ABSTRACT
The area of the Kikuyu Land Unit is defined by the Native Lands Trust Ordinance of 1938, and comprises the five administrative districts of Fort Hall, Nyeri, Kiambu, Meru and Embu. The kikuyu proper fall into three sub-tribes, Metume in Fort Hall, Karura in Kiambu and Gaki in Nyeri; closely related sub-tribes are the Gichugu and Ndia of Embu District. These peoples have in common certain general principles of social structure. Descent is patrilineal and marriage in general patrilocal. Political organization rests on the grouping of the male population according to age. Age-sets are formed at the time of their initiation into manhood; successive sets are combined into larger units to which the author gave the name of regiment, and these again are grouped in generations. Territorial organization is based on the joint rights of an extended family in an area of land over which its homesteads are scattered; they are not grouped in compact villages.
