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March 30, 2014

By: Uzoma Mba

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The Maasai (Masai) could be the most known Kenyan tribe outside Kenya especially for tourists The Maasai (Masai) are more commonly associated with Kenya, but they’ve been a presence around the Ngorongoro Crater of Tanzania for over a 150 years and are the area’s main residents. They are predominantly a warrior tribe whose lives revolve around herding cattle. They believe the rain God Ngai entrusted the cattle to the Maasai (Masai) people when the earth and sky split, and wealth is measured in number of cattle. Since cattle was given to the Maasai (Masai), they believe its okay to steal from other tribes

stereotypical image most people have of the Maasai (Masai) warrior is that of a tall and slender man clutching a spear in one hand with his red cloth wrapped around his waist or over his shoulders. The Maasai (Masai) men are also seen in a trance like state jumping in a uniform motion in one spot, this brings them to a trace like state and can go one for hours.

The Maasai (Masai) drink cows blood that they believe makes the body stronger and warmer and is good for children and the elderly to build up their strength. It is often drunk mixed with the milk of the cow. An arrow is shot at close range to puncture the jugular vein of the cow. The blood is drawn into a skin gourd and later mixed with milk to be drunk by the gathering. The animal is not left to bleed but is carefully tended to, till it fully heals. Their rites and traditional ceremonies are taken very seriously, and it is not common to allow outsiders to attend. Elders play a very important role in the community and society at large.

People of the Maasai (Masai) tribe live in small settlements of 8-15 huts per village; the kraal (a traditional house or hut) is surrounded by a thorn bush fence, which acts like barbed wire, protecting the tribe and animals against enemies. The huts are built using branches, twigs and grass with a cement of cow dung and urine, and inside animal skins and cushions of dry grasses are used for comfort. The mixture is as strong as cement after it dried in the sun and does not smell. They cannot stand up straight inside the hut and the only openings are that of the doorway and a small opening in the roof or wall which allows smoke from a continually blazing fire inside to escape. Dried cow dung is used to fuel the fire. The family sleeps on beds of woven branches cushioned with dry grasses and animal skins.

Maasai (Masai) women and girls have numerous chores besides building the dung hut, which take about 7 months. It is their responsibility to milk the cows and fetch water, whatever the distance may be. The Maasai (Masai) women are also expected to pick calabashes or gourds from vines and clean the insides of the gourds as well as decorate them with leather and beads. A woman is by birth a member’s of her father’s family line and cannot own land or cattle. They are minors in society, always represented by their father, and later their husband. If a woman has no sons in her marriage she will be scorned and forced to beg in her old age, as she will have no possessions or money and no one to care for her.

For the boys, fifteen is the coming of age ritual, when they become circumcised and become Morani (young warriors), formally they would hunt a lion with a spear during the rites of passage ceremony but lion hunting is now illegal.

Children of the tribe have importance in rituals like rainmaking during a drought when the children sing for the rain. Playing “sheep’s and goats” is a common game for children, an equivalent of “cowboys and Indians”. Teenage boys make trouble playing with the cattle and playing “knock down ginger” with a cow replacing the door! They are known for their tradition of hair plaits, heavy iron necklaces, and fierce warriormanship, often depicted carrying a spear. The Maasai (Masai)’s unique hair is a clear living symbol of their tradition and culture. By wearing the plaits, it proves the individual is a true Morani sticking to their own traditions.

Nowadays, Maasai (Masai) boost their income by selling beads, masks , and carvings to tourists. In a curious way, tourism helps the Maasai (Masai) to retain and develop the Maasai (Masai) culture by transforming their believes into a business. The ceremonies you will see being performed as a visitor are traditional but they are staged for the tourist audience. It doesn’t destroy the Maasai (Masai) culture because the tourists don’t change the fundamentals of Maasai (Masai) living, only observe, whilst helping to rejuvenate centuries old customs.

The Maasai society is comprised of sixteen sections (known in Maasai as Iloshon): Ildamat, Ilpurko, Ilkeekonyokie, Iloitai, Ilkaputiei, Ilkankere, Isiria, Ilmoitanik, Iloodokilani, Iloitokitoki, Ilarusa, Ilmatatapato, Ilwuasinkishu, Kore, Parakuyu, and Ilkisonko, also known as Isikirari (Tanzania’s Maasai). There was also once Iltorobo section but was assimilated by other sections. A majority of the Maasai population lives in Kenya. Sections such as Isikirari, Parakuyu, Kore and Ilarusa lives in Tanganyika.

Homestead and labor

The Maasai live in Kraals arranged in a circular fashion. The fence around the kraal is made of acacia thorns, which prevent lions from attacking the cattle. It is a man’s responsibility to fence the kraal. While women construct the houses. Traditionally, kraals are shared by an extended family. However, due to the new land management system in the Maasai region, it is not uncommon to see a kraal occupied by a single family.

The Inkajijik (maasai word for a house) are loaf-shaped and made of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and cow’s urine. Women are responsible for making the houses as well as supplying water, collecting firewood, milking cattle and cooking for the family. Warriors are in charge security while boys are responsible for herding livestock. During the drought season, both warriors and boys assume the responsibility for herding livestock. The elders are directors and advisors for day-to-day activities. Every morning before livestock leave to graze, an elder who is the head of the inkang sits on his chair and announces the schedule for everyone to follow.

The Maasai are a semi-nomadic people who lived under a communal land management system. The movement of livestock is based on seasonal rotation. Contrary to many claims made by outsiders, particularly the Hardinian school of thought, this communal land management system allows us to utilize resources in a sustainable manner. Each section manages its own territory. Under normal conditions, reserve pastures are fallowed and guarded by the warriors. However, if the dry season becomes especially harsh, sections boundaries are ignored and people graze animals throughout the land until the rainy season arrives. According to Maasai traditional land agreement, no one should be denied access to natural resources such as water and land.

Subsistence economy

Livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep are the primary source of income for the Maasai. Livestock serves as a social utility and plays an important role in the Maasai economy. Livestock are traded for other livestock, cash or livestock products such as milk and siege. Individual, families, and clans established close ties through giving or exchange of cattle. “Meishoo iyiook enkai inkishu o-nkera” - so goes a Maasai prayer. The English translation of this praye is: “May Creator give us cattle and children. Cattle and children are the most important aspect of the Maasai people.

Maasai economy with outsiders

The Maasai economy is increasingly dependent on the market economy. Livestock products are sold to other groups in Kenya for the purchase of beads, clothing and grains. Cows and goats are also sold for uniform and school fees for children. It is now common to see young Maasai men and women in major towns and cities of Kenya selling, not just goats and cows, but also beads, cell phones, chacoal, grain among other items. The entrepreneurial spirit is something new in our society.

It was not until the early 1980s with the Group Ranch project that we became much more entrenched in a market economy and, hence, more impoverished generally speaking.

Maasai diet

Traditionally, the Maasai rely on meat, milk and blood from cattle for protein and caloric needs. People drink blood on special occasions. It is given to a circumcised person (o/esipolioi), a woman who has given birth (entomononi) and the sick (oltamueyiai). Also, on a regular basis drunk elders, ilamerak, use the blood to alleviate intoxication and hangovers. Blood is very rich in protein and is good for the immune system. However, its use in the traditional diet is waning due to the reduction of livestock numbers.

More recently, the Maasai have grown dependent on food produced in other areas such as maize meal (unga wa mahindi), rice, potatoes, cabbage (known to the Maasai as goat leaves), etc. The Maasai who live near crop farmers have engaged in cultivation as their primary mode of subsistence. In these areas, plot sizes are generally not large enough to accommodate herds of animals; thus the Maasai are forced to farm. Our people traditionally frown upon this. Maasai believe that tilizing the land for crop farming is a crime against nature. Once you cultivate the land, it is no longer suitable for grazing.

Private ownership

The concept of private ownership was, until recently, a foreign concept to the Maasai. However, in the 1960s and 1980s, a program of commercializing livestock and land was forced on us initially by the British and later by the government of Kenya. Since then, our land has been subdivided into group and individual ranches. In other parts of Maasailand people subdivided their individual ranches into small plots, which are sold to private developers.

The new land management system of individual ranches has economically polarized our people; some Maasais, as well as outside wealthy individuals, have substantially increased their wealth at the expense of others. The largest loss of land, however, has been to national parks and reserves, in which the Maasai people are restricted from accessing critical water sources, pasture, and salt lick. Subdivision of Maasailand reduced land size for cattle herding, reduced the number of cows per household, and reduced food production. As a result, the Maasai society, which once was a proud and self-sufficient society, is now facing many social-economic and political challenges. The level of poverty among the Maasai people is beyond conceivable height. It is sad to see a society that had a long tradition of pride being a beggar for relief food because of imposed foreign concepts of development.

The future of the Maasai is uncertain at this point.

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