OUR WORK

Mijikenda Music

This project is focused on documenting, digitizing, recording, promoting & nurturing a future generation of Mijikenda artists that represent all the nine tribes in this community. It is estimated that there are over 40 genres of music originating from the nine tribes, Rabai, Ribe, Kambe, Kauma, Jibana, Digo, Duruma, Giriama & Chonyi but sadly much has yet to be fully documented or digitized, & we are here to change that.

Mijikenda Knowledge Hub

There is an estimated 40% of the world population lacking access to books & education in indigenous mother-tongue languages. It is sad to admit but the Mijikenda community is part of this statistic. The community is yet to find extensive ways of documenting, digitizing & integrating their indigenous knowledge highlighting all the nine languages from its tribes. However we hope our work will contribute towards changing this narrative.

Vigango Repatriation Project

We are on a time sensitive mission to repatriate our Vigango. These are Mijikenda Traditional funeral posts that posses the souls of our highest ranked spiritual elders who guide the Mijikenda community. Many of these Vigango currently lie in western museums, action houses and antique shops across Europe and America. Our goal is to raise awareness, educate and help many who love African art and artifacts understand why this is more than art.

WHO ARE THE MIJIKENDA PEOPLE?

Mijikenda is a community formed by nine tribes which are Ribe, Rabai, Kambe, Kauma, jibana, Digo, Duruma, Giriama, & Chonyi. The word Mijikenda is derived from a combination of these two words; Miji means communities while Kenda means nine. Hence the word Mijikenda is what represents the community & it is not the main tribe as many like to argue these days. While the nine tribes share many similarities in culture, traditions, & have similar intonation & vocabularies that they share, each of the tribes have their own distinguished language & norms that guide their tribe. In fact this is depicted by the KAYA'S which are protected forested areas in the Kenyan coast that were the first homes that each of these tribes settled. UNESCO also acknowledge the Mijikenda KAYA'S as world heritage sites. Based on the 2019 Kenya census the total population of the Mijikenda community was estimated to be 2,488,691 while the population of the respective tribes was as follows. Ribe (10,690), Rabai (125,707), Kauma (71,061), Kambe (31,007), Jibana (38,466), Giriama (1,007,653), Duruma (555,135), Digo (409,595), Chonyi (198,653), & those who simply identified themselves as Mijikenda without specifying were (40,724).

LATEST ARTICLES

Here you will find a number of articles that we have published highlighting our recent work and progress in all the projects we are working on. It is always a joy to share our work and we are keen on collaborating with more people within the community who are willing to share their stories, or contribute an article with topics centered around our work. If you would like to join the community feel free to reach out to us via the contact page.

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