Upper Pokomo (Wantu wa Julu: "Milajulu")

All UP clans live along the river and in the hinterland from the river on both sides in villages located on small hills, probably to avoid river flooding. The farmlands are within the riverline on both sides of the river stretching an average of 3 miles or until the farms touches the sandy soils.

• Milalulu (are located along the riverine from the Rhoka village in the north to Bohoni village)
• Zubaki (are mostly found from Chewani village to Lenda village);
• Ndura (are within Kelokelo village to Maweni and Mazuni village)
• Kinankomba (from Boji and Bububu to Kilindini)
• Gwano (from Wenje village to Baomo and Hara Village)
• Ndera (from Mnazini village to Sera village)

Lower Pokomo (Milanchini)

The LP occupy the entire Tana Delta (which starts at Baomo) to the mouth of the River before it empties into the Indian Ocean; however, currently some UP have settled together with the LP in the villages of Kipini, Ozi, Kilelengwani, Chara, Chamwanamuma, and Kau among other villages up to Lamu Archipelago and its surrounding islands.

• Mwina (live in the villages of Mnguvweni, Gamba, Sera, Mikameni and Mitapani)
• Ngatana (live in the villages of Wema, Hewani, Maziwa, Kulesa, Vumbwe, Sera, Gamba and Garsen)
• Buu (live in Ngao, Tarasaa, Odha, Sailoni, Sera, Golbanti and Idsowe villages)
• Dzunza (mostly found in Kibusu and Shirikisho villages)
• Kalindi (they border the Giriamas in Malindi)

In these sub-tribes, clans range from three to nine in either sub-tribe, and they are mostly found cutting across the eleven sub-tribes. The same clan may have different reference names across sub-tribe. The Zubaki sub-tribe is the largest amongst the Pokomo sub-tribes. It has nine clans: Karhayu, Meta, Jabha, Kinaghasere, Garjedha, Utah, Ilani and Kinakala.

The word "Tana", Tana River, and its origin

The word "Tana" came from early Europeans who brought Christianity. The UP may have known of other rivers, including Chana Maro or River Maro, while the LP referred to the "River Tana" as "Tsana" ("river") as to them this was the only river and others were referred to as Muho or Mukondo - "streams". "Chana" also means "river".

When the first Europeans came to Tana River for the purpose of spreading Christianity, they found it difficult to pronounce the word "Tsana" and found it easier to say "Tana".

Folklore

Stories were used to affect behaviour. For example, a story that when you whistle during the night, you will encounter a spirit being (seha). This was meant to teach the children not to whistle during the night to avoid disclosing their location to an enemy.

Age groups

Age groups are formed by adolescent men who are circumcised together. Some of these age groups are:

• Uhuru or Wembe - circumcised during the time of Kenya getting independence
• Mau Mau
• Shiti
• Pali
• Kingishore

Initiation to adulthood

The passage to adulthood for men is by an initiation which involves circumcision – kuhinywa.

Marriage and wedding

The marriage process within the Pokomo community includes specific conditions (Maadha). The man informs his parents, who examine the background of the woman's family. Upon their approval, they visit the bride's family with a perenkera, this is a small vessel for holding tobacco. At the bride's parents house, they give her parents the perenkera as a sign to indicate their son's desire. They introduce the topic to the bride's parents and are told to consult the woman. After she is consulted and has given the green light, the groom's parents come back with hasi (a reed basket) as sign that they are ready to move to the next level. If the bride's family accepts the basket, the groom's parents arrange to come later with jifu. Finally the man's family pays the dowry (mahari), followed by the wedding ceremony. Mahari was paid to the bride's family as a sign of respect.

This tradition has decayed. In most cases, the man and woman typically elope. After staying together for sometime, the woman is released to her parents for further training by her aunts on how to care for her family. Divorces were rare and were discouraged.

Names

Naming in the Pokomo community is based on the husband's family tree. The first born if a boy is given the name of the husband's father and if a girl the name of the husband's mother. Subsequent boys takes the names of the husband's brothers in birth order, while if they are girls, the names of the husband's sisters in birth order. Some names that are taken by both boys and girls, with the prefix Ha before a girl's name. For example, Babwoya (name for a man), Habwoya (name for a lady). Names are taken from plant and animal names if the first born died during pregnancy or delivery in the belief that this will offset the bad omen and thus enable the subsequent children to live to adulthood. Children with such names are referred to as Mwana Fwisa. Such names include Mabuke (banana suckers), Nchui (cheetah) etc. Names also are given to children who are born during a certain season.

Song and dance

The Pokomo have songs and dances, including;

• Kingika – a women's dance that is sung whenever a woman gives birth and she is about to come out of the house after finishing the mandatory number of days confined to heal and breastfeed the baby
• Miri – performed by young men and women in wedding and birthday ceremonies. During the performance, the young men and women compete to outshine one another. It is complemented with Michirima and Mbumbumbu drums together with a metal plate known as Upatsu and Chivoti flute.
• Beni-Mostly performed by the Ngatana subtribe of Wema to welcome distinguished visitors. it's a big drum accompanied by 'utasa' and the only place in to find it is in Wema village
• Mwaribe^[9] – danced by young girls to the beat of a drum during circumcision time. The traditional costume is grass skirt made from the fronds of the Doum Palm (Mkoma leaves) worn especially by boys.
• Kitoko- performed by everyone during weddings, birth and any joyful celebrations.
• Mela ya Walume (men songs)
• Mela ya Kitoko – songs that are sung while working in the fields or paddling a canoe in the evenings. These songs resemble the "sundowner songs" that were traditionally sung when the canoe was full with cargo ( bananas, mangoes etc.) sailing downstream with little effort from the oar.
• Other songs known as Dulila were sung to correct the behaviour of an individual by shaming him/her over disgracing the community (Kudabha). These songs were mainly sung by women in a group and they approach the person who has erred (Kadabha) and start to pinch him/her.

The Kenya national anthem is an African song whose tune was borrowed from the Pokomo community lullaby. This traditional lullaby lyrics are: Bee mdondo bee, mwana kalilani njoo mudye mwana ywehu alache kuliloo. Roughly translated, this means, "you animal, you animal, our child is crying, please come and eat it so that it can stop crying." The song was composed by Mzee Meza Morowa Galana of Makere village, Gwano in Wenje division. The composer (Mzee Meza) died on 12 November 2015 at age 96. Pokomo people use music to blend their culture in celebrating harvest, fishing, hunting, wedding, circumcision and when new babies were born.

Festivals

Pokomo have only two seasons in namely, Sika and Kilimo. They were able to tell by looking into the sky and the moon whether the coming rains are for Mvula ya Masika - short rains, which meant that the community would plant fast-maturing crops or Mvula ya Kilimo – long rains, which meant that the community would plant long-maturing crops and those that require a lot of water to mature, such as rice.

Land tenure

Pokomo land stretches from Mbalambala to Kipini along the River Tana on both sides. Largely, the Tana River County land belongs to the Pokomo. Land was earlier distributed by the Kijo and Gasa Council of elders to each sub-tribe as indicated in the names of the villages they live in. Three types of land tenure systems are practiced among the Pokomo. These are:

(a) Mafumbo - in each clan each family was given land from one side of the river flooding zone to the other side of the river flooding zone across. This was meant to avoid conflicts when the river changes its course;

(b) Mihema ya Walume - these are virgin lands that do not belong to anybody, but are used by those who develop it. A family is shown an area to farm, but must clear the forests within a certain time or lose it to another.

(c) Bada - (loosely translated as "forest"), were preserved for medicinal plants, firewood and to provide building materials.

Cuisine

The Pokomo eat Tana river catfish (mtonzi, or, if it is the largest, it is called mpumi), tilapia (ntuku), trout (ningu), eel (mamba) and crocodile (ngwena). Catfish are mainly boiled or sun dried/smoked. Other food sources include plantains, palm tree seeds, bananas, peas and pumpkins.

Pokomos depend on the flooding regime of the Tana to grow rice, bananas, green grams, beans and maize. The staple foods are rice and fish. Other traditional foodstuffs include matoli, cooked banana chips mixed with fish; marika, cooked banana mixed with fish and smashed together; konole, a cooked mixture of sifted maize and green gram/beans; and nkumbu, ash baked or boiled banana. Sima (stiff cornmeal porridge) has become the staple Pokomo dish due to the changing or absence of river flooding regimes and weather that is not able to support rice cultivation.

Kijo

Kijo was a Council of Elders who were very powerful. They had absolute power to excommunicate, imprison and execute those who had been found guilty by the Gasa. Execution was by tying a heavy stone around the neck of the individual and throwing him/her into the River Tana.

At times during the year people would gather near the sacred places (Ngaji) in the night singing and dancing and the Kijo leader would emerge from the sacred forest in the middle of the night walking on poles covered with a white dress and his face covered with a mask. He walked around and danced to the sound of beating drums and returned to the forest, leaving behind a hysterical crowd of people believing that their issues had been solved spiritually. The main sacred places were Mji wa Walevu (Elders village), Nkozi and Laini Keya located near Kone village.

Nkozi, the mother village of Kitere was located in the flood plains of River Tana. It was the centre of the Kijo. Before someone becomes a Mkijo he undergoes an activity known as Kuyumia Ngaji that was only done at Nkozi. Nkozi flooded twice a year, leading locals to move elsewhere. During flood seasons, people erected structures above the water level, which are known in the Pokomo community as Mahandaki. The people would live on top of these structures. In 1946 the floods were unusually high and residents were marooned for days; these floods were named Seli ya Nkozi, loosely translated to mean the Nkozi jail cell; the floods covered areas that the yearly floods did not. It was said that haunting spirits (Maseha) lived at Kitere village.

Others said that ancestors of Nkozi people could be heard talking at Kitere village and that these haunting spirits would sing and dance Miri (a Pokomo dance) and could be heard singing, dancing and playing with a famous song at Ndera - mpanzi mpanzi kuniyawa... nakwenda Kitere... People from Mnazini village south of Nkozi would travel northwards in the direction of Nkozi where the singing was heard from the other side, and those from Nkozi would heading south toward Mnazini village. They would eventually meet on the way, wondering where the singing and dancing was really coming from; They singers were said to be Maseha (evil spirit beings).

This made it difficult for anybody to dare to settle and live at Kitere village. However, after 1946 floods Nkozi and its surroundings were covered with water the community fled Nkozi in canoes and moved to Kitere village. Before settling at Kitere village religious cleansing rituals were conducted to drive away the haunting spirits.

Gasa

The judicial arm of the Kijo is still headed by the Gasa. This is another Council of Elders who showed wisdom and reputable behavior. They are revered and trusted to administer justice. The Gasa is the only elder group still in existence and also gives political guidance. The Gasa has been formally recognised to dispense justice on land and family matters. There are two bodies in the Pokomo community, one for UP and the other for LP. The two combine to form a unified Gasa.

Wagangana

This is composed of a group of elders who are sent by the Kijo to deliver a message or to call somebody who is needed by the Kijo. For example, whenever the Kijo is meeting, they can send the Wagangana to collect food from community members; or whenever a punishment or an order is given by the Kijo, the Wagangana ensure it is implemented.

Pokomo religion: third arm of Kijo

Mulungu (UP) or Mungu (LP) is the universal being of the Pokomo, referring to God the creator of everything. He is believed to bring upon the community abundance and scarcity. The Pokomos traditionally had one religion, guided by a group of spiritual elders among the kijo. Kijo members would seek guidance at sacred prayer areas in the riverine forests.

Due to increased population growth and the introduction of Christianity and Islam, these sacred places were converted to farmlands. The former sacred place at mji wa walevu,, translated to mean village of the elders, is less than 1 km from Hola Mission and Laza Trading Centres. The majority living in Hola Mission are Christians and those in Laza centre are Muslims.