units governing social life that, in particular circumstances, take on political significance, even in the context of introduced governmental institutions.17
Ruel characterizes an ikiaro as having changing descent composition resulting from the dispersal and reformation of groups within it (1959, 28). As the most inclusive level of the descent system, the ikiaro was defined primarily as territory belonging to specific people with an assumed relationship to a common mythical ancestor rather than any traceable lineage. The people who occupied a common province showed solidarity in shared means of settling disputes, compensation for homicide, and mechanisms for collective labor. The territorial base was the vicinity in which people lived. The occupants shared a sense of common identity and distinctiveness from other groups of the same level. Each ikiaro had its own totem, and its distinct ceremonies, though traditions were shared with other ibiaro. Abairege have the leopard as their totem, as do Abagumbe and Abanyamongo. All ibiaro perform initiations, but each at their own time, following their own sequence and form. Each ikiaro had (and has) its own ritual center and its own inchaama.
According to Ruel, the ibisaku were the most clearly “political” of all descent units because the common ancestor was hypothesized rather than known, and obligations associated with membership had the least to do with kinship duties.18 Fighting between ibisaku was common, as were rivalry and hostility. Starting in colonial times, the allocation of political office was often influenced by descent section solidarities. Moreover, colonial archives from 1931 mention rivalry between the two ibisaku groups in Bwirege, the Abakehenche and the Abarisenye. Political jockeying continues today. Conflict between these two descent sections during the 1998–99 circumcision season and again in 2001–02 highlights the social and political functioning of intermediate levels of segmentary organization, contrary to their believed irrelevance fifty years ago.
In the past, groups based on descent—ibisaku and amagiha—had two primary functions: (1) cooperation in war, defining those who could be called on for support in case of conflict; and (2) cooperation in work groups performing tasks necessary for survival. Pax Britannica was meant to put an end to fighting, but cattle raiding persists even today. Raiding provides a source of bridewealth and is still regarded by some members of the society as a legitimate occupation of youths. Accordingly, people know the ibisaku and the amagiha they belong to because the traditional functions persist. But they often misuse descent group terminology because the groups have become so large, and because the term ikiaro is identified with modern political boundaries more than with traditional descent structure. So the grouping Abahirichacha, a subsegment of the Abakehenche, is regarded by some as an egesaku; by others, an irigiha. In general discourse, people refer to their memberships by their descent group names, not by categorical referents.19
Figure 2. Kuria descent structure
Even though people continue to identify with and shape social behavior around their ikiaro, the traditional social evolution of communities from eeka to irigiha to egesaku to ikiaro is no longer possible because the ibiaro became territorialized with fixed boundaries in the early decades of the twentieth century, as administrative locations were delimited by the colonial government to correspond closely to the territories of the ibiaro. Consequently, the descent structure cannot operate as a segmentary lineage system because there is no longer free and open land available for active segmentation to continue. The ibiaro are fixed and there is no movement within the hierarchy. So, though the designations Abakehenche and Abarisenye no longer fit into a traditionally functioning descent section model using the terminology ikiaro-egesaku-irigiha-eeka, all Abairege affiliate with either the Abakehenche (seen as the larger/senior segment) or the Abarisenye (seen as the smaller/junior segment).
Although today the ibiaro are territorially based rather than descent based, they still constitute the maximal unit to which an individual belongs within Kuria social reckoning. Furthermore, private ownership of land, widely encouraged in the colony under the Swynnerton Plan (1954), created a situation where territory associated with specific descent groups is no longer strictly in the hands of the elders of that descent group. So if the Abarisenye and Abakehenche were to split into two ibiaro, the social and territorial units would no longer be coterminous, since people of each branch live intermingled in the communities of Bwirege. According to my household survey data, this shift in landholding and settlement patterns has taken place increasingly in recently settled communities.
The ikiaro remains the main focus of Kuria identification. Among Kuria, people speak of themselves as members of an ikiaro (e.g., Abairege, Abanyabasi, and so forth), rather than as Abakuria. The relationships between ibiaro are generally hostile, unless (totemic) alliance is shared. Outsiders from other ibiaro are enemies and always potentially dangerous, thus girls and parents alike fear the threat of a pregnant, uncircumcised girl exiled to a neighboring ikiaro. People from other ibiaro are distrusted, and when traveling by road through Bukuria, passengers fear getting stranded by a vehicle breakdown in any of the other ibiaro. This is especially the case at times of heightened ritual activity, such as initiations, when it is believed that misfortune, in the form of death to the initiates, is threatened by contact with members of other ibiaro.
More than a dozen Kuria ibiaro exist. Most are in Tanzania, four are in Kenya, but only one has its territory completely in Kenya. The three divided by an open international boundary, including Bwirege, have thriving social and economic cross-border exchange, and people can escape from the laws of home by shifting into the other country. So when the laws against female genital cutting were being enforced in Tanzania in 1998, Abairege parents brought their girls to be cut in Kenya. Similarly, if the Umwirege circumciser in Tanzania was operating close to the boundary, Kenyan Abairege did not hesitate to cross into Tanzania to have their candidates undergo initiation.
Some observers of the initiation cancellations were talking about a rift that was increasingly threatening the existence of the secret conclave as a unitary decision-making entity in Bwirege. Though the perceived division had been there for a while and not affected the discharge of duty to the people in the past, it became increasingly clear that the two descent sections comprising Bwirege—Abakehenche and Abarisenye—were conducting their affairs independently.20
Abakehenche are regarded as the “bigger house” and Abarisenye as the “smaller” house. According to custom, Abarisenye are not allowed to conduct any affairs without first consulting Abakehenche. Abakehenche are seen to be on the “right side” where such activities as initiation ceremonies are concerned, and are expected to begin, while Abarisenye are expected to follow. But Abarisenye had been dominant in decision making for this initiation season, prompting the current crisis. So Abakehenche were counseling that initiations be postponed, while Abarisenye wanted to proceed. To make matters even more extraordinary, a third descent group was beginning to act as a corporate entity. Abaseese, with lineages in both Burisenye and in Bokehenche, were beginning to assert independent authority, challenging both the ibisaku widely recognized as legitimate sociopolitical groups of Abairege.21 This crisis of traditional authority was taking place on both sides of the international boundary, in Kenya and in Tanzania. The district commissioner in Kenya was rumored to have ordered chiefs from Bwirege to ensure that the inchaama in Bwirege was not divided, thereby ensuring that the tension between groups did not translate into structural fissioning.
The Uncertainty Continues
Despite the widespread concern about witchcraft that sprang up in late November and early December, people carried on with their preparations for initiations, though quietly. The public pageantry associated with the rituals came to a complete stop. Locally, outbreaks of cattle rustling fanned fears of crime.22 As this type of theft became the focus of public discourse, it became another topic that put people on edge. So did the measures to address it. An iritongo meeting was held near the market to discuss cattle theft. Nyankare was said to be harboring cattle thieves, and the people of the community were asked
