Whole communities began identifying not by tribe, but by tongue—as “Swahili speakers.” In places like Goma, Maniema, and Tanganyika, Swahili morphed from market lingo into mother tongue.

Our new status has placed us on equal footing with the other tribes in this land. I’m no longer simply a “Muindi,” Swahili for Asian. Today I don’t need to justify how Kenyan I am.

Swahili mosques and tombs before the 18th century ... "Of the original people who built Kilwa Kisiwani, the first were of the Mtakata tribe, the second the people of Jasi from the Mranga tribe.