Natural cultural sites of Kenya: changing contexts, changing meanings

Abstract

Kenya is the home of over 40 ethnic groups of different cultural backgrounds. In pre-colonial times each of these groups had its own belief system, incorporating natural sites to which they ascribed cultural significance. Many of these “natural sacred sites” have been destroyed or severely degraded over the last century, while others survive and continue to be preserved. Over time, the meanings of such sites have changed, as has their management and control, especially since the political changes in Kenya of the early 1990s and with the increasing strength of the global environmental movement over the same period. This paper traces the history and recent development in four clusters of natural sites of cultural significance: the kaya forests of the Kenya coast; Mount Kenya and related sites of the central Kenya highlands; cultural sites in the Lake Victoria basin, including Ramogi Hill and Kit Mikayi; and highland sites in northern Kenya occupied primarily by pastoral nomads, including Mount Nyiro and Forole Hill.