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Kaya (Mijikenda)
''Kaya'' (plural ''makaya'' or kayas) is a sacred forest of the Mijikenda people in the former Coast Province of Kenya. The ''kaya'' forest is considered to be an intrinsic source of ritual power and the origin of cultural identity; it is also a place of prayer for members of the particular ethnic group. The settlement, ritual centre, and fortified enclosure associated with the forest are also part of the ''kaya''. In the present day, the ''kaya'' is also referred to as a traditional organizational unit of the Mijikenda. Eleven of the approximately 30 separate ''kaya'' have been grouped together and inscribed as the Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Geography More than 50 ''kaya'' have been identified within the Kwale, Mombasa, and Kilifi counties. They measure between 30 and 300 hectares each. These are scattered over a coastal stretch of in the southern coastal plains area of Kenya, between the towns of Mombasa and Kilifi. While visitors are not al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coast Province
The Coast Province ( sw, Mkoa wa Pwani) of Kenya, along the Indian Ocean, was one of Kenya's eight provinces. It comprises the Indian Ocean coastal strip with the capital city at Mombasa and was inhabited by the Mijikenda and Swahili, among others. The province covered an area of 79,686.1 km2 and would have had a population of 3,325,307 in 2009. Tourist attraction Other important towns on the coastal strip include Diani in the South, and Kilifi, Malindi, Watamu and Lamu in the North. Part of the coastal population is located in resort and beach settlements as Kiongwe and Kipini. Diani Beach is now also a tourist center, with palm trees and the white sandy beaches like Mombasa. Malindi is where Vasco da Gama picked up his pilot to navigate with the monsoon winds to India; Mambrui appears to be the site where contact occurred with the Chinese during the era of the Yongle Emperor and the expeditions of Zheng He. Watamu is a small fishing community and East Africa's fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machete
Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca uses a machete to carve wood. file:Mexican machete.JPG, Mexican machete, from Acapulco, 1970. Horn handle, hand forged blade (hammer marks visible). A machete (; ) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a diminutive form of the word ''macho'', which was used to refer to sledgehammers. Alternatively, its origin may be ''machaera'', the name given by the Romans to the falcata. It is the origin of the English language equivalent term ''matchet'', though it is less commonly used. In much of the English-speaking Caribbean, such as Jamai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Objet D'art
In art history, the French term Objet d’art describes an ornamental work of art, and the term Objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish that emphasises the aesthetics of the artefact. Artists create and produce ''objets d’art'' in the fields of the decorative arts and metalwork, porcelain and vitreous enamel; figurines, plaquettes, and engraved gems; ivory carvings and semi-precious hardstone carvings; tapestries, antiques, and antiquities; and books with fine bookbinding. The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, describe their accumulated artworks as a: "collection of ''objets d’art'' hichcomprises over 800 objects. These are mostly small, decorative art items that fall outside the scope of the Museum’s ceramic, plate, textiles and glass collections." The artwork collection also includes metal curtain ties, a lacquered ''papier-maché'' tray, tobacco boxes, ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myth Of Origin
An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have stories set in a time after a first origin - such stories aim to account for the beginnings of natural phenomena or of human institutions within a preexisting universe. In Graeco-Roman scholarship, the terms etiological myth and ''aition'' (from the Ancient Greek αἴτιον, "cause") are sometimes used for a myth that explains an origin, particularly how an object or custom came into existence. Nature of origin myths Every origin myth is a tale of creation: origin myths describe how some reality came into existence.Eliade, p. 21 In many cases, origin myths also justify the established order by explaining that it was established by sacred forces (see section on "Social function" below). The distinction between cosmogonic myths and origin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shungwaya
Shungwaya (also Shingwaya) is an origin myth of the Mijikenda peoples. Traditions known collectively as the "Shungwaya myth" describe a series of migrations of Bantu peoples dating to the 12th-17th centuries from a region to the north of the Tana River. These Bantu migrants were held to have been speakers of Sabaki Bantu languages. Other Bantu ethnic groups, smaller in number, are also suggested to have been part of the migration. From Shungwaya, the Mount Kenya Bantu (Kamba, Kikuyu, Meru, Embu, and Mbeere) are then proposed to have broke away and migrated from there some time before the Oromo onslaught. Shungwaya appears to have had its heyday as a Bantu settlement area between perhaps the 12th and the 15th centuries, after which it was subjected to a full-scale invasion of Cushitic-speaking Oromo peoples from the Horn of Africa. From the whole corpus of these traditions, it has been argued that Shungwaya comprised a large, multi-ethnic community. The "Zhongli" (中理) of Zha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fingo (talisman)
''Fingo'' is a protective talisman of the Mijikenda people in Coast Province, Kenya. Fingo are believed to attract guardian spirits (''djinns''). It is commonly buried in the ''kaya'' (sacred forest). ''Kaya'' elders take care of the ''fingo'', which is said to have come from Shungwaya, the ancestral home of the Mijikenda. Considered to be interesting objet d'art, many ''fingo'' are stolen, while others are lost. The Giriama The Giriama (also called Giryama) are one of the nine ethnic groups that make up the Mijikenda (which literally translates to "nine towns"). The Mijikenda occupy the coastal strip extending from Lamu in the north to the Kenya/Tanzania border in ... use large stones as ''fingo'' while other Mijikenda use a large pot of medicine. The pottery vessel contains not only medicine but also magic charms. It serves to protect the ''kaya'' and its inhabitants, one buried at the entrance and exit of each ''kaya''. References {{reflist, 3 Kenyan culture Talismans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death of the two founders, the foundation owned 90% of the non-voting shares of the Ford Motor Company. (The Ford family retained the voting shares.) Between 1955 and 1974, the foundation sold its Ford Motor Company holdings and now plays no role in the automobile company. Ahead of the foundation selling its Ford Motor Company holdings, in 1949, Henry Ford II created the , a separate corporate foundation that to this day serves as the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company and is not associated with the foundation. The Ford Foundation makes grants through its headquarters and ten international field offices. For many years, the foundation's financial endowment was the largest private endowment in the world; it remains among the wealthie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden-rumped Elephant Shrew
The golden-rumped elephant shrew (''Rhynchocyon chrysopygus'') is a small African mammal. It is the largest species of the elephant shrew family along with its close relative the grey-faced sengi. It is classified as endangered. Taxonomy and description The golden-rumped elephant shrew is found in the northern coastal areas in and around Arabuko Sokoke National Park Mombasa in Kenya. Its name derives from the conspicuous golden fur on its hindquarters, distinctive golden coloration on its rump, and grizzled gold forehead contrasting with its dark reddish-brown color. The golden-rumped elephant shrew has long muscular rear legs and shorter, less developed forelegs. Like other elephant shrews, this species has a long and flexible snout, which is where its genus gets its name. Its tail is largely black except for the last third, which is white with a black tip. On juveniles, the fur shows vestigial traces of a checkerboard pattern seen on giant elephant shrews like the checkered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colobus Monkey
Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subspecies. They are generally found in high-density forests where they forage on leaves, flowers and fruit. Social groups of colobus are diverse, varying from group to group. Resident-egalitarian and allomothering relationships have been observed among the female population. Complex behaviours have also been observed in this species, including greeting rituals and varying group sleeping patterns. Colobi play a significant role in seed dispersal. Etymology The word "colobus" comes from Greek (''kolobós'', "docked", "maimed"), so named because the thumb is stump-like. Taxonomy *Genus ''Colobus'' **Black colobus, ''C. satanas'' ***Gabon black colobus, ''C. s. anthracinus'' ***Bioko black colobus, ''C. s. satanas'' **Angola colobus, ''C. ang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, a half of that loss occurring in the last century. Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines deforestation as the conversion of forest to other land uses (regardless of whether it is human-induced). "Deforestation" and "forest area net change" are not the same: the latter is the sum of all forest losses (deforestation) and all forest gains (forest expansion) in a gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giriama
The Giriama (also called Giryama) are one of the nine ethnic groups that make up the Mijikenda (which literally translates to "nine towns"). The Mijikenda occupy the coastal strip extending from Lamu in the north to the Kenya/Tanzania border in the south, and approximately 30 km inland. The Giriama are among the largest of these ethnic groups. They inhabit the area bordered by the coastal cities of Mombasa and Malindi, and the inland towns of Mariakani and Kaloleni. The Giriama is one of the largest groups of the Mijikenda people in the back-up area of the Northeast coast of Kenya. The Giriama are subdivided into clans which include Thoya, Mweni, Nyundo, Nyale and so on. The Giriama are a peaceful people who practiced active resistance against the British. In recent years, the Giriama have extended their living space down to the coast. They are now a big part of service employees in the growing tourism centres. Education programmes initiated by the state included building ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
