Overtly Muslim, Covertly Boni: Competing Calls of Religious Allegiance on the Kenyan Coast (Studies of Religion in Africa) (Studies of Religion in Africa)

This volume explores the way of life of the Boni community, a hunter-gatherer people that straddle the Kenya/Somali border in East Africa. The Boni converted to Islam some fifty years ago and the reasons for this, both internal and external to the community, are identified. The book argues that former indigenous religious activity, far from having died out, is now being renegotiated so as to reflect an evolving Boni self-identity in a multi-ethnic setting as well as allowing the fermentation of resistance in the face of attempts at cultural hegemony advanced by outside forces. Employing a phenomenological approach and a methodology based on participant observation, this volume identifies three contrasting spheres of religious activity - the bush, the village centre, and individual homesteads. CONTENTS......Page 6 ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS AND TABLES......Page 8 GLOSSARY......Page 10 PREFACE......Page 12 INTRODUCTION......Page 16 CHAPTER ONE THE ACADEMIC FRAMEWORK......Page 21 CHAPTER TWO BARGONI......Page 54 CHAPTER THREE THE COMING OF ISLAM TO BARGONI......Page 73 CHAPTER FOUR RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY IN THE BUSH......Page 106 CHAPTER FIVE ISLAM IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE IN BARGONI......Page 149 CHAPTER SIX RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY AT THE HOMESTEAD LEVEL......Page 203 CHAPTER SEVEN CONCLUSION......Page 263 EPILOGUE......Page 274 APPENDIX ONE Documentation and Map Pertaining to Land Allocation in the Bargoni Area......Page 276 APPENDIX TWO Trees, Shrubs and Plants used for Religious/Medicinal Purposes......Page 282 APPENDIX THREE Various meanings ascribed to Bao numerology......Page 293 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 298 INDEX......Page 304 This volume explores the way of life of the Boni community, a hunter-gatherer people that straddle the Kenya/Somali border in East Africa. The Boni converted to Islam some fifty years ago and the reasons for this, both internal and external to the community, are identified. The book argues that former indigenous religious activity, far from having died out, is now being renegotiated so as to reflect an evolving Boni self-identity in a multi-ethnic setting as well as allowing the fermentation of resistance in the face of attempts at cultural hegemony advanced by outside forces. Employing a phenomenological approach and a methodology based on participant observation, this volume identifies three contrasting spheres of religious activity - the bush, the village centre, and individual homesteads. Book jacket ISBN-13: 9789004147539 CONTENTS 6 ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS AND TABLES 8 GLOSSARY 10 PREFACE 12 INTRODUCTION 16 CHAPTER ONE THE ACADEMIC FRAMEWORK 21 CHAPTER TWO BARGONI 54 CHAPTER THREE THE COMING OF ISLAM TO BARGONI 73 CHAPTER FOUR RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY IN THE BUSH 106 CHAPTER FIVE ISLAM IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE IN BARGONI 149 CHAPTER SIX RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY AT THE HOMESTEAD LEVEL 203 CHAPTER SEVEN CONCLUSION 263 EPILOGUE 274 APPENDIX ONE Documentation and Map Pertaining to Land Allocation in the Bargoni Area 276 APPENDIX TWO Trees, Shrubs and Plants used for Religious/Medicinal Purposes 282 APPENDIX THREE Various meanings ascribed to Bao numerology 293 BIBLIOGRAPHY 298 INDEX 304 #,Publisher:,Brill,Academic,Publishers,#,Number,Of,Pages:,293,#,Publication,Date:,2006-05-30 This book affords a unique insight into the encounter between an African indigenous religious tradition and Islam. It explores how the Boni community of Kenya draw on their pre-Islamic religion to fashion resistance in the face of external efforts at control and manipulation.