The Church Missionary Society and the Enculturation of the Freed African Slaves in Coastal Kenya

Enculturation was a process by which the individual assimilated other groups' culture through instruction, experience and observation. In this context, the freed slaves were mostly put under the sanctuaries managed by the Church Missionary Society and went through a strict regimen of enculturation that broadly covered prayer life, change of names, bible reading, and mode of dress, marriage, education and mannerism. The main aim was to raise a crop of African Christians who at that moment happened to be the freed slaves and use them for the Christianization of Africa as well as for the British colonial empire-building in Africa. Contrary to the perception that African freed slaves readily accepted and adapted to Christianity and western lifestyles; there was resistance, an outright rejection of the values and even desertion from the mission stations. Enculturation produced a crop of African freed slaves who were instrumental in mission activities as others became increasingly conscientized and mainstreamed their activities into associational life and politics of decolonization.