Chapter VIII Missionary Traditions: Spreading God
1. A. J. Hopkins, Trail Blazers and Road Makers , 100. The quotation refers back to the opening of Meru District to Protestant Christianity in 1913.
2. Ibid., chaps. 1, 2. [BACK]
1. A. J. Hopkins, Trail Blazers and Road Makers , 100. The quotation refers back to the opening of Meru District to Protestant Christianity in 1913.
2. Ibid., chaps. 1, 2. [BACK]
3. "Decretum Laudis," proclamation, published by the Holy See, January 1901, Sec. dizionario encyclopedica dei religiosi , Societa di Sao Paulo, 1971, copy in Consolata Mission Archives, Turin. [BACK]
4. Monseigneur S. Allgeyer, apostolic vicar of Zanzibar, 1901, and bishop within the Society of the Holy Ghost, a Catholic missionary order based in France. Untitled document, Consolata Mission Archives, Turin. [BACK]
5. Pecomino, "Mezzo serolo di attentiva," Consolata Mission Archives, Turin. This typescript was combined with additional untitled Italian-language materials by Father P. Valentino Ghilardi, Roman Catholic, Igoji Mission, Meru, 1950. The data were made available to me by Father Ghilardi in a personal interview at the Consolata Mission Archives, in Turin in 1969. [BACK]
6. Kikuyu/Gikuyu (spelling): During the colonial era Kikuyu was the preferred spelling. During the contemporary era, Gikuyu is usually preferred. I use Gikuyu throughout this book. [BACK]
11. Father T. Gays, letter, handwritten, Italian language, undated but probably 1910; Consolata Mission Archives, Turin, made available courtesy of Fa-
ther P. V. Ghilardi, June 1969. This letter, later copied and translated into English by Father Jestero, is perhaps the earliest European description of Imenti and Igoji. [BACK]
12. Embu District Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1906-1910, KNA. [BACK]
13. "Brevi cenni storici," copy, Consolata Mission Archives, Turin. Combined with additional untitled mission documents written by Father P. V. Ghilardi, Igoji Mission, 1950. Made available by Father Ghilardi, June 1969. [BACK]
14. As told by Albert M'Riria (MOS 90), son of the group's spokesman, who was present at the scene. [BACK]
15. "Logbook" of the Mujwa (and therefore, Kiija) Roman Catholic Mission, 1911-1925, Consolata Mission Archives, Mujwa Village, Igoji; "Brevi cenni storici," Consolata Mission Archives, Turin. [BACK]
16. See note 15 above. [BACK]
17. Hopkins, Trail Blazers and Road Makers , 100, referring to the era of Griffiths and Mimmack. [BACK]
18. Kenya Mission Council Records , undated (ca. 1913), Miscellaneous Papers, KNA. [BACK]
19. As sung by Paulo M'Ituke, one of the earliest Methodist converts; see MOS 91. Many of the oldest men in Ka-Aga locality claim to have heard the song coming from the grove. However, similar variants also exist in Catholic localities regarding the "flight" of the spirits. [BACK]
20. Rev. A. J. Hopkins, United Methodist Mission Annual Report, 1911-1940 . See the 1935 annual report, in which Hopkins writes of the mission's beginnings, Laughton Papers. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, also has copies of the annual reports. [BACK]
21. Rev. R. W. Worthington, United Methodist Mission Annual Report, 1920 Laughton Papers (see note 20 above). [BACK]
22. Filipo M'Inoti, "Asili ya wa Meru na desturi zao," (Traditions of Meru and their customs), handwritten manuscript, undated (ca. 1930), 49 pages, Swahili language, Meru United Methodist Mission Archive, North Imenti, and Laughton Private Papers. Handwritten English-language copy is in my possession. This is the earliest history of the Meru tribe, written by one of its members. [BACK]
23. Father B. Airaldi, MOS 7. Father Airaldi drew extensively, in his descriptions, from the Mikinduri Mission Logbook, 1913-1939 (Consolata Mission Archives, Mikinduri), as well as over thirty years' experience among the Meru-speaking peoples. Father Airaldi, together with the pioneer missionary Father Aimo-Boot, founded the first four Catholic mission stations in Tigania and Igembe (from personal interview, 1970). [BACK]
24. See note 23 above. [BACK]
25. "Logbook" (1913) of the Athuana Mission (later changed to Mikinduri Mission Logbook ), Consolata Mission Archives, Mikinduri. [BACK]
26. See note 23 above. [BACK]
27. Vitalus Anicheto, MOS 92. [BACK]
28. Father B. Airaldi, MOS 7. [BACK]
29. Paulo M'Gaichau, MOS 93. [BACK]
30. "Gli uomini venuti dal mare: Notti ethnologia sulla tribu della prefeturra apostolica di Meru" (Ethnological notes on the tribe of the apostolic prefecture of Meru). Missioni Consolata , 81, Consolata Mission Archives, Turin. [BACK]
31. United Methodist Mission unnumbered minutes book (fragmentary), Meru District, 1923; United Methodist Mission Annual Report, 1911-1940 ("The Meru Circuit"), Laughton Papers. The generation of female converts occurred solely as the result of arranged marriages. [BACK]
32. Hopkins, United Methodist Mission Annual Report, 1919 (see note 20 above). [BACK]
33. Father B. Airaldi, MOS 7. [BACK]
34. Paulo M'Ituke, MOS 91. [BACK]
35. Rev. R. W. Worthington, United Methodist Mission Annual Report, 1919 (see n. 21 above). [BACK]
36. Correspondence, 24 September-7 November 1919, between Rev. R. W. Worthington, United Methodist Mission, and A. E. Chamier, district commissioner, Meru, 1919, as well as subsequent correspondence between both of them with W. Tate, provincial commissioner, Central (Gikuyu) Province, and John Ainsworth, chief, Native Administration. Miscellaneous correspondence, ref. 401/17/F/19, KNA. [BACK]
37. Paulo M'Gaichau, MOS 93. [BACK]
38. Rev. R. W. Worthington, United Methodist Mission Annual Report, 1917 (see note 21 above). [BACK]
39. Alice Thiriadi, MOS 94. Mrs. Thiriadi was one of the first generation of female converts as the result of an arranged marriage. [BACK]