Taveta people

Taveta

Wataveta women (published in Western field, 1902)
Total population
20,828
Regions with significant populations
Kenya
Languages
Taveta
Religion
African Traditional Religion, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Taita, other Bantu peoples

Taveta is the name of a tribe of Southeast Africa, the name of the principal town in the land of the Taveta people, and also the name of the surrounding subdistrict of Kenya.

The Taveta tribe is one of the Bantu ethnicities in south central Kenya in the Taveta district. The people are sometimes referred to as the Wataveta, which is the plural name of the people in their own language, Kitaveta. The Tavetan population is commingled with other tribes, notably the Taita, Pare, Chaga, and Maasai. Because of their frequent contact with these others, most Tavetans are fluent in (Ki)Swahili as a second language, and may also acquire some English or other local languages.

The Wataveta inhabit mainly the lands between Tsavo National Park and the Tanzania border, up to the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. Many Tavetans are occupied by commercial and subsistence farming,with the main cash crop being bananas and cotton,sugarcane,exotic and tropical fruits especially mangoes,avocados and many horticultural produce.Some work the local sisal plantations, and a few take advantage of special local commercial activities transport and cross border trade etc.

The Wataveta land and people won brief international attention during World War I, when German and British colonial forces clashed there at the slaughter hill"salaita". Author Isak Dinesen (a.k.a. Karen Blixen) and the film Out of Africa describe this history.

Most Tavetans practice some form of Christianity, roughly thirty percent affiliated with each of the Anglican Church of the Province of Kenya, the Roman Catholic Church, and Pentecostal churches. While Tavetans rarely profess traditional African Traditional Religion, old customs concerning healing or cursing are not unknown.