Mount-Kenya.com

Mount Kenya provides much fertile land to the numerous tribes who live on the mountain’s slopes. The largest of these tribes are the Kikuyu, Ameru, Maasai and the Embu. They survive and make their living through agriculture and by hunting the mountain’s rich array of wildlife.

Kikuyu
The Kikuyu people are Kenya’s largest ethnic group with a population of around 5,000,000 or roughly 18% of Kenya’s overall population. They arrived in Kenya during the Bantu migration and settled around Mount Kenya while the majority of their Bantu relations travelled further afield to South Africa and surrounding countries.

Agriculture is the Kikuyu’s main means of survival; they grow bananas, sugarcane, beans, millet, arum lily, maize and an array of different vegetables thanks to the nutrient rich soils of the mountain. They also raise livestock, namely cattle, goats and sheep, which they use for both food and for bartering with other local tribes who live on the mountain’s slopes.

The Kikuyu people believe their god, Ngai, lived on Mount Kenya and indeed the tribe’s father, Gikuyu, often climbed the mountain to speak with him. Living on the southern and western sides of the mountain, Kikuyu’s always built their houses with the door facing towards Mount Kenya’s slopes – though this tradition is no longer as popular as it once was. The Kikuyu people call Mount Kenya ‘Kiri Nyaga’, which translates to ‘has ostriches’ – the mountain itself can resemble an ostrich with it’s black body and white (snowy) tip.

Ameru
Ameru is a term that describes a community of people living on the Northern and Eastern slopes of Mount Kenya. The Meru have a fascinating history with numerous biblical references and close parallels to Jewish mythology that has led many to believe they are one of the lost tribes of Israel.

Like the Kikuyu people, the Meru farm the land of Mount Kenya and are widely regarded as occupying the most fertile soils in the country. They also rear small numbers of livestock and have ties to many other tribes within Kenya.

Unlike the majority of their neighbours the Meru people believe their god, Murungu, hails from the skies. Their name for Mount Kenya is ‘Kirimara’, translating to ‘that which has white stuff’. The Meru have many songs and poems about the mountain and believe it belongs to various sub-groups of their community.

Maasai
The Maasai are an indigenous Kenyan tribe who use the lands to the north of Mount Kenya. Their oral history states they originate from the lower Nile valley in North-West Kenya and started migrating south around 600 years ago. They were once feared fighters who often overran neighbouring tribe land in order to find better pastures for their cattle.

The Maasai rely solely on their livestock for survival; eating their meat for food and drinking their milk for liquid. They even mix cattle milk and blood to drink as part of traditional rituals. Always on the move with their cattle, the Maasai are semi-nomadic and use natural materials to build shelters and semi-permanent homes for themselves.

They call the mountain ‘Ol Donyo Keri’ or ‘mountain of stripes or many colours’, which relates to the different shades of colour on Mount Kenya due to its green forest, white snow and the various other coloured features from its slopes and surrounding land. The Maasai believe they are the descendents of those who came down from Mount Kenya at the beginning of time.

Embu
The Embu tribe is closely related to the Kikuyu and Ameru tribes and it is believed they originate from Central Africa, moving to the Mount Kenya area during the Bantu migration. It is also thought that the Embu tribe and Mbeere tribe were once one, splitting after an inter-clan war that the Embu won before pushing the Mbeere’s south to drier and less fertile lands.

With rich soils the Embu grow many crops including maze, millet, cassava, beans and more financially rewarding crops such as coffee, macadamia nuts and tea. Like other tribes in the region they also rear domestic livestock, which they use for food and milk.

Like the Kikuyu, the Embu people traditionally worshiped the god Ngai, who they believe lived at the peak of Mount Kenya. However, most Embu’s are now Christians following missionaries by Western churches. The Embu call Mount Kenya Kirenia’, which translates to ‘mountain of whiteness’, a reference to its snow covered peak.