In the Luo Culture the birth of a baby in the
family was and still a big celebration among the members of that family and
friends. In the olden days, the celebrations included some rituals which were
done. Among the rituals were, naming the child, shaving, taking the child out
side for the first time and visiting the mother and her new born baby.
TAKING THE BABY OUTSIDE (Golo Nyathi oko)
Taking the baby out was done according to the sex
of the child. Boys were taken out after 4 days and girls after 3 days. This was
usually done in the morning hours between 9:00 am – 10:00 am to avoid the heat.
SHAVING THE BABY (Lielo Nyathi)
In olden days shaving of a new born was a ritual of
its kind. The shaving was done by a grandmother or an aged lady from the some
clan, if the grandmother was not around or was dead. The person shaving was
required to have a calabash (Agwata) full of water, a traditional razor and
traditional Herb. A calabash full of water was used to prevent the baby from
being obese, the traditional Herb was used as soup.
NAMING OF THE CHILD (Miyo Nyathi Nying)
This was
done a few days after birth, by the parents of the child. Luos were naming their
children after their dead relatives, the time and the season the child was born,
and if a mother conceived without seeing her periods. Children born at a
certain time were named after that time, i.e. Otieno/Atieno, these are children
born at night, Okoth/Akoth born during rainy season, Okumu/Akumu born without the
mother seeing her periods. Naming children after the dead relatives has now
stopped, but they still name them after the seasons, time of birth and the
living relatives.
VISITATION (Neno Nyathi)
According to Luo culture when a
baby is born in a family, the relatives and friends must pay a special visit.
In the olden days, many rituals were also performed during this visitation. The
first visitation was done by the lady’s young sisters to represent their
mother. The sisters were sent with cooked food and food which was not cooked. The
cooked food included Meat (Sun dried) ,Ugali made from Millet flour, Indigenous
Vegetables i.e. African Nightshades (Osuga), Spiderplant (Dek), Crotalaria (Mitoo).
The cooked food was eaten cold and served in a small basket called (Adita). After
this, one sister was usually left behind to help the sister until she was
strong.
VISITATION BY FRIENDS AND OTHER LADIES FROM
THE VILLAGE (Ting’o Nyathi)
The visitation by friends and other ladies from the
village was always arranged in advance before the day of visiting. The day of
visitation, each lady was suppose to carry Millet flour, sorghum flour, dry
Meat, dry Fish, indigenous vegetables,
fire wood and Beads for both mother and child. The Beads (Tigo) were tied
around the mother’s neck for blessings and also tied around the child’s wrist
for protection from the witches. The visiting was playing a big roll in
bringing different families together, also bringing ladies together, what the
modern people call CHAMA. TUNAJIVUNIA ELIMU
Story Contributed by Monica Ondiek
Herbarium Library
National Museums of Kenya
No comments:
Post a Comment