My grandfather Cosmas Binyavanga just died. We actually don't know how old he was (He was born in a rural area pre-British colonization), although we have a general idea. Here's an excerpt from a story in The Sunday Vision -- sorry, can't find a link -- where grandfather discusses his childhood that captures his magic, which was old school East African:
"'In the beginning when I was born,' he started, 'there were no Europeans, no religion and no civilisation as we see it today. All these hills were covered in forest. Wild beasts like lions, leopards, gorillas, hyenas and hippos roamed this place freely. It was dangerous. Then human population started growing. I witnessed the last lion being chased from here. It had such bushy mane. It feigned death when hunters wounded it, but then it pounced on one hunter, wrestled him to the ground and bit off his buttocks before taking off for good.
"'I was the head of the herdsboys in 1914 when the British, Belgians and Germans camped here to fight over territory.'"
Cosmas Binyavanga, RIP.
3 comments:
I'm sorry for your loss, Ron. He sounds amazing! Hope you can get some family members to write down or tape some memories of him.
No question, he cast a long shadow.
Dear Corsair, my condolences to you and
your family. I echo LJ's idea, oral tradition be damned, get those stories recorded.
Best,
D
Thanks guys, I think my uncle was working on a biography that included some taped elements. I'll see if we can get some of that online in the future,
Ron
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