Chaga People - Daily Life and Culture

Daily Life and Culture

Since fish are absent from most of the streams of their areas, like the Taita, fish were seen as unfit to eat, and of them were seen having same nature as serpents, who are considered bad in Chagga culture. The Chagga people bred fowls in large number, to sell to the passing caravans of traders from the East coast, for they themselves abjured poultry as food, it was as seen as unwholesome and unmanly for obvious reasons, like the tenderness of its flesh. Their most prized domestic animals are the oxen, the goat and the sheep the dog however, is used to help guard compounds from intruders at night. The oxen are still highly valued. They belong to the humped Zebu breed prevalent throughout East Africa since the days of Ancient Egyptians. The goats are small and handsome with small horns. Milk is an essential part of Chagga diet. The chagga diet is predominantly meat, but the main diet is vegetables. Among the plants grown for food are maize, sweet potatoes, yams, arums, beans, peas, red millet and bananas. The chagga brew a delicious drink called Mbege, which is made of millet and bananas and left to ferment for 10 days prior to festivities.