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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At what age is the first stage of Gikuyu youth marked?
(a) Three or four years old.
(b) Eight years old.
(c) Four or five years old.
(d) Six or seven years old.

2. Where do the men, women, and children beat the bushes to chase the evil spirits away?
(a) Toward Mount Kenya.
(b) Toward the center of the village.
(c) In the jungle.
(d) At the river.

3. What does Kenyatta think the European teacher coming to Africa should do?
(a) Learn the Gikuyu way.
(b) Share their knowledge of other subjects.
(c) Set up western schools.
(d) Be circumcised.

4. What is the fourth stage of the marriage arrangements?
(a) Setting a day to sign the marriage contract.
(b) Sending gifts to the bride's parents.
(c) Slaughtering the sheep.
(d) Holding a feast.

5. What do Gikuyus do instead of praying to their ancestral spirits?
(a) Light a fire on top of Mount Kenya in their honor.
(b) Hold a feast in their honor.
(c) Name their children after them.
(d) Give them gitts of respect.

6. When can the Gikuyu people participate in the government?
(a) After marriage.
(b) After having children.
(c) After circumcision.
(d) After owning land.

7. How is the first stage of youth marked in the Gikuyu tribe?
(a) By painting the body.
(b) By piercing the navel.
(c) By piercing the outer ear.
(d) By shaving the head.

8. When is a man initiated into the council of peace?
(a) When a man has a child to be circumcised.
(b) When a man marries.
(c) When a man owns his own hut and land.
(d) When a man is 50 years old.

9. What does Kenyatta fear western education will do to the Gikuyu society?
(a) Be the downfall of the structure of the clan.
(b) Turn them against their ancestors.
(c) Give Gikuyus an inferiority complex.
(d) Tempt them to leave Kenya and go abroad.

10. How many types of spirituality are there among the Gikuyus?
(a) Four.
(b) Two.
(c) One.
(d) Three.

11. What did the Gikuyus consider "white man's magic"?
(a) Having one wife.
(b) Western medicine.
(c) Money.
(d) Reading and writing.

12. What kind of games do the young Gikuyu play?
(a) Pretend fighting and house.
(b) Climbing trees.
(c) Singing songs.
(d) Hide and Go Seek.

13. What is a name of the Gikuyu God?
(a) Ngai.
(b) Bogai.
(c) Lunai.
(d) Baloo.

14. What is done to the girl's body prior to surgery?
(a) It is massaged and adorned with beads.
(b) It is painted with sacred colors.
(c) It is blessed by the medicine man.
(d) It is washed in the mother's hut.

15. What does a man pay when he is initiated into the religious and sacrificial council?
(a) A ewe.
(b) A cow.
(c) A goat.
(d) A lamb.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Kenyatta feel the Gikuyu form of education is better than formal education.

2. When a man becomes ill, ________________ are sought.

3. When an animal is to be sacrificed to God, where is the ceremony held?

4. In what manner is the sacrificial animal killed?

5. Under the Constitution that was drawn up after the Gikuyu people became democratic, what were all young men supposed to be?

(see the answer keys)

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