Kenyatta states that oral tradition is an important trait that a young child in the Gikuyu society learns from his birth. Writing and reading were not ideal skills since the oral tradition allowed the child to grow and adapt to this type of mentality. The child was guided through the teachings of his parents so that one day he may be able to carry this tradition to his offspring. Folklore, tribal dances, tribal customs, and farming were all taught orally and through hands-on experience. The concept of family clan and age grouping gave the child status and he was nothing without this resource. Those who

Kenyatta, Jomo. Facing Mt. Kenya. New York: Random House, Inc., 1965.

"It was deemed unnecessary for white men to have any special training before dealing with and being put in charge of natives. It was a common assumption that work on the colonies required men of less education than work at home, so the colonies became a sort of clearing-house for failures and worse. This unfortunately applied equally to the missionary as to other callings, and until recently it was the prevalent opinion that the Gospel could be better preached and interpreted to ignorant and degraded savages by less intellectual and less educated men. Of course, in this case the whole line of reasoning was wrong, for the natives were not as savage and degraded as was supposed, and anyway, the more difficult they were to deal with, the better equipped their teachers should have been" (Kenyatta 260).

ked to abolish it in the Gikuyu society. If it is wrong or right is not the case, the case lies in the arena where the Gikuyu have performed it since the beginning of their culture. It is the point of transition from child to adult, when they can marry and bear offspring. If circumcision is abolished then when does a girl become an adult? The Gikuyu have been taught not to marry a girl who has not been circumcised. As an example of how unprepared the British were at handling the situation of Gikuyu religion the following is taken from the reading:

Kenyatta states that British accounts have depicted the Gikuyu as uncivilized, lazy, poor, and a primitive people. They have introduced Christianity without co

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