The Bukusu Language. Living, Not Archived.

SiBukusu by Mulembe Nation is dedicated to the Bukusu language, culture, and community. We maintain a living Bukusu-English dictionary, publish cultural heritage content, and document the oral traditions, proverbs, histories, and knowledge systems of the Bukusu people of Western Kenya. This is not an archive in the sense of something sealed and finished. It is a living resource that grows as the community contributes to it.

The dictionary is built on contributions from speakers across the community. If you speak Bukusu and want to contribute words, meanings, recordings, or corrections, send them to dictionary@mulembenation.co.ke.

Data Governance

Cultural and linguistic knowledge contributed to this site is handled in accordance with the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics). Communities and individual contributors retain authority over how their knowledge is represented. Sensitive cultural material is published only with the explicit agreement of relevant knowledge holders. We do not aggregate or commercially license community-contributed cultural knowledge without specific consent.

The Mulembe Language Vitality Index

The Language Vitality Index tracks the health of Bukusu and other Luyia languages across their speaking communities: usage rates across generations, presence in education and media, digital representation, and documentation coverage. We build it from community surveys, school data, and crowdsourced contributions from speakers.

Dictionary submissions: dictionary@mulembenation.co.ke
Editorial: editorial@mulembenation.co.ke

Updated several times a week.