'Dini ya Msambwa (Religion of the Ancestor) is an

African traditional religion The traditional beliefs and practices of African people are highly diverse beliefs that include various ethnic religions.Encyclopedia of African Religion (Sage, 2009) Molefi Kete Asante Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptur ...

that has been labeled an anti-colonial religion.Newsletter

Institute of Current World Affairs The Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA) is an operating foundation established in 1925 by US industrial heir and magnate Charles Richard Crane to advance American understanding of international cultures and affairs by sending young profess ...

, August 1, 1954 It is practiced primarily among speakers of the

Luhya language Luhya (; also Luyia, Luhia or Luhiya) is a Bantu language of western Kenya. Dialects The various Luhya tribes speak several related languages and dialects, though some of them are no closer to each other than they are to neighboring non-Luhya l ...

of Western

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

History

Dini ya Msambwa stood against

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their rel ...

during the British colonial rule of Kenya. Among other things, it criticized the undermining, by the British colonial government, of elder authority and of the cultural values that had held Kenyan peoples together for ages. The first European to reach the

Bukusu The Bukusu people ( Bukusu: ''Babukusu'') are one of the seventeen Kenyan tribes of the Luhya Bantu people of East Africa residing mainly in the counties of Bungoma and Trans Nzoia. They are closely related to other Luhya people and the Gisu of ...

was Joseph Thomson, who upon arriving in 1883, found the Bukusu living in fortified villages surrounded by moats. These were a protection against raids from the

Uasin Gishu people The Uasin Gishu people were a community that inhabited a plateau located in western Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital ...

and the

Teso people The Iteso (or people of Teso) are a Nilotic ethnic group in eastern Uganda and western Kenya. Teso refers to the traditional homeland of the Iteso, and '' Ateso'' is their language. History Origins The exact origins of the Iteso remain un ...

. British administration was established in North Nyanza in 1894. The following year the Bukusu killed 25 soldiers of the Sudanese garrison and a punitive expedition was undertaken against them. Their fortified villages were stormed by Sudanese troops and Africans from other tribes, and the fighting ended when the Bukusu acknowledged British rule and promised to abandon their villages. Today they live in scattered homesteads. The old authority of the tribal elders had been undermined with the advent of colonial rule. It was the elders in turn who had lent power to the old tribal religion or

and hence it too was also undermined. Left in a spiritual vacuum, many Bukusu and

Luhya Luhya or Abaluyia may refer to: * Luhya people The Luhya (also known as ''Abaluyia'' or Luyia) comprise a number of Bantu ethnic groups native to western Kenya. They are divided into 20 culturally and linguistically related tribes. ''Luhya'' ref ...

, insecure in the rapidly-changing world, gravitated naturally into

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

.Reed, D. E. (1954). Dini ya Msambwa I: The Bukusu and The Suk. Institute of Current World Affairs, 1–18. Retrieved from http://www.icwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DER-20.pdf Masinde, being an elder, refused to convert. The religion was founded by

Elijah Masinde Elijah Masinde ( 1910/1912-1987) was a Bukusu activist. Early life Born around 1910 – 1912 in Kimilili, Bungoma District, Masinde wa Nameme okhwa Mwasame was initiated into the Machego age-set. At the time, the Kenya-Uganda railway was passi ...

in 1936. After Kenyan independence in 1968, Dini ya Msambwa was declared illegal and Masinde was arrested for fomenting hatred of the Christian religion. Dini Ya Msambwa takes the form of an African traditional religion; its followers worshipping through ancestral Spirits (known as ''Msambwa'') in shrines. The veneration of ancestors is an important part of the religion.

References

External links

Emergency in Kenya: Kikuyu And The Mau Mau Insurrection CSC 1984 SUBJECT AREA Strategic Issues
Anti-imperialism in Africa New religious movements Religion in Kenya Traditional African religions Religious organizations established in the 1930s {{Traditional-African-religions-stub