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The Mugumo Tree and Kenyan Identity in the Modern World
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Growing Modern African Identity through the Fig Tree
The Fig Tree as a Practice of Self-Definition
Cultural Significance of the Fig Tree
Colonialism and the Fig Tree
“In Africa, there lives an extraordinary tree. She is queen of the riverbank. A monarch, whose story stretches back millions of years.In tribal cultures, her mysterious ways have fueled myth and legend. They set her apart from other trees. She is a Sycamore Fig, Queen of Africa’s trees.” (Queen of Trees, 2005)
The Fig Tree's Power during Colonialism (and now)
Chege wa Kiburu, a Kenyan Gikuyu sage, gained fame for his accurate prophecies- he predicted that the Kiyukus and other tribes would be colonized, and that a sacred giant fig tree in Thika would die by the day Kenya gained independence. British colonists put an iron ring around it to try to prevent it from falling, but the tree was struck by lightning shortly before Kenya gained independence
Mugumo tree falls (2017)
A sacred mugumo tree that had been a memorial site for over 2 centuries fell. Elders fasted for 8 days, performed rituals, and sacrificed a sheep. In 2012, a similar tree fell at Giakanja, and similar rituals were performed and the elders said it marked a change in national political leadership.
Colonialism affected perception of the natural world in Africa
The Fig Tree in Different Kenyan Tribes
“Before the Europeans arrived, the people of Kenya did not look at trees and see timber, or at elephants and see commercial ivory stock...but when the country was colonized and we encountered Europeans with all their knowledge, technology, religion and culture, we converted our values into a cash economy like theirs. Everything was now perceived as having a monetary value. As we were later to learn, if you could sell it, you can forget about protecting it. (Richards 2007, 1)”
Maasai call it oreti or oreteti
- cattle sent to earth from the sky via a long rope made of the mugumo (wild fig) tree's roots
- sung about in dances, prayers, rituals
Kikuyu Tribe
- kuyu means 'a fig', and kikuyu is a fig tree
- symbol of fertility
- the first Kikuyu was named Kikuyu and had 9 daughters (ancestral mothers of the 9 Kikuyu clans)
"That is a tree of God. We don't cut it. We don't burn it. We don't use it. They live for as long as they can, and they fall on their own when they are too old."
Mzee Mathenge Iregi offers sacrifice under a Mugumo tree during prayers (2013)
Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace Price, 2004)
The Identity of African Women
Wangari Maathai and The Green Belt Movement