Meru Tribe Research Paper

Africa may seem like a simple noncomplex continent to a person looking at it from the outside, with no knowledge of what actually takes place within the countries. It would actually fascinate an observer if they learned of all that actually takes place in the small towns, cities and villages. Africa is a very divide and spread out continent and it goes deeper than the multiple cities and towns it goes back to the villages and tribes that founded the cities and towns that are now thriving. Africa has up to 3,000 tribes and I could not write about all of them so I shortened my research to tribes from Kenya. I chose Kenya because I am from there and it will bring me closer to my roots, and I can get more research information from my grandparents and my mother. Kenya has the Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kisii and Meru tribe which I am familiar with because I heard my grandparents speak about them when I was younger. I chose to write about African tribes not only to educate others on them but to also show how they have …show more content…
The Meru people originate from Mount Kenya even though a lot of people believe that they originate from Mount Meru. The Meru tribe is a strong folklore and storytelling tribe where they tell stories of everything that their tribe has been through in order to pass it down to the younger generation. The Meru place a great deal of emphasis on male circumcision as a rite of passage, and share the practice of brides being paid for in cattle with other major Kenyan tribes. Religiously, the Meru traditionally followed a single god known as either Arega Kuthera or Murungu, as well as a complex spirit world that included the kind spirits of departed ancestors and evil spirits who were to be feared. The evil spirits are a strongly feared part of the Meru religion to this day even by the large amount of Merus that have converted to