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Luhya Folklore

Everything Luhya folklore in the contemporary society.  Meet our superheroes and characters from our oral traditions passed on from generation to the next. We tease them out in music, visual art and modern media depictions.

NOTE: For proverbs, we have a dedicated page for Luhya proverbs and sayings  from all 18 Luhya houses.

yabunje the rat

Meet yabunje the royal rat: Of gold diggers, wealth charmers and stealing from neighbors

Luhya Folklore, Folk literature / By

A story from my childhood on my first ever meeting of yabunje the royal rat; and all Bukusu culture about this fabled rodent. True story.  We had closed school. August it was, sometime in the early nineties. An August unlike this past one where children were in school as the pandemic disrupted the school calendar. …

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poster of bukusu proverb engila sebolela okenda, featuring image of forest path

Translation and meaning of engila sebolela okenda, a Bukusu proverb

Folk literature / By

Find the English translation and meaning of the Bukusu proverb engila sebolela okenda. English The road does not tell the traveler what lies ahead. What is the meaning of bukusu proverb engila sebolela okenda This Bukusu proverb is about the uncertainties of life. Truth is only arrived at by walking the journey to its full …

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When a guinea fowl is not food but bad luck: Stories from Bukusu and beyond on Birds of cultural significance among the Luhya of East Africa

Luhya Culture, Luhya Folklore / By

Here at mulembenation.co.ke, we have been reliably informed by our coverage on Luhya culture. From trees of cultural cultural significance among the Luhya to this latest installment of life lessons from our environment that looks at birds of cultural significance among the Luhya, our thirst for knowledge from our ancestors is satiated. Today I want …

When a guinea fowl is not food but bad luck: Stories from Bukusu and beyond on Birds of cultural significance among the Luhya of East Africa Read More »

sartirised lizard cartoon seminar setting reminiscent of how Namukhokhome taught his extended family the new song and dance

How The Great Fall Of Namukhokhome The Gecko Inspired Lizards Love Of Dancing – Luhya Folktales by Mulembe Nation

Luhya Folklore, Luhya Folk Tales / By

The dancing lizard GIF is one of the most popular internet memes out there. But why do lizards mindlessly bob their heads when still? Why do lizards, without asking or warning, break into dance ever so often? You guys loved our hilarious take on 40+ popular emojis in Bukusu, good thing it is then that …

How The Great Fall Of Namukhokhome The Gecko Inspired Lizards Love Of Dancing – Luhya Folktales by Mulembe Nation Read More »

Comic cover of a story of trust, love and sisterhood with cartoon images of namakanda the frog, an ogre and a group of girls

Why Nabalayo and her five sisters are forever indebted to Namakanda the frog – Luhya Folk Tales By Mulembe Nation

Luhya Folklore, Luhya Folk Tales / By

The rains are back, which means I finally got around to one of my favorite things: farming. Wele blessing us with water also means it’s time for my other favorite thing: taking in the glory of nature. Because, as the soil wets, new life is forth. Speaking of new life, last evening, I saw a …

Why Nabalayo and her five sisters are forever indebted to Namakanda the frog – Luhya Folk Tales By Mulembe Nation Read More »

poster: Mulembe easter

A Mulembe Easter: What if Joseph The Carpenter Was A Luhya Man?

Luhya Folklore / By

Somewhere hidden among the vishigas of Vihiga, is a giant footprint of Jesus. Yes, the son of Joseph once rolled through these parts preaching mulembe, so goes the legend. If in doubt, there’s reason why Mary Sinaida Akata, Nabii Yohana (V), Yesu wa Tongaren and Jehovah Wanyonyi are all our people! It must have started …

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poster featuring image of a bird with long neck that appears to peep illustrating the sly ways of men emblematic of this maragoli folktale value to epidemiology

Why Maragoli Men Would Disappear Every Other Last Week Of May: Insights From A Maragoli Folktale Value To Epidemiology

Luhya Culture, Luhya Folklore, Maragoli Culture / By

This story illustrates a Maragoli folktale value to epidemiology. It is months like May that make Christmas sneak up on us. May is a dull, action dry month. It is not planting season like February, Easter season like March or April; not even likembe season that August gifts us. The fifth month of the year, …

Why Maragoli Men Would Disappear Every Other Last Week Of May: Insights From A Maragoli Folktale Value To Epidemiology Read More »

poster of Maragoli proverb of significance to medical anthropology inyundu erondera kehegerete with image ofof sad African child afflicted with small pox in the background

Meet The Maragoli Proverb of Significance to Medical anthropology

Luhya Folklore, Maragoli Culture, Luhya Culture / By

It’s not often that one can link African oral literature with the modern science of epidemiology. Such an intricate exercise is within the realm of medical anthropology, whose practitioners locally shouldn’t fill the fingers of one hand. But for an ‘old’ disease like smallpox, you could be in some luck. It shouldn’t therefore be lost …

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painting of garden of Eden a place where in Lubukusu we might expect to find embwa ya wele, the dogs of god

Embwa ya Wele: A phrase that succinctly captures the richness of Lubukusu

Luhya Folklore / By

Today, lets talk Lubukusu, the language of  Mubukusu.  Lubukusu is rich: lustrous when spoken, immensely expressive in song and damn descriptive in capturing the quintessence of our ways such as when naming our children or when tying the knot as in khuboa chinyinja.  Look, I am Bukusu who was majorly schooled in Maragoli land.  I am one …

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