THE MAASAI PEOPLE.
The Maasai were Kenya’s dominant tribe until the early 20th century when British troops drove them from their lands. Despite the fact that the British were able to defeat the Maasai, they were utterly impressed by their fighting spirit and courage. The Maasai were forced to leave Kenya’s most fertile lands and in turn were left with some of the destitute parts of the country to live off. Currently the entire Maasai population is estimated to be approximately 900,000. They speak the Maa language, but also speak the official languages of Kenya including Swahili and English.
This tribe is renowned for its remarkable trackers with generations of knowledge of their lands and its wildlife. As semi-nomadic pastoralists, they still live by herding cattle and goats. Traditional Maasai people’s lifestyle concentrates on their cattle which make up the primary source of food. Amongst the Maasai the measure of a man’s wealth is in terms of children and cattle. So the more the better. They believe that a man who has plenty of cattle but not many children is considered to be poor and vice versa. A Maasai myth says that God afforded them all the cattle on earth, resulting in the belief that rustling from other tribes is a matter of claiming what is rightfully theirs, a practice that has now become much less common.
There are over fifty tribes in Kenya but the Maasai are one of the few tribes that have managed to stick to most of their traditions and keep their culture alive, the Masai still stay true to their traditions.Traditional Maasai homes are traditionally built in a very non-permanent and on the go manner. Women of the tribe build the homes and do so in either a circle or loaf shape. The men of the village then build a large circular fence around the homes to defend their village. Masai men and elders make all of the important decisions for Masai tribes.
The Maasai have a very colorful culture of music and dance and they don’t use instruments when they are singing or dancing. All of their music is vocal, except for the large horns used for certain songs. Their music comprises rhythms rendered by a chorus of vocalists singing harmonies, all the while the olaranyani (song leader) sings the melody. The olaranyani is usually the person who can best sing that song. When olaranyani starts singing a line or title (namba) of a song, the group responds with one unanimous call in acknowledgment. The beads that both the men and women wear also create a jingling sound themselves while the Masai jump and dance. Women recite lullabies, hum songs and sing music that praises their sons.
The peak season for singing and dancing is during the rains, which is of course a favorable time to celebrate important passages of life such as circumcision and marriage. This mostly occur around the manyattas, and involve flirting
The maasai people, both women and men, mostly shave their heads to celebrate rites of passage such as circumcision and marriage. This represents the fresh start that will be made as one passes from one to another of life’s chapters. It’s only the Maasai warriors who are allowed to wear long hair, which they weave in thinly braided strands.
The maasai children are named upon reaching the age of 3 “moons” and their heads are shaved clean apart from a tuft of hair, which resembles a cockade, from the nape of the neck to the forehead. The young boys are also shaved two days before they are circumcised. The young warriors then allow their hair to grow, and spend a great deal of time styling the hair.
There clothing varies by sex, age and place. Young men wear black for several months after their circumcision. Although, red is a favored color among the Maasai. Black, Blue, checked and striped cloth are also worn, together with multi-coloured African garments. In the 1960s the Maasai began to replace sheepskin, calf hides and animal skin for more commercial material. The cloth used to wrap around the body is called Shuka in the Maa language. The Maasai women regularly weave and bead jewelry, which plays an essential part in the ornamentation of their body. Ear piercing and the stretching of earlobes are also part of Maasai beauty, and both men and women wear metal hoops on their stretched earlobes.
The traditional Maasai diet consists of six basic foods: meat, blood, milk, fat, honey, and tree bark. They drink both fresh and curdled milk. The fresh milk is drunk from calabash and sometimes it’s mixed with fresh cattle blood. The blood is obtained by nicking the jugular vein. Mixed blood and milk is mostly used as a ritual drink and as nourishment for the sick. Bulls, oxen and lambs are slaughtered for meat on special occasions and for ceremonies. The by-products of the animals, skin and hides are used as bedding. The hides are also used to make furniture and the bones are used to create tools while cow dung is used for building (it is smeared on the walls). The Maasai’s entire way of life truly revolves around their cattle. More recently, the Maasai people have supplemeted their diet with farm crops such as maize meal, rice, cabbage among other food crops.
Since the establishment of the Masai Mara National Reserve and conservancies, the local Maasai people have played an important role in conservation of the region. Maasai landowners living in the conservancies lease their lands to safari operators who in turn practice sustainable eco-tourism. The safari operators not only pay the Maasai landowner a monthly fee, they also contribute to local Maasai community programs and hire Masai people as wildlife trackers. Don’t miss out on interacting with such great people During your safari visit in Kenya, it’s such a once in a lifetime moment.
