Kwita Izina; Gorilla Naming Ceremony in Rwanda is an annual mountain gorilla naming event held in Rwanda at the Volcanoes National Park where the baby gorillas or young gorillas born within that year are given names. The event comes from the traditional Rwandan ceremony of naming children or rather newborns in a household called “Kwita Izina”.
The kwita Izina has been done in Rwandan households since the ancient times where, family members and relatives would gather together to celebrate the arrival of the new member of the family and give them a name based on how they perceived the child and what they hope the child would bring to the family.
The naming of the gorillas ceremony though started about 19 years ago in 2005 to create more awareness on the conservation of mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National park mainly but also in the East African region. The first in 2005 was a small event but the others that have come after it have been big and more emphasized with some having international celebrity attendances from Couple of Arsenal FC Players, Naomi Campbell, several American Musicians and many more local and international celebrities.
This event has grown over the years from one day celebrations to 3 days or more than one day celebrations at the Rwanda mountain gorilla park, the Volcanoes National Park. The event now days includes more activities than just the cultural naming of the gorillas.
The names of the infant or baby gorillas are usually chosen by local gorilla conservationists and the Rwanda local community. Usually, these names have a meaning to the Rwandan culture and tradition attached to it, that’s why it’s usually the local communities that will choose these names.
However, though the names are chosen by the locals the actual naming is done by the invited ‘namers’ the celebrities and high-profile people invited to grace the ceremony. The use of celebrities and high-profile people is usually to bring more attention to the event and raise the gorilla conservation awareness to high profile circles. Also, for the celebrities, because of their big following, there is an assumption that their followers will buy into the idea of mountain gorilla conservation.
The actual naming ceremony has a lot more than the naming, it will have a showcase of Rwandan culture from music, dance, drama, poetry, delicacies and many more. At this event also there will be campaigns to promote community participation in the mountain gorilla conservation. And also campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of the mountain gorillas in our ecosystem and the benefits of protecting the mountain gorillas and their natural habitat. In fact, over the years mountain gorilla tourism in Rwanda has grown because of this event. The guests on these naming ceremonies also get the chance to trek the gorillas in their habitat.
The event is open to both the local and international community and is organized by Rwanda’s Rwanda Development Board (RDB) which is in charge tourism and wildlife in Rwanda. The board works with various partners notably the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. A fund that is dedicated to supporting mountain gorilla research and conservation efforts. Actually, on this event one of the activities people get to do is to visit the Dian Fossey center. The Dian Fossey center was founded in memory of Dian Fossey a famous primatologist who was very instrumental in the early mountain gorilla conservation efforts.
Back to the naming ceremony, during the naming activity itself the namer will mention the name of the gorilla as the godparent stands alone. They will after sign on the designed piece and recorded in the baby gorilla book for future references. To this day about 300 gorillas have been named at these ceremonies. If you want to witness one of these naming events, kindly consult your tour operator for details and bookings
