1. Mwakireu Gikabu, MOS 64.

2. Father B. Airaldi, MOS 7, related the story of Father Bondino. Interview (January 1970) combined with readings from the early years of Mikinduri Mission Logbook , Consolata Mission Archives, Mikinduri, Tigania.

3. See note 2 above.

4. J. G. H. Hopkins, MOS 11.

5. "Reports: Tribal Witchcraft," Native Affairs Division, 1926, Kenya National Archives (KNA). Corroborated by J. G. H. Hopkins, MOS 11.

6. Meru District Record Book, 1921-1927 , KNA.

7. Meru District Record Book, 1924 , KNA.

8. Meru District Record Book, 1927 , KNA.

9. Age-set names vary slightly among Meru regions, both with regard to spelling and dates of transferring power (Ntuiko) to younger age-sets. For clarity, I use the age-set spellings common to Imenti (Kaburia, Kiramana, Murungi, Miriti) even when discussing adjacent regions. The same applies to periods of power transfer. When necessary, a variant is placed in parentheses. Within Imenti the age-set Murungi has two subsets: Riungu, the eldest, and Kirianki, the youngest. In Muthambi the two subsets of Murungi are Kiraithe, the eldest, and Riungu, the youngest. In Mwimbi the equivalent age-set would be Kirianki, with three subsets consisting of Riungu, Marangu, and Kirianki. All men of these sets and subsets would be in their eighties.

10. Meru District Record Book, 1926 , KNA. The writer confuses the Meru term "Mwiriga" (ridgetop community containing one or more clans) with the Kikuyu term "Rika" (an age-set). The error suggests almost total ignorance of Meru communal life, as the writer himself attests.

11. M'Muraa wa Kairanyi, MOS 13.

12. Matiri wa Kirongoro ("Paul"), MOS 29.

13. Mwakiru Gikabu, MOS 64.

14. Rawcliffe, The Struggle for Kenya , 30. Similar comments appear in the Meru District Record Book throughout the 1920s.

15. Meru District Record Book, 1927 , KNA. Probable author, J. G. H. Hopkins, assistant district commissioner.

16. Chuka Sub-District Political Record Book, 1908 , KNA.

17. Meru District Record Book, 1909 , KNA.

18. East African Ordinances, 1910, KNA.

19. Ikuciambuu Nguciala, MOS 35; M'Mutiga M'Ngaruni, MOS 36; alleged former members of the Mwaa, Igembe.

20. Special Report, ''Witchcraft in Tigania and Igembe," from Frank M. Lamb, district commissioner, Meru, to senior commissioner (E. B. Horne), Nyeri Province, 15 February 1928, "Native Customs" file, Lambert Papers. Referred to hereinafter as the "Lamb Special Report." (Abbreviated version is in Meru District Record Book, 1927 , KNA). Translation of A-Athi curse by Simon P. K. Bengi, Mwimbi, 1988.

21. Lamb Special Report.

22. Lamb Special Report; Ikuciambuu Nguciala, MOS 35.

23. Ikuciambuu Nguciala, MOS 35.

24. Meru District Record Book, 1924 , KNA.

25. Meru District Record Book, 1927 , KNA.

26. Gaichungi Baibuatho M'Mbarui (Igembe), MOS 34.

27. Lamb Special Report.

28. M'Muraa wa Kairanyi, MOS 13.