Facing Mt. Kenya
Facing Mt. Kenya
Jomo Kenyatta someone who came from a Gikuyu tribe but he eventually adapted to the new changing Africa. Kenyatta actually was the first President and he also adapted to the Western influences by wearing a suit and driving in Cadalacs. But even though he did very well in adapting he was still very proud of his heritage and the old ways of his people. There even seems to be a tone in his writing of nostalgia, and a little bit of bitterness to the people who came in to start the change of Africa. I would judge Kenyatta’s presentation of an African society to be a very thorough study and a valid one because he did live that life while it lasted and knew what he was talking about rather than a historian from outside looking in, or even a traveler like Ibn Battuta. I think it is even better than the epic of Sundiatta as a source for the life and culture of the African people because he went into great detail to tell us what that was. Kenyatta’s over all approach was to tell his story of his tribe. He went into great detail to talk about the ways of his people the dynamics of the tribes and the family. He puts stress on the importance of the family and that things had to be done according to tradition. You could tell that he took pride in these traditions when he talked about how he had the privilege to participate in one of the ceremonies to ask God for help. From this he explained to us what role the people thought that God played. They thought that he was busy tending to other very important things so that he could not deal with every little thing that went on in these peoples lives. That is why the family was so important, if something big did come up the whole family had to come together to ask the help of God and that way he knew that it was something important that they could not handle on their own. This is one example though of how the did have their own ways but they had a common sense too. When someone got sick they would first go to
Jomo Kenyatta someone who came from a Gikuyu tribe but he eventually adapted to the new changing Africa. Kenyatta actually was the first President and he also adapted to the Western influences by wearing a suit and driving in Cadalacs. But even though he did very well in adapting he was still very proud of his heritage and the old ways of his people. There even seems to be a tone in his writing of nostalgia, and a little bit of bitterness to the people who came in to start the change of Africa. I would judge Kenyatta’s presentation of an African society to be a very thorough study and a valid one because he did live that life while it lasted and knew what he was talking about rather than a historian from outside looking in, or even a traveler like Ibn Battuta. I think it is even better than the epic of Sundiatta as a source for the life and culture of the African people because he went into great detail to tell us what that was. Kenyatta’s over all approach was to tell his story of his tribe. He went into great detail to talk about the ways of his people the dynamics of the tribes and the family. He puts stress on the importance of the family and that things had to be done according to tradition. You could tell that he took pride in these traditions when he talked about how he had the privilege to participate in one of the ceremonies to ask God for help. From this he explained to us what role the people thought that God played. They thought that he was busy tending to other very important things so that he could not deal with every little thing that went on in these peoples lives. That is why the family was so important, if something big did come up the whole family had to come together to ask the help of God and that way he knew that it was something important that they could not handle on their own. This is one example though of how the did have their own ways but they had a common sense too. When someone got sick they would first go to