Music of the Waswahili of Lamu, Kenya

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Music of the Waswahili of Lamu, KenyaCollected and annotated by Alan W. BoydSwahili is one of the most widely known ethnicnames of Africa. It is associated with Kenya and JomoKenyatta, Tanzania and Julius Nyerere and such wordsas simba, safari and ijumaa. Yet very little is commonlyknown about who the Waswahili (the Swahili people)are, where they are located or what their culture is like.Swahili is thought to be an Africanized version of theArabic term for coast, sahel The Waswahi/i are coastalpeople living in cities, towns and villages on the eaSternlittoral of Africa from Kilwa at the mouth of the RufijiRiver in the south to Mogadischu in Somalia in thenorth. The common characteristics of people whocan be called Waswahili are a more-or-less-knowndescent from Arabic families, especially from thesouthernmost portions of the Arabian peninsula; theMuslim religiOUS faith; speaking a mutually understandabledialect of Kiswahili; and association with, ifnot actual occupation of, urban centers.Swahili culture and language are thought to haveoriginated long before the birth of the ProphetMuhammad with the contact between Arab traders,sailors and merchants, and Bantu groups along the FastAfrican coast. This process reached a high point duringthe internal struggles for preeminence in the enlargingMuslim world during the centuries following hisdeath. By the thirteenth century, Arabic settlementswere widespread along the whole of the Fast Africancoastline. From that time on, settlers arrived on theFast African coast in successive waves. Descendantsof earlier immigrants became more and moreAfricanized, so that today, although Arab influenceis readily perceived in much of Swahili culture, andmany people still maintain considerable contact withthe Saudi Arabian peninsula, the culture is clearlyAfrican.The three volumes in this Waswahili series contain amusical portrait of Swahili culture as it exists in lamu.Kenya, and its environs. They clearly illustrate thedeeply rooted Arabic influence, and yet they alsodemonstrate the African foundations of Swahili culture.Lamu was chosen as the focus for this collectionand the research it represents because it has been acenter of Swahili culture for many centuries and isstill a relatively unadulterated location for Swahili life.This is not to say that all Kiswahili-speaking peopleare like the people of lamu, or that this collectionexhausts the variety of musical expression that can befound in Swahili towns, but it does represent Swahilimusical life well and provides examples of many ofthe forms in common use. The notes for each bandprovide more detail on the styles of music as well asfurther elaboration on the history of Lamu, Swahilisociety and the culture relevant to it.Music oj the Waswahilt oj Lamu, KenyaVolume IVolume IIVolume IIIMaulidiOther Sacred MusicSecular MusicLamuLamu, Kenya, is at the same time, a district in thegovernmental segmentation of Kenya, an archipelagoof islands off the northeast coast of Kenya, one of theislands in that group, and the major town on thatisland (see Map I). Lamu Island, which is about tensquare miles in area, lies one hundred kilometers southlatitude. Directly to the north of Lamu is Manda Island,which is approximately the same size as the island ofLamu, and north of Manda is Pate, the largest island ofthe group, on which are found the towns of Pate, Faza (orRasinj) and Siyu, as well as a few other smaller villages.Although the exact dates of the first settlements onLamu Island are not known, preliminary archeologicalexplorations suggest that settlements occurred in thevicinity of the present town at least as early as 1200 AD.lamu Island is a sand bar in the shape of a bow!. Thecenter holds fresh water, while the rim prevents thebrackish sea water from penetrating the disc. Sincewells can be dug near the edge of the island, townscame to be established on its coast. The present daycity of Lamu lies on the northeastern edge of this bowlin a protected bay. The town of Matandoni lies on the2
The lamu waterfront, a zeJe procession underwayopposite coast of the island and rests near the mouthof the lamu bay.lamu has never been an isolated community. Althoughit is not easily reached by land even today, it has alwaysbeen accessible by sea, either from the north or thesouth, depending on which way the monsoon winds areblowing. The town has a rich history of conflict andalliance with neighboring towns, especially Pate.The Pate Chronicle, an indigenous description of thetraditions and events in the history of Pate, which wasreduced to writing at the turn of the twentieth century,is full of references to political, economic and religiousdisputes with the inhabitants of lamu (Werner:1915).lamu's history, then, indicates a pattern in which thetown sought both religious and commercial independencefrom its neighbors, but was never able tofully achieve either. Today it is still a mixture of a desirefor independence and friendly relations with otherpolitical bodies, so long as the interaction resultsin advantage to the leading families of lamu.Most residents of lamu today describe the townas divided into two halves-Mkomani to the north andLangoni to the south (see Map II). The northern portionis characterized as the place of stone houses, whereold established families reside, while the southern issaid to be the place where wageni, i.e., visitors, livein mud-walled, thatched-roof houses.Persons from old, established families are proneto emphaSize the names of the two locations, to pointout wageni on the streets and to call attention towhere people live, whereas more recent settlers inthe community pay less attention to the division.When they speak of it at all, it is with a resentful toneof voice and a suggestion of defiance of an obsoletedistinction.Today, although the names of the divisions of theto\',ll1 are widely used and the social distinctions theyimply are !mown to nearly everyone living in lamu, thepolitical structure that was once contained within themhas been elaborated and modified. The existence ofa modern, independent Kenya has brought a newdimension to lamu's political structure, which hasbeen partially assimilated into the old didemic arrangement,and which has partially changed to meet the neworder. A town council still exists, but instead of itsmembership consisting of leaders of the dominantfamilies, the wangwana, the positions are held byelected representatives, some of whom represent theinterest of recent immigrants to the town or of recentlyenfranchised servant classes. Some of the prestigiouswazee, the leaders of important families, still exerciseinfluence upon the decision-making processes, butthey do so through behind-the-scenes pressure uponrelatives or allies from other families.The political organization of lamu is closely intertwinedwith the religiOUS organization, which exercisesgreat influence on every aspect of lamu society. "Islamhas an order of clergy but no priesthood" (Trimingham1962:37). The role of leadership in each local mosque3
Page 1 and 2: COLLECTED BY ALAN W BOYDETHNIC FOLK
Page 3: ETHNIC FOLKWAYS RECORDS Album Nos.
Page 8 and 9: THE KENYA COAST\\SOMALIA\\\KENyAWit
Page 10 and 11: The first volume in this collection
Page 12 and 13: who are seated facing their teacher
Page 14 and 15: Said, who pLayed the nai in the pre
Page 16 and 17: entered and circumnavigated the enc
Page 18: For Add it ion a I I n form a t ion

Music of the Waswahili of Lamu, Kenya

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