There is also a town in Taita-Taveta District

Taita-Taveta District

Taita Taveta-District is one of the seventy-one districts of Kenya, located in the Coast Province of that country. It lies approximately 200 km northwest of Mombasa and 360 km southeast of Nairobi city....

 called Taveta

Taveta, Kenya

Taveta is a town in the Taveta District of Coast Province in Kenya. The town has an urban population of 11,500 .- Overview :The town of Taveta is wedged into a projection of Kenyan territory bordered on the north and west by Tanzania. The irregularity in the border was created c...

Taveta is the name of a tribe of East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

, the name of the principal town in the land of the Taveta people, and also the name of the surrounding subdistrict of Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

.

The people of Taveta

The Taveta tribe is one of the Bantu ethnicities in south central Kenya in East Africa 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

Taita

Taita may refer to:* Taita people, a Kenyan ethnic group; also their language* Taitā, New Zealand, a suburb of Lower Hutt City* Taita Hills, mountain range in Kenya* Taita Line, a railway line in Gifu prefecture, Japan...

, Kamba

Kamba

The Kamba are a Bantu ethnic group who live in the semi-arid Eastern Province of Kenya stretching east from Nairobi to Tsavo and north up to Embu, Kenya. This land is called Ukambani. Sources vary on whether they are the third, fourth or the fifth largest ethnic group in Kenya...

, Pare, Chaga

Chaga

The Chaga are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They live on the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, as well as in the Moshi area...

, and Maasai. Because of their frequent contact with these others, most Tavetans are fluent in (Ki)Swahili

Swahili language

Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...

 as a second language, and may also acquire some English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 or other local languages.

The Wataveta inhabit mainly the lands between Tsavo National Park

Tsavo National Park

Tsavo National Park may refer to:* Tsavo East National Park, a national park in Kenya on the eastern side of the A109 road.* Tsavo West National Park, a national park in Kenya on the western side of the A109 road....

 and the Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

 border, up to the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...

. 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

Sisal

Sisal is an agave that yields a stiff fibre traditionally used in making twine, rope and also dartboards. The term may refer either to the plant or the fibre, depending on context...

 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

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, when German and British colonial forces clashed there at the slaughter hill"salaita". Author Isak Dinesen (a.k.a. Karen Blixen

Karen Blixen

Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...

) and the film Out of Africa describe this history.

Most Tavetans practice some form of Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, roughly thirty percent affiliated with each of the Anglican Church of the Province of Kenya, the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, and Pentecostal churches. While Tavetans rarely profess traditional animism

Animism

Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....

, old customs concerning healing or cursing are not unknown.

Taveta is close to the East African coast (Mombasa), and approximately ten percent of Tavetans practice Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. According to Tavetan lore, the tribe was first exposed to Islam when Arab traders were crossing through their land and were impressed by their conduct leading to mass voluntary conversions.

External link

• Kitamo Cha Kuomba Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Taveta (1894) digitized by Richard Mammana and Charles Wohlers