Kuria (ethnic group)
The Kuria are an ethnic group who live east of Lake Victoria in the border area of Tanzania and Kenya . Of the up to 400,000 Kuria, around two thirds live in Tanzania ( Mara region ) and one third in Kenya ( Nyanza province , especially in the Kuria district ).
The language of the Kuria is the Bantu Kuria language . The closest related ethnic groups are the Kisii or Gusii, and also the Luhya . Other neighbors are the Luo , Maasai and Marach .
Traditionally the Kuria were cattle herders, but today they also farm. Important agricultural products are coffee, sugar cane, tobacco and corn. There is also fishing in Lake Victoria. Cattle continue to play an important role in feeding on milk and, less often, blood, in ceremonies and in paying the bride price .
The Kuria’s marriage traditions have also given rise to controversy, as poorer parents in particular, who are dependent on the bride price, often put their daughters into arranged marriages at an early age . Circumcision of both boys and girls (in the form of clitoridectomy ) is common.
The Kuria also have a tribal tradition of female marriage. In this form of marriage, called “Nyumba ntobu”, a young woman (or girl) marries an older woman. The women live in a household but have no sexual relationship with one another. The older one pays a bride price to the younger family , and when the younger gives birth to children, these belong to the older ones. In Tanzania, this form of marriage is recognized under tribal law, but not under national law, which can lead to difficulties if there is a dispute about the children, for example in the event of a separation or if the biological father demands rights over the children.
About 59 percent of the Kuria are Christians, 41 percent are followers of traditional religions. Their main traditional musical instrument is the eight- stringed bowl, lyre iritungu , which is slightly smaller than the obokano of the Gusii. The flute ibirongwe , which was once played by the cattle herders, can hardly be heard.
literature
- Babere Kerata Chacha: Traversing Gender and Colonial Madness: Same-Sex Relationships, Customary Law and Change in Tanzania, 1890–1990. In: Gender Activism and Studies in Africa. CODESRIA Gender Series Volume 3. Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, Dakar 2004, pp. 129–151
Web links
- Jens Finke, Traditional Music and Cultures of Kenya: Kuria - Introduction (English)
- Jens Finke, Traditional Music and Cultures of Kenya: Kuria - Society (engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bartholomäus Grill, Adriane Ohanesian (photos): Frauenehe in Tanzania. Nine cows for a girl. Spiegel online, April 4, 2017, accessed April 4, 2017 .