Makunga

Group Information

Makunga is from Dodoma and the Wagogo Community, which they argued is the main indigenous community of Tanzania (always from the land, never migrated into Tanzania. The group was formed in 2018, but was built on a much older group. They perform in the Wuyina style.   Their instruments/costumes include the: Ndulele (Horn), the Nindo (Shakers), the Mbega: (Animal Skins), the Muheme (Drums), the Kabati (Shakers), the Kalimba (Thumb Piano), the Zeze (Orutu), the Izeze (5 string large instrument), and the Muhongwa (Wooden water troughs, played on ground like calabash, which was used in last song).   The group started their performance with the most extraordinary set of customs – human shakers!

We recorded seven performances:

1. Intro, Freestyle recording of their entrance.
2. Masasi: the celebration song after circumcision completed
3. Nindo: Song on social issues
4. Muhene: Song during girl ceremony where she reaches puberty and now must be hidden from village for 40 days (song acts out how girl learns to reject the advances of men, represented by two men playing shakers)
5. Muziki: A song to gain support of the people for the music and dance
6. Muziki: Freestyle
7. Muhongwa: another song from the circumcision ceremony, named after the instrument used (the wooden trough)