Hidden Culture and practices of Taveta Community
The Taveta tribe is one of the Bantu ethnicities in south central Kenya in East Africa, Taita Taveta county. The people are sometimes referred to as the Wataveta, which is the plural name of the people in their own language, Kitaveta.
The Tavetas are only linguistically related to the Taita and have no relation whatsoever with the Mijikenda. Family and community prayers are conducted in shrines as they chant incantations to the spirits.
They inhabit mainly the lands between Tsavo National Park and the Tanzania border, up to the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The Tavetan population is commingled with other tribes, notably the Taita, Kamba, Pare, Chaga, and Maasai. Because of their frequent contact with these others, most Tavetans are fluent in Swahili as a second language, and may also acquire some English or other local languages.
The Tavetas are commonly known as agriculturalists and for their skills as smiths and craftsmen while those near water are known for their fishing skills copied from their ancestors and until now beeing seen as a cultural tradition. Apart from this the Wataveta see land and livestock as one of the most important tradition. Their dressing code has also featured more significantly as one of the most valued cultural traditions.
In ancient life, the Wataveta used to wear skins from goat or sheep which was used to cover mainly the lower parts of their body for men. Women used banana leaves as a woman’s respective attire. However, due to modernisation the mode of dressing has since changed and these people can now be seen wraping themselves with pieces of clothes as their cultural attires.
Men wrap themselves with these pieces of clothes leaving only parts of their upper bodies unwraped with a piece of cloth commonly known as “Shuka/ Kanga” while women wrap themselves in the same way but blending themselves with beaded belts commonly known as “Shanga”
