Back to the roots: Indigenous knowledge systems as a means to circumvent poverty in Ngugi’s petals of blood

Abstract

African people had high expectations from their post-independence leaders after colonial rulers had left their countries. However, they have been greatly disappointed and feel betrayed as many African leaders appear to have taken the reins only to enrich themselves and their families and further exploit the poor instead of serving them. My point of departure for this study of a rural community depicted in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s novel, Petals of Blood (1977). The focus is on members of the impoverished and socio-economically disadvantaged community who are distressed by incessant drought and the government’s blasé attitude and incompetence towards their plight. This engenders a crisis as the community is placed on the brink of abject poverty, which incites the village elders to consult a seer and offer sacrifices to seek solutions. I use this as a point of departure to explore how the text gestures at the potential of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) to address the real dilemmas faced by Africans following the extensive and cross-generational crises that accompany
coloniality. I provide a postcolonial critique of how African governance contributes to the violence and displacement of its peoples. And, I also provide ecocritical reading of the text, drawing on relevant postcolonial / decolonial ideas to illustrate the ways in which indigenous African epistemologies can indeed boost efforts at environmental conservation and poverty alleviation in rural communities today.