Today I am in a mood to tell stories. A different kind of stories. Quite unlike our folktales on Namukhokhome the gecko or Nabalayo and her five sisters. We can say our story today is devoid of a head, tail or philosophical meaning. However, it is packed with necessary-to-know information. This is because our story today let us know more about the people of mulembe, the Luhya.
Therefore, today we will be finding out the meaning of the words: luhya, luhyia, luuya, luluya, oluluhya, uluyia, oluyia; which are closely related words that mean several things. Given the sometimes subtle and at other times glaring differences in the languages spoken by the people of mulembe, these words can’t strictly be classified as homophones or homonyms.
Thus we approach them as we did with the Kinyarwanda- Maragoli word pairings. This is to say that this is a cultural odyssey rather than a shot at linguistics. It’s about these words cultural meaning to the Luhya nation; an amalgam of eighteen sub-nations.
Luluya: The warmth Of family
Luluya in Bukusu means warmth. The kind of warmth one feels when one visits their rural home and everyone is overjoyed to see you. The kind of joy and warmth one feels when you visit your long lost cousin who goes out of their way to prepare a five liter birika of strong black tea at noon.
This is the love that makes your cousin to then go ahead and prepare obusuma (ugali) and ligaraba (young bean leaves). Better still, slaughter the jogoo they had been saving for Christmas sigukuu for a sumptuous meal of kienyeji chicken. Nonetheless luluya isn’t about what’s been served – because chewing on sugarcane or feasting on guavas would do just fine – it’s about the peace knowing that your cousins heart is definitely at the right place.
Oluyia is Heat
The heat of the fireplace. Specifically, the fireplace. More generally, oluhyia means ambient heat. For a more complete answer to the meaning of the word oluyia, we rely on the brilliantly written piece by Bethuel Oduo in The Elephant, which traces the roots of what we here have termed as the politics of nabutubdu.
The word Luyia is derived from Oluyia (the variation being Oluhya), which generically means a fireplace or hearth. It is believed that in pre-colonial Luyialand, members of a family, lineage or clan congregated around a bonfire in the evening to exchange the day’s news, or simply tell stories about war or clan matters. If a stranger joined them, they would ask, “Which Oluyia do you belong to?” to establish where the person was from in order to guard against threatening strangers or enemy infiltration.
Besides a family hearth, each clan had a common village gathering place where elders assembled to honour a village summon. This way, Oluyia also served as a village court where important matters were discussed, argued and adjudicated. It derived a different meaning but for a similar purpose. The village’s largest tree replaced the individual family’s hearth and became the focal point of Oluyia during the day. Gradually, when people said they were going for a meeting at Oluyia they meant the village common ground, rather than the literal fireplace. (Note the spelling of the word “Oluyia” without the “h”. The first Arabs encountered by Luyias are to blame for being unable to pronounce the word “Luyia” hence corrupting it by adding the letter “h” in their writing. Eventually, the new spelling came to be and was gradually adopted by scholars.)
Bethuel Oduo, Not My Brother’s Keeper, in The Elephant
Luya or Luuya: A Sacred Spot For Luhya Customs
Luya also means the front yard of a luhya traditional house. This is a very important place in the people of mulembe. Because lots of happenings go on here, the luya in most mulembe homes would be that front yard area outside the main house whose grass has seen better days.
In actual sense, the front yard of the main house in a Luhya homestead is a sacred place. First, all harvested food is dried and handled there. Further, this is also the place where major declarations and ceremonies occur. The most common of which is the luhya traditional circumcision ceremony.
Luya and Traditional Circumcision
When a son of mulembe comes of age and is due to be circumcised, he will take his bells and invite relatives in preparation for the main day. On the d day, his father will prepare a designated place, usually on the right hand side of the front yard. Here, he will fashion a small circular place where the boy will stand as the traditional circumcisor works on him. This place where the boy stands while being circumcised is referred to as luuya.
Luya and Other Luhya Customs
A cousin of a cousin of mine had gotten a child. His mother, the paternal grandmother to his daughter, had sent a name for her grandchild as per Luhya naming customs. For one reason or another, other customs that would have fully integrated the child into her clan had not observed by the time of her visit at three months of age. Key among them was the shaving of baby hair by a woman of age from the child’s father’s side.
After much cajoling this cousin of a cousin of mine finally managed to convince his born-town wife. His woman had protested at having the baby hair shaven off as per Luhya customs. Much prevailing on her was needed to convince her that the hair of their little munchkin would grow back stronger and even more lustrous.
Kuvega Lisu
So this kukhu of ours invited a senge (paternal aunt) to the cousin of cousin of mine to do the honors. Everything was set and our senge settled on a spot under the shade of a mango tree in the luya. She was advanced in age and had lost most inhibitions of life. Therefore, it came as no surprise the manner she elected to deliver a boom shell of news. “Omwana alwara! Omwana alwara!” She half shouted and half exclaimed while handing back the infant to the startled grandmother and mother.
Despite the shock and disbelief etched in the faces before her. Senge was adamant the child was sick and needed to taken to hospital. Senge’s expert hands had found the tone of muscles of the baby too weak for its age. She pointed out that its neck was too wobbly. To cut the long story short, after years of speech therapy and physiotherapy the little girl now keeps pace with her peers. All thanks to her senge and a tradition that takes place at the luya.
Sons-in-law And Luya
The luya is one of the few places a son-in-law is allowed to sit whenever they visit his wife’s people. The honor that one holds as a son-in-law among the Luhya can only be preserved this way.
Luhya Burial Customs and Luya
There are only two spots that a Luhya man can be buried in the event of a natural death. The first one is in the sitting room of his house, smack in the middle. The second is at chosen spot in the luya.
Oluhya, Oluyia, Luya Means Kingship
The idea to call a collage of 18 distinct sub-nations the Luhya or Luhyia arose within the colonists rank in the 1930’s thereabouts. What might have made this tag stick to today is that it resonated with the word used to refer mean people of the same origin. Take an example of people of the same clan who may wish to get married. They will be referred to as people of the same Luya thus not allowed to be married according to Luhya marriage customs.
Luuya Is A Place
In Kabuchai constituency, Bungoma county and in Trans Nzoia county.
