The Segeju (

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

: ''Wasegeju'';

Mijikenda Mijikenda may refer to: *Mijikenda peoples *Mijikenda language Mijikenda is a Bantu dialect cluster spoken along the coast of East Africa, mostly in Kenya, where there are 1.9 million speakers (2009 census) but also in Tanzania, where there are ...

: ''Asagidzu'') are a

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language *Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for Nationali ...

ethnolinguistic group An ethnolinguistic group (or ethno-linguistic group) is a group that is unified by both a common ethnicity and language. Most ethnic groups share a first language. However, "ethnolinguistic" is often used to emphasise that language is a major bas ...

mostly based in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Tanga Region Tanga Region (''Mkoa wa Tanga'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Burundi. The regional capital is the mu ...

(particularly

Mkinga District Mkinga is one of the eleven districts of Tanga Region in Tanzania. It was created from Muheza District in 2007. The District covers an area of . The administrative capital of the district is located in a small town called Parungu Kasera. The dist ...

) and

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

Kwale County Kwale County is a county in the former Coast Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kwale, although Ukunda is the largest town. Kwale county has an estimated population of 649,931. Kwale is mainly an inland county, but it has coastline south of M ...

. Most Segeju reside in the small coastal strip between the Tanzanian city of

Tanga Tanga may refer to: Places Burkina Faso * , a town in eastern Burkina Faso * Tanga, Sidéradougou, a village in western Burkina Faso * Tanga-Pela, a village in northern-central Burkina Faso Other places * Tanga, Tanzania, a city and port on the ...

and the Kenyan-Tanzanian border. However, some Segeju have migrated to

urban areas An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

in other parts of Tanzania or Kenya (e.g.

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

), in hopes of better employment opportunities and

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

. Segeju migration to urban areas often results in severance of community ties, leading to a lack of transmission of important cultural traditions and

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

. In 2012, the Segeju population was estimated to number fewer than 25,000, with fewer than 7,000 speaking the

Segeju language Mijikenda is a Bantu dialect cluster spoken along the coast of East Africa, mostly in Kenya, where there are 1.9 million speakers (2009 census) but also in Tanzania, where there are 100,000 speakers. The name ''Mijikenda'' means "the nine settle ...

. The Segeju have kinship relations with the

Digo people The Digo (''Wadigo'' in Swahili) are a Bantu ethnic and linguistic group based near the Indian Ocean coast between Mombasa in southern Kenya and northern Tanga in Tanzania. In 1994 the Digo population was estimated to total 305,000, with 217,000 e ...

, who are part of the nine tribes of the

. Additionally, the Segeju have affines with the nearby

and Shirazi. As a result, many Segeju have adopted the Swahili and Digo languages as mediums for wider communication.

Ethnonym

The ethnonym of Segeju is said to be derived from the Swahili words ''Kusega'', meaning 'to draw' and ''juu'', meaning 'up' or 'high'. The Segeju were said to have acquired the name following contact with the Shirazis in the 17th century, on account of the habit of their wearing of skin garments around their loins higher than was usual.

History

Origins

Segeju

oral traditions Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...

describe a close historical connection between them and the

Dhaiso The Dhaiso, or Daiso, are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group based at the foot of the Usambara Mountains in the Muheza District of Tanga Region in northeastern Tanzania. In 1999, the Dhaiso population was estimated to number 5,000, and the Dhaiso lan ...

, an ethnic group primarily inhabiting the foot of the

Usambara Mountains The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges of approximately long and about half that wide, are situated in the Lushoto District of the Tang ...

. The

mother-tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

of the Dhaiso is a Thagicũ language, which is related to the

Kamba language Kamba, or Kikamba, is a Bantu language spoken by millions of Kamba people, primarily in Kenya, as well as thousands of people in Uganda, Tanzania, and elsewhere. In Kenya, Kamba is generally spoken in four counties of Kenya, counties: Machakos ...

and other

Bantu languages The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. T ...

of Central Kenya. Some Segeju are aware that their

ancestors An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from w ...

spoke this Thagicũ language too and of their distant connection to the

Kamba Kamba may refer to: *Kamba people of Kenya *Bena-Kamba, a community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo *Khampa, also spelled Kamba, Tibetan people of Kham See also *Kamba language (disambiguation) Kamba language (Kenya) Kamba may also refer ...

, Kikuyu, and other Thagicũ peoples. The linguistic connection between these peoples clearly indicates that the Segeju, Dhaiso, and Central Kenyan Bantu people share a common origin, presumably in the upper reaches of the Tana River. However, according to Segeju

traditions A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

recorded by Mhando (2008), the Segeju state that they originated in

Shungwaya Shungwaya (also Shingwaya) is an origin myth of the Mijikenda peoples. Traditions known collectively as the "Shungwaya myth" describe a series of migrations of Bantu peoples dating to the 12th-17th centuries from a region to the north of the Tana ...

. Shungwaya is a legendary place said to be roughly located north of Kenya's Paté Island in present-day Southern

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

. Another version states that they came from

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

, specifically

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

c. 1650 - 1700

Galla-Segeju conflict

Mhando records that the Segeju were attacked by the Galla in the second half of the 17th century. This caused their society to fragment into at least three sections. One of the groups fled to

Lamu Island Lamu Island is a port, city, and island just off the shore of Kenya in the Indian Ocean approximately 150 miles from Mombasa. It is a part of the East African country of Kenya. Lamu was founded in the 12th Century. Lamu is one of the longest esta ...

where they intermarried with the local people, giving rise to the

Bajuni people The Bajuni people are a Bantu ethnic group mainly residing on the Bajuni Islands and surrounding coastal areas between the port city of Kismayo and Mombasa area of Kenya and Somalia’s southern border. Overview The Bajuni principally inhabit ...

. Another group fled to an area known as Mwangea while the third fled to the lower Tana region. The last group would later move to their current areas of occupancy due to long droughts in the Tana region. They had a

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

who ruled for 20 years before retiring, named King Lewin Atwine.

Culture

Religion

Virtually all Segeju are

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

of the

Shafi'ite The Shafii ( ar, شَافِعِي, translit=Shāfiʿī, also spelled Shafei) school, also known as Madhhab al-Shāfiʿī, is one of the four major traditional schools of religious law (madhhab) in the Sunnī branch of Islam. It was founded by A ...

school of thought A school of thought, or intellectual tradition, is the perspective of a group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, economics, cultural movement, or art movement. ...

due to a series of historical interactions and intermarriages with the neighboring

Vumba The Bvumba Mountains or Vumba Mountains straddle the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border, and are situated some 10 km south east of Mutare. The Bvumba rise to Castle Beacon at 1,911 metres, and are, together with the Chimanimani Mountains to the south ...

in the 17th century. There is a small

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

minority among the Segeju of Kenya.

References

Ethnic groups in Tanzania Indigenous peoples of East Africa {{tanzania-ethno-group-stub