Document Type
Article
Abstract
The Kenyan society has since 1970’s been characterized by a wave of religious renewal, in which African Independent churches (AICs) sprouted up in response to people’s quest for a renewed tradition of African Culture. These movements endeavor to fulfill the people’s socio-cultural needs that are thought to have deteriorated with the advent of colonization and European Christianity. The paper subsequently examines how music, dance, and traditional artifacts used by AICs in Western Kenya have enhanced unity among the adherents in these churches. The paper also discusses how these churches, through music, dance and other artifacts survive amidst the quest for modernity by the younger generation. In this regard, the AICs aim at rejuvenating original religious practices that appreciate African people’s culture. The churches sampled for the study include African Israel Nineve Church, African Divine Church, Legio Maria, Dini ya Msambwa, and Roho Israel Church. The findings of the study indicate that these churches use African music, dance and ‘traditional’ instruments as a way of expressing the lost glory of their traditional religions and in some instances, fuse this music with modern technology to ensure their survival, in terms of membership, and especially to attract the younger generation who value ‘Western’ culture and who form the greatest percentage of the population in Western Kenya.
Repository Citation
Kilonzo, Susan M.. "The Cohesive Role of Music, Dance and Traditional Artifacts in African Independent Churches in Western Kenya." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 10, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–21. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol10/iss1/8