These are stories told to me by trustworthy people.
About Disobedience to the Wazee (wah-zay):
The clan was told on a certain day that they were not to carry water on their heads. The could carry with their hands, but not on their heads. One woman disobeyed and made several trips to get water, carrying the pots on her head. Two or three days later she suddenly became sick and died.
The clan was told not to farm on a certain day. A teacher went to his fields, anyway. He died that night. Another one, who was a Christian and also worked in his field, was not harmed.
Christians Disobeying the Wazee:
The clan was told not to dig on a certain day. Pastor Munyoro had ordered bricks from some brick makers. He told them to go ahead and work and if anyone said anything they should tell them what he said. When the Wazee saw them, they scolded the workers and told them to stop. They refused. Because of their faith nothing happened to them.
About Female Circumcision
*This story may not be suitable for children*
A female government officer, who was not of the Kuria tribe, came to work in the town of Sirare. She was determined to stop female circumcision, which is officially illegal in Tanzania. She met much resistance. One night, during her sleep, the ancestors came to her and when she woke up she discovered that she had been circumcised. She left and never returned.
Some old women who had been raised outside of the Kuria region returned to their home villages. They were not circumcised. A group of local people tried to force them to be circumcised, even coming at night in groups to steal them away. Some were taken, but some were successfully protected. One group called a make relative who came armed with a gun. He even took some of the group to the police; they were convicted and spent some time in jail.
About the Waotaji (Dreamers) (wa-oh-tah-gee)
Pastor Munyoro's (moo-nyor-oh) father told him that the Waotaji used to have dreams that came true. When Pastor Munyoro was young, his father saw him reading his Bible. He told him to open to the book of Isaiah. Now, there is a certain type of intestines that looks like a book when cut open. One dream was that someday people would come who were the color of this type of intestine (white). They would heal people who believed in what they said (the gospel). The Wazee would stop praying to the sun.
His father also told them that there had been dreams about planes before one was ever seen and a running rhino, who would not run to the water, and never blinked (cars). There would be giants that would kill people if they were hit by them (lorries). There would be a rock that looked like a snake and that water could not pass through (roads).
It is interesting to note that since the gospel has come into this area there have been no more true dreams. The dreams are now about killing, stealing (saying it is okay to kill and steal from another clan, not a command against killing and stealing), and medicine for protection.
Dreams of prophecy can be given to anyone, but dreams concerning the clan are only given to the Waotaji.
