Europeans and Africans mingle

The Kikuyu squatters are Africans who were permitted to live on the European farms of the Highlands in exchange for the work they did on those farms.  In addition to giving the squatters land to live upon, the Europeans also provided these African tenants with some land “for the purposes of cultivation and grazing.”  Some of the different reasons why the Africans moved onto European farms were shortages of land, taxation and oppression from local chiefs.  The homeland of the Kikuyu was poor farmland due to its “Inadequate size and infertility.”  Many of the Africans who earned their income by raising stock need more land to support their growing herds.  Furthermore, the Ahoi (landless Kikuyu) could no longer find any Kikuyu landowners who would lease them land.  On top of land shortages, the Kikuyu were also plagued by the colonial taxes.  Many of them headed to the Highlands to either gain money to pay for taxes or to evade taxes altogether.  Another problem in the Kikuyu homeland, were the overbearing chief’s who worked for the colonial powers.  These chief’s conscripted their fellow tribesman as soldiers and volunteer laborers.  A few other less popular reasons for working as squatters were fears of witchcraft, feuds between neighbors or families and the free transport the Europeans offered to the Africans if they wanted to move to the Highlands.  Working as squatters, the Africans used old and new methods to secure the wealth and quality of life they desired.  They continued to build up livestock as they had before, especially goats and sheep.  These animals not only were status symbols used in many of their ceremonies and rituals, but were also a kind of personal savings.  The squatters also grew lots of crops like beans, potatoes, maize, cabbage and peas which they used for food as they had before.  Due to the large squatter farms, the Kikuyu now had lots of surplus crops which they could sell to on the African Market for other goods or even cash.  No longer did they have to depend on the settlers for money to pay for taxes, schools and ceremonies (e.g. circumcisions).   Further proof that the squatters were adjusting well to the new ways of living can be seen by the importance they placed on providing schooling for their children through groups like the KISA and KPSA.