The Maasai

Maasai - A traditional tribe undergoing change

History
The Maasai are traditional, seminomadic pastoralists in East Africa.
In the 1550’s they moved down along the Nile from Sudan and Egypt and brought with them knowledge on agriculture and cattle breeding. This migrational wave experienced a peak during the 18th century. During these times, the Maasai were feared as “wild barbarians” and their territories were avoided by the Arabs, the mountain people, missionaries and by European commercial travellers or if they had to pass a road tax in the form of useful trading goods was paid to the Maasai. At the end of the 19th century drought, cattle plague epidemics, cholera epidemics and smallpox epidemics broke out among the Maasai strongly weakening them. Additionally, there were civil wars with the mountain people who were considerably more dominant. Due to these wars they lost in a short time a lot of land, cattle and their prosperity.
In the 1930’s when the British took control of Tanganyika they set up the first hunting districts on the Maasai land as well as national parks in the 50’s. The Maasai thereby lost many tracts of land and they were either expelled from their own land or, were forcibly relocated to special reserves. There were even times in which the Maasai were not allowed to use public means of transportation if they were wearing their traditional Shouka clothing (cape). They were discriminated for decades and were unable to perform any appreciable defence.
During the 60s, where an average of 26 heads of cattle and goats per Maasai were counted, just 5 animals per head are left today. Although there are a few Maasai today who occupy positions of authority, these positions are not seen as important key roles. Their influence is therefore limited and the future continuity of the Maasai culture doesn’t seem too hopeful in the long term.
The beginning of the 2nd millennium saw the Maasai carry out a change in lifestyle from a nomadic living into an established life. They live in single, regional tribes dispersed in Kenya and in northern Tanzania. In Tanzania one finds them mainly in the area around Arusha as well as in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and in the Serengeti. Today it is estimated that about 140,000 Massai live in Tanzania. A large part of them already live as seminomads in a kraal (enk-ang or boma) whose location changes only every few years depending on the fertility of the landscape. On the one hand, they try to maintain their traditions but also, on the other hand, try to take part at the same time in the modern lifestyle. More and more Maasai send at least one of their children to school, enabling them to lead a "better" life later. During the school hours, the young Maasai wears jeans, sneakers and a T-shirt and announces himor herself to the family elder on a mobile phone.

Language

The Maasai speak the so-called Maa language which belongs to the family of Nilotic languages which, as the name indicates, originate from the Nile valley in Sudan. However, many "modern" Maasai have also appropriated the Swahili spoken in Tanzania.

Boma (Hut)

The huts (engaji) of the Maasai are constructed from dried cow's dung, loam soil and hundreds of wooden branches. In the huts, in which small animals also sleep, there constantly burns a small fire which, during the day serves for the cooking and which, in the evening, keeps away mosquitoes and provides warmth. Except for a small hole in the sleeping area, no daylight enters the hut.

There are no chairs, tables or wall decoration and only several cattle skins serve as a place to sleep. To protect the people and animals against predators and enemies during the night, the herds are brought in the evening inside an enclosed area of the kraal (settlement) whose entrance is then sealed with thorn bushes.
The same thorn bushes are used to fence in the whole kraal. During the day these entrances are kept opened.

Clothing


Traditionally dressed Maasai are to be seen almost everywhere along street pavements and at markets. The women wear a chequered, mostly red and blue cape (shouka) and long, silver or home-made beaded earrings (imbenyetta) in the expanded earlobes of their smoothly shaved heads. The neck is adorned with heavy necklaces (ilturesh) and around the ankles and wrists they wear brightly coloured beaded bangles and bracelets (emarinai). Quite often the women and girls also don a headdress which consists of silver ornaments and coloured beads.
The men also wear a traditional shouka in different colours and chequered versions.
In addition to this outfit, they carry a long wooden staff (eng’udi) or a small sword (olalem). A few men wear earrings however, the majority can be seen wearing widebeaded bracelets (engomesha).
Shoes for men and women are produced from the rubber of an old truck tyre. Along Arusha’s side streets one can recognise some of these ‘shoe factories’ by the hundreds of old tyres stacked together. These sandals (raiyo) are the classical footwear of the Maasai.

Beliefs & Religion

Tanzanian Maasai are very tradition-conscious and proud people. Although most of them are Christians, they still believe in several gods and their main God is Engai who lives at the summit of the mountain Ol Doinyo Lengai. They believe that Engai assigned to them the power to rule over all the cattle. The cattle are playing an important roll in the Maasais life ! They make use of all animal parts.
What is not edible is processed into tools (e.g., bones) or is put to other uses.
The fur of the animals can be used, for example, as clothes, water containers or as bedding.

Food

Maasai have always had a close relationship with their animals. Cattle and goats play an important role not only in religion but also in food, in medicine and in social relations. Even nowadays the wealth of a Maasai is still measured in the number of cattle he holds. They revere cattle and are convinced that, if they live off them, they will be strengthened. By consuming the cattle products they are therefore living in harmony with their God. For decades the earlier Maasai have lived almost only on animal products like milk, meat and blood. Provided that they had enough in stock, the food was complemented with maize and beans.
Even today blood and milk are still mixed to a liquid rich in protein (saroi) and is kept in calabashes (a vessel made from the fruit of the gourd). Calabashes (engoti) serve theMaasai as safekeeping vessels for all possible liquids and dry materials. Only on special occasions is grilled meat served. It was always a particularity that the Moran warriors were not allowed to eat meat which had already been seen before by women or girls. Therefore, the meals of the warriors were always taken apart, even today. Times have changed in many regions and, meanwhile, even grilled meat is to be found on the Maasai menu. Women also prepare rice, maize or other kinds of vegetables in different variations. Today round, flat dough-cake bread and eggs also belong to the food plan of many families. These adaptations though are not lived by all Maasai tribes.

Duties & Responsibilities

Maasai life constantly revolves around the recurring seasonal cycles which primarily influence the search for food for the cattle in the dry and rainy seasons.
The male Maasai are responsible from the age of 8 years for herding the goats and sheep and daily cover long distances in the search for water and ideal grazing pastures for the animals. When they are a little older, their fathers extend their responsibility by giving them new tasks e.g. herding the cattle. Nowadays, besides the stockbreeding which is steeped in tradition, the men also earn their income as night watchmen, as security staff (askari), as doormen in souvenir stores or as shop assistants selling typical Maasai products at the markets.
The life of the women differs dramatically from that of the men. After marriage, they are responsible for the raising of the children and for preparing the girls already at an early age for the life of a wife – this can be anytime after the circumcision (between the ages of 15-18 years). The young girls help the mothers and grandmothers in all tasks. Together, the women collect firewood, carry water on their heads long distances and, grow the basic food in small gardens. Also, the construction of the huts (engaji) from branches, loam and dried cow’s dung is traditionally the work of the women. At the present time they also make pearl jewellery and sell it directly at the markets or through wholesalers. One can say that the Massai women have, by far, a harder working lifestyle than the men. Also, the 60 to 80- year-old men who have earned themselves the title "Senior elders" are allowed to enter retirement whereby, the equally old women continue to slave on.
© 2009 by Tom Kunkler / supported by Kimani Mollel
Translated from German into English by Béryl Corman

for further information:

http://www.olpopongi-maasai.com/typo3/fileadmin/templates/pdf/massai_history_uk.pdf

http://www.olpopongi-maasai.com/typo3/

http://www.spiegel.de/reise/fernweh/0,1518,747587,00.html