islam, traditionally worship the spirits of their ancestors and believe in a monotheistic god ( Mulungu ).

history

The history of the settlement of the Kaya is only passed down orally. According to these accounts, the agricultural Mijikenda came in the 16th century from a country called Singwaya or Shungwaya , which is supposed to be north of the Tana in what is now Somalia . There they were expelled by the Akwavi Masai , the Galla ( Oromo ) or the Orma who lived as shepherds . The original settlers initially founded six settlements on the ridge that ran parallel to the coast, and three more were added later. The division of the Mijikenda into clans, which is still used today , is metonymically derived from these nine villages . In the following centuries the individual kayas flourished and the inhabitants developed their own languages ​​and customs.

While the legends show that the villages were founded between 1560 and 1870, this cannot be fully confirmed from other sources. The historiography of the Swahili coastal cities tells of an influx of mijikenda in the 17th century. Linguistic studies also seem to support the close association of the clans and their emergence around this time.

More recently, however, it has also been suggested that the term Mijikenda is possibly more of a construct of the Arabic and Swahili cultures on the coast in order to delimit them. In addition, archaeological studies have shown that some of the kayas were already settled in the Middle Ages.

The number of inhabitants in the villages has been decreasing since the 19th century. A clear reason for this cannot be determined; the economic environment is likely to encourage migration to surrounding farms and coastal cities. By 1940 most of the kayas were abandoned. The more intensive cultivation and deforestation of the surrounding area with simultaneous religious protection of the forest areas led to the current structure with the sharp contrasts between plantations and forest. However, it must be assumed that the pressure of the need for firewood and the desire to expand the cultivation and settlement areas have since then led to a gradual reduction in size of the kayas. However, due to the lack of cartographic recording, this cannot be traced in detail.

Hazard and protection

The kayas are located in the coastal region, which is intensively developed for tourism. In particular, the forests very close to the coast are subject to considerable pressure to cut down parts of them in favor of holiday resorts. Licenses for mining ore were issued at other locations. In view of the rainforests that have otherwise largely disappeared, wood is also becoming increasingly valuable. At the same time, the homogeneity of the Mijikenda society decreases, and with it inevitably also the reverence for traditional rules. It is reported that individual tombstones were stolen and sold to collectors.

In the past, the kaya forests were only protected by traditions. Efforts have been made for legal protection since the early 1990s. These originally came from environmentalists who pointed out the special ecological diversity and the occurrence of particularly threatened species.

Most of the kayas are now designated either as nature reserves or, more recently, as national monuments. The implementation of these regulations and the cooperation with the local elders is still a task for the next few years.

In connection with the application as a World Heritage Site, 36 kayas were initially proposed. Because of the incomplete protection concept, the Kenyan government reduced its proposal to just 11 sites in 2008, one of which was canceled by the World Heritage Committee. The Kaya Kinondo , a few hundred meters from the beach about 35 km south and from Mombasa area, was severely damaged by a hotel building. In addition, corals are mined in a quarry in his area .

World Heritage

Sacred Kaya Forests of Mijikenda
UNESCO world heritage UNESCO World Heritage Emblem
National territory: KenyaKenya Kenya
Type: Culture
Criteria : iii, v, vi
Surface: 1,538 ha
Reference No .: 1231
UNESCO region : Africa
History of enrollment
Enrollment: 2008  (session 32)

Ten of Kaya 2008, as part of the World Heritage Holy Kaya forests of the Mijikenda in the World Heritage added. These include four of the original kayas, named after one of the nine clans. “Secondary” kayas, on the other hand, are those that were later settled by individual clans.

Ref.No. designation county Coordinates surface comment
1231rev-001 Kaya Giriama Kilifi 3 ° 47 ′ 55 "  S , 39 ° 30 ′ 52"  E 204.00 original Kaya, also called Kaya Fungo of Giriama after the founder Fungo , lies on the Nyika Plateau
1231rev-002 Kaya Jibana Kilifi 3 ° 50 ′ 15 "  S , 39 ° 40 ′ 10"  E 140.00 ha original Kaya, is about 30 kilometers inland from Mombasa
1231rev-003 Kaya Kambe Kilifi 3 ° 51 ′ 49 ″  S , 39 ° 39 ′ 7 ″  E 75.00 ha original Kaya, about 2 kilometers seaward from Kaya Jibana
1231rev-004 Kaya Kauma Kilifi 3 ° 37 ′ 14 "  S , 39 ° 44 ′ 10"  E 75.00 ha secondary kaya,
1231rev-005 Kaya Ribe Kilifi 3 ° 53 ′ 49 "  S , 39 ° 37 ′ 58"  E 36.00 ha original Kaya, is the only one not on a hilltop, but at the confluence of two rivers
1231rev-006 Rabai kayas Kilifi 3 ° 55 ′ 55 "  S , 39 ° 35 ′ 46"  E 580.00 ha secondary kayas, Kaya Mudzimuvya , Kaya Bomu and Kaya Fimboni form a contiguous forest area on a conspicuous hill line, about 30 kilometers above Mombasa
1231rev-007 Duruma kayas Kwale 3 ° 59 ′ 54 ″  S , 39 ° 31 ′ 25 ″  E 398.00 ha secondary Kayas, Kaya Mtswakara and Kaya Gandini are located 23 kilometers west of Mombasa on the Mambone River
1231rev-008 Kaya Kinondo Kwale 4 ° 23 '36 "  S , 39 ° 32' 41"  E 30.00 ha secondary kaya, nominated but not included in World Heritage

literature

Web links

Commons : Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests. Maps. whc.unesco.org, accessed May 2, 2015 .