Mijikenda

The Mijikenda, meaning nine towns, are a group of nine related Bantu-speaking peoples of the Kenyan coastal hinterland, from the Tanzanian border north towards Malindi. Living traditionally in fortified hilltop villages called kaya, they traded ivory, grain and other produce with the Swahili towns and allied with the Mazrui of Mombasa. Their sacred kaya forests are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.