National Politics and Its Indirect, Profound Influence

The lessened vitality of the sections was carried substantially further by one of the general understandings of the consequences of Kenya gaining independence in 1963. As many Swahili saw it, the officials of the new government were sensitive to the fact that community members had once owned slaves, and it was (and is) believed that any reminder of that should be avoided.

As has been noted, the sectionally organized men's dances at weddings and circumcisions were performed only on behalf of families and individuals whose ancestry is understood to contain no one of slave background. Similarly, no one could participate in the dances without his being understood to have no slave forebears. At least during the period of my visits to Mombasa beginning in 1975 and, according to some informants, since independence, no men's dances have been performed in Old Town.

It is noteworthy that the cessation of the dances strikes not only at the opposition of the sections and their association with highly prized male traits but also at a key foundation of the uniqueness of the community as a whole: the noble, that is, nonslave, status of all "true" community members. All Twelve Tribes members still speak of uungwana , nobility, and although the term refers to the most prized forms of behavior, manners, and character, it also applies to having an ancestry free of forebears who were wazalia (a polite term for slaves). This fundamental value is no longer publicly symbolized, and although it is still cherished and spoken of in private circles, its public demonstration in dances associated with key rituals has been abandoned.