On a sunny Monday morning, Petronie Ugirikirezi, 50, had already started her day by drying her partially germinated sorghum grains (amamera) on a construction tent she spread in her compound.

She was gearing up for the upcoming Umuganura, where the traditional sorghum beer, Ikigage, plays an important role.

Umuganura is Rwanda’s version of thanksgiving, celebrated every first Friday of August since 2011 after being halted by colonialists in 1925. Researchers say it goes way back to the 11th century, when Gihanga Ngomijana reigned.

While some in urban areas share soda and corn on this day, traditionally, Rukacarara, a type of cake made from sorghum flour and a dash of cassava flour, sour vegetables known as isogi, and sorghum beer are the main dishes at the table.

The writer tries grinding sorghum on Urusyo, a traditional tool used to grind grains into flour.

Traditional foods like cassava, pumpkins, impengeri (boiled sorghum) and other vegetables are also served.

Children are usually served milk, while adults share sorghum beer from a large traditional pot with multiple straws.

Although Rwandans love beer on any day, ikigage must be there and in plenty during the Umuganura celebrations.

This is the case when it comes to Ugirikirezi, who has been making this beer since she was 16 years old. She has even come up with her own recipe over time, like adding a little bit of corn, and roasting some of the sorghum before grinding it, which she claims creates a special aroma.

Ugirikirezi’s compound where she dries her sorghum is screed with cow dung and clay soil to make it look almost cemented, a practice that was common decades ago and was intended to keep a house clean.

"We did this to be able to thresh the sorghum from a clear place without stones and soil,” she explained.

Her process to make ikigage starts from threshing the sorghum, sifting, and soaking it in water for at least three nights.

She then removes the sorghum from water and puts it in another enclosed dark room, where she blends it with ash from burnt banana leaves, only when the grains have started germinating, which could take approximately two days.

At the time of the interview, Ugirikirezi’s next step was to take the grains to a milling machine in her area, boiling the flour in water, and adding yeast.

Amamera, partially germinated sorghum that is used to make sorghum beer, Ikigage.

Traditionally, grinding maize was done with rocks; the bottom being ‘urusyo’ and the top, which is smaller in size and used to crush the grains back and forth, is known as ‘ingasire.’

But with technological evolution, people like Ugirikirezi prefer going to the nearest milling machine, or buying already grinded maize flour to save time and energy.

Umuganura is also special for Ugirikirezi who lives in Rutunga Sector, Gasabo District, which sits on a hill where Rwanda as a country started from.

Right next to her house used to be two trees that were known as ‘Amarembo yo ku mana y’umutsima/umuganura’ (loosely ‘the gates to the god of cake/umuganura’).

Although one of the trees was cut down and chopped into firewood by the locals, it is reported that the two trees looked like gate pillars that people went through to celebrate umuganura with the King.

‘The House of Umuganura’

This historical site, which only has a single tree left, goes back to 1864, when the then King of Rwanda, Kigeli IV Rwabugiri celebrated Umuganura from the hill for the first time.

Although this is the known bit of history backed by research for the moment, it is believed that this event, being the most important ceremony in precolonial Rwanda, was started by the first King of Rwanda, Gihanga Ngomijana.

"This hill is known to have been home to a house named ‘the House for Umuganura’ where the event was first held,” André Ntagwabira said.

Petronie Ugirikirezi (middle), her neighbour and child help spread the partially germinated sorghum she plans to make Ikigage with. Dan Nsengiyumva

Nevertheless, Rudahigwa and all other Kings who would briefly stay at this place did not spend much time there. In fact, no King ever stayed in this area for residence.

Rwandans, who predominantly depended on agriculture, then had an opportunity to share with the King and the whole community their harvests throughout the agricultural year.

The country traditionally has two planting seasons, the first running from September through January, and the other from February to June, which makes August a perfect month to celebrate annual harvests.

The plan for the celebrations was also yearlong, given how they were held in high regard.

The people in charge of umuganura were among the most important, and they lived in the mountainous present-day Gakenke District, at a place called Huro.

Driving there in the dry season, one would think it hasn’t rained in at least a year. The area is steep, dusty and rocky. Its mountains are dressed with young eucalyptus trees.

People there grow bananas, although the majority of their thin plants seemed to hold only two tiny banana hands.

Who would think this is where seeds that would be sown in a place where umuganura was to be celebrated were grown?

It is also where the officials in charge of umuganura lived, such as the adviser in charge of umuganura (umwiru w’umuganura) who was the most powerful of all the advisers; the meteorologists (abavubyi), and the adviser of farming (umwiru w’umuhinzi).

Miss Rwanda Muheto and Miss Heritage drink milk at a cultural village in Rulindo District. All Photos by Dan Nsengiyumva

The pot previously used by traditional meteorologists more than 100 years ago is still there, and the locals reportedly rely on its predictions.

Meteorology was an important and much depended on aspect that determined when and how people grew their crops.

Umuganura, which is credited with instilling a sense of unity and hard work in the community, was also shared between neighbours, friends, and family. The practice of sharing food was known as kuganuza.

This year’s celebration on Friday, August 5, comes after a weeklong campaign by the Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy designed to inform the public about the celebration, and touring important historical sites that tell its story.

Running under the theme ‘Umuganura, the source of unity and basis of independence,’ the celebrations at the national level will be held in Rulindo District. 

While the food shared during umuganura may have changed, some dishes not even in sight, the values it represented (generosity, cooperation, community support system, and sharing) are still upheld, or at least encouraged, according to Jean Claude Uwiringiyimana, the Deputy Director General of the Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy.

"The important thing is not what people eat, but celebrating their achievements. It is about sharing, and enlarging their setting from family, to the bigger Rwandan community,” Uwiringiyimana said.

The pot where traditional meteorologists used to predict rain from. It is in Huro, Gakenke district