ABALUYIA

Th e nameAbaluyia ref ersto a lar ge ethnicandlin -
guistic group that liv esin Kenya and parts of
Uganda.When spe akingof oneperson, theAbaluyia
us e thewordOmuluyia, andwhenreferringto the ir
language, theyuse the word Luluyia. Se venteen
subnations exist among the Abaluyia. They are
Abakhayo, Bukusu, Vugusu, Banyala, Abasonga,
Abanyore, Abatsotso,Idakho,Isukha, Abakabras,
Kisa,Logoli,Marachi,Marama, Sam ia,Tachhoni,
andWanga.
Alt houghtheUgandaspeakersofLu luyiado
no t usethetermAbaluyia, a term theeldersin
Ke nyaacceptedandad opted from 1930 to 1960,
the Ugandan Lu luyia speak ersrecognize th e
Ke nyanspeakersas related to them.Th ey sharea
similarculturewithmanyof thesamemyths, rit -
uals,andceremonies.Mostof theLuluyia speak -
er s sharein thestorytoldby theVugusu aboutthe
cr eationof theworld.
Accor dingtothesespeakersofthelanguage,
theworld wascreated whenthealmightyWele
Xakaba, the Supreme Be in g,made his own
dwellingin heaven;to preventit fromfallingout
of thesky,hesupportedit withmanypillarsjust
as thebu ildersof a housesupporttheroofwi th
manypi llars.WhenWeleXakabahadcompleted
thecreationof heaven, hemadethemoon,sun,
andclouds andlacedtheheavens withth em.Then
WeleXakabacreateda largeroosteran d pl aced
theroosterin heaven. Th is hugeredroosteris the
source of lightningandthunder.It livesamongthe

clouds,andwhenit movesits wingsupanddown

lightning flashes;whenit cr ows,thunderis heard

ontheearth.Thecreationoftheroosteris fol -

lo wedbythecreationof thestars, rain,rainbows,

regularair,andverycoldair.It tookWeleXakaba

ju st 2 wholedaystomakethesecr eations.But

therewasa problem:“Forwhomwouldthesun

shine?”Thisled to thecreationof humanbeings.

The first man was called by the name of

Mwambu. However, because WeleXakaba had

createdthismanso thathe hadtheabilityto talk

andsee,there neededto besomeonewithwhom

he couldtalk. Therefo re, thefirstwoman , Sela,was

created to be Mwambu’smate.ThenWele Xakaba

created plants, oceans,lakes,rivers,plants,andani -

mals.Cattlewere alsocreatedby WeleXakaba.

Soo n Mwambuan d Selahadtwochildren,a

son,Lilambo, anda daughter,Nasio.In 6 days,

WeleXakabahad co mpletedtheworkof creation.

On theseventhday,Godrestedbecauseit wasa

badday,pr obablythesourceforthenegativerela-

tionship andtaboostheAbaluyiahavewiththe

nu mber7.

Mol ef i KeteAsante

Se e alsoLuo

FurtherReadings

Pa rrinder , G.(1967).AfricanMythology. London: Paul

Hamlyn.

Sc heub, H.(2000).A Dictionaryof AfricanMythology.

NewYork:Oxf ordUniversityPres s.

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