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Contribution short abstract:

The Digo encounters with foreigners from the Indian Ocean have been interpreted and revealed through the Kayamba ritual healing performance. This paper examines the Kayamba healing ritual as a form of artistic tool through which the community has confronted the harsh realities of the Indian Ocean.

Contribution long abstract:

Kayamba, which also refers to a musical instrument or dance, is a healing ritual that involves exorcising spirits, whether good or bad from the sick. Believed to be a cure for many ailments that cannot be dealt with by conventional medicine, Kayamba healers are said to be possessed by powerful spirits, some local and others foreign to have abilities to cure ailments (mostly mental). The Digo community on the Kenyan coast, due to interactions with different foreigners whether as traders, colonizers, or religious groups has variously borrowed spirits and healing powers from different communities that have come to the Kenyan coast. The long interaction between the Islamic religion and the Mijikenda has led to a blend of tradition and Islamic religion. This encounter with the foreigner has been reflected and interpreted in different ways in which the spiritual world as it is related to the ocean is relayed through the Kayamba performance. This paper looks at Kayamba not just as a healing ritual performance but also as a form of artistic instrument through which the community has confronted the harsh realities of what the Indian Ocean has brought forth. The paper also explores how this healing ritual performance relies on interactions with the ocean and how this links the many communities that live or use the Indian Ocean.