“Kwita Izina” is a Kinyarwanda (Rwandese local language) word that means “to give a name”- it refers to the act of naming a thing or a person. Kwita Izina as a term, refers to an old tradition in the Rwandan culture where a community came together to give a name to a new baby born in the community. This way the baby grew up being cared for, nurtured and protected by the whole community. Kwita Izina is a gorilla ceremony of naming new born baby gorillas. The ceremony is named after an ancestral act of baby naming newborns after birth. The ceremony is takes place in order to monitor each gorilla and its group in their habitat.
The “Kwita Izina” tradition was borrowed for naming of mountain gorillas of Rwanda whereby the newly born baby gorillas are given names. Gorillas share 98% DNA with humans; we share a number of attributes including having unique faces from one individual to another. The purpose of naming the gorillas is to enable easy identification of each individual gorilla, to monitor its growth and the family or group where it belongs. Similar to the human social structure, gorillas live in families headed by an adult male gorilla which protects and directs the movements of the group; and so, each of the families in the park is also given a name. Therefore, naming of the individual gorillas and their families helps with monitoring the gorillas and subsequently protecting them.
Previously it was just the park rangers and researchers in Volcanoes National Park that named the gorillas, but this has been expanded to involve the local and international community. Each year in September international visitors and locals convene in Kinigi village situated in the foothills of the Virunga Mountains to give names to the baby gorillas born in the last one year.
The ceremony was created to bring the importance of protecting mountain Gorilla both to the local and international people. The ceremony was officially established in 2005 during the time Rwanda Development Board decided to take a step to support the conservation efforts. This is not only a celebration of newborns but also to raise the awareness of protecting the endangered species at every level.
The ceremony takes place because of the twin mountain gorillas, it’s adorable, and a thrilling moment seeing twins of mountain gorillas. In 2005 twins were born for the third time and the second time happened in 2012. This moment was a blessing for the conservation sector.
The ceremony is celebrated to launch community projects, which have resulted from sharing Tourism scheme. The Rwanda Development board supports the communities near by the Volcanoes national park for helping the tourism sector to conserve the mountain gorillas the celebrations have always been planed near every Rwanda national park which is major.
The naming ceremony of the Kwita Izina takes place on every 2nd September it features cultural performances from the local entertainers. The event welcomes over 20,000 people in Kinigi at the top of foothills of the volcanoes national park in the north part of Rwanda.
The naming of a baby mountain gorilla is considered a great honor, the names are chosen from both local and internal individuals giving a chance for everyone who has played a great contribution in conserving the mountain gorillas will have a chance to select a name.
Another reason for one to attend the gorilla naming ceremony, is to bring a platform that will help to bring top quality tourism marketers in Africa to show case their products, the platform will bring an opportunity of networking. This will also bring the local people to learn about the tourism products and services where they will benefit from different offers at every exhibition.