History and Culture of the Maasai People
WHERE DID THE MAASAI PEOPLE COME FROM?
Oral history tells us the Maasais’ ancestors came from North Africa. They migrated south along the Nile Valley about three hundred years ago, finally settling along the borders of Kenya and Tanzania to graze their cattle. In the 1800s, the territory of the Maasai tribe reached its greatest size. They occupied the large arid grasslands of the Rift Valley where many National Parks and Game Reserves are located today.
WHO ARE THE MAASAI PEOPLE?
The Maasai are a semi-nomadic group of proud people. There are about one million Maasai living in Kenya and Tanzania. In years past, they had the reputation of being a fierce warring tribe. Today, they are one of the most well-known, colorful African tribes that are famous for their incredibly unique culture, customs, and dress style. Also, their villages are close to these National Parks and Game Reserves which makes them one of East Africa’s most internationally famous tourist attractions.
WHAT ARE THE MAASAIS’ EVERYDAY LIVES LIKE?
For hundreds of years, the Maasai lived traditional ways, following the seasons in search of grass and water for their herds. For the Maasai, the more cattle a man owns, the richer he is. Their entire way of life revolves around taking care of their cows and goats. Their cattle are so important to them, they do not even need to count them, they know each one by sight. They trade their livestock or sell it for cash. With this cash, they buy milk, clothing, beads, and food. The hides of their cows are made into sandals, rope, clothing, and blankets.
WHAT IS A MAASAI’S BOYHOOD LIKE?
The Maasai culture is organized into age groups as they pass through each of life’s stages. Starting at age four or five, a boy is responsible for looking after the family’s young calves and goats. At about this same time, his lower incisor teeth are removed. At age seven, he will have his right earlobe pierced and it will gradually enlarge, dangling to his shoulders. As he grows a little older, he will be tattooed on his stomach and arms. Today, young boys go to school during the week instead of staying home to take care of the family’s cattle. Their parents help during the week and then the young boys can watch the cattle on the weekends. In school, Maasai children may take part in soccer, volleyball, and basketball, but at home, they play Tag or Lions and Warriors.
After childhood, around the ages of fourteen and sixteen, a boy goes through his first of four stages of his life. In all the following stages, he is guided by his elders on how to be a warrior, learn their laws, and their cultural responsibilities. His mother will remain close to him throughout his life. Each celebration has several features in common: head shaving, blessings, the slaughter of an animal, painting of his face and body, singing, dancing, and feasting.
The first ceremony is the Alamal Lengipaata during which he receives a new name in place of the name given to him at birth. Next, is the Enkipaata ceremony. During this time, he wanders across the plains for about four months led by a group of elders. After this, he will help build a special village called a manyatta of about thirty-forty houses. The next ceremony, the Enuratta, is the most important event in a young Maasai boy’s life as it signals his elevation from childhood to adulthood. It is the dream of every Maasai boy to become a man as soon as he can. Up until recently, the only way for a Maasai boy to achieve warrior status was to single-handedly kill a lion with his spear or bring a bull down by his horns.
HOW DOES THE MAASAI BECOME A WARRIOR?
After the Emuratta ceremony, he is now a junior moran, a warrior. He moves into the “manyatta” where he will live with his other age-mates. They will remain with each other for the rest of their lives. He must stay in black clothing for a period of four to eight months after the ceremony, letting his hair grow long and covering it with red earth. His first duty is to protect the community and to prove his courage and endurance through going on long expeditions. As a warrior, he develops his running, throwing skills, begins to learn how to take care of cattle, and plays at being a herdsman, until he is ready to pass to the next stage and return to his village.
HOW DOES A MAASAI BECOME AN ELDER?
About ten years later, when he is about thirty years old, the junior Maasai warrior graduates to becoming a junior elder, also called a senior warrior. This is the Eunoto ceremony. It is the most colorful of all. It lasts ten days or more with dancing and rituals. He can now settle down, acquire cattle, marry and start a family. Senior warriors are recognized by their long-braided hair and their ebony handled spears and are now in charge of security for their village.
WHAT IS THE FINAL LIFE-STAGE FOR A MAASAI WARRIOR?
There are two final initiation ceremonies. The first is the ceremony Orngesherr when he will become a junior elder. At this ceremony, his group is given a new name. The second ceremony is the Olkiteng Lorrbaa, which is a purification ceremony whereby all the elders’ past misdeeds are forgiven. This male group is the most powerful in their society. All decisions regarding the welfare of Maasailand are made by the elders. They are also known for their elegant storytelling filled with many proverbs and sayings to preserve the Maasais’ legends and lore.
It is important to note, many of these initiations and rituals have been eroding due to outside influences. The Maasai are being told to abandon their way of life and to embrace western ways of life.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF GIRLS AND WOMEN?
Until the age of seven, girls and boys are raised together. Girls do not have their own age-set like the boys. They help their mothers with cooking, cleaning, drawing water, milking, collecting wood for the cooking fire, and preparing breakfast of tea and porridge. Girls must face many obstacles to get an education such as walking great distances to the nearest school. Students must wear uniforms and many families cannot afford them, so boys are usually educated first.
At the age of fourteen, girls are initiated into adulthood through the Emorata ceremony. Among their most important activities at this age is building their inkajijik (house) and making beadwork. Maasai girls marry early with the Enkiama ceremony as it increases her family’s wealth when her family is given cattle and money for the marriage. Women are valued on how many children they have. And once they have given birth to four healthy children, they can become elders.
WHAT ARE SOME OTHER MAASAI CULTURAL ACTIVITIES?
The Maasai may be best known for their warrior “jumping” dance called adamu.
It is often performed for tourists. The young morani form a circle and one man enters and begins to jump. With his heels never touching the ground, his head and chin thrust out, his body is straight and rigid as the stick clamped in his right hand. He springs into the air as high as he can go. The more graceful and higher his jump, the more appealing he is to the eligible women who are watching and singing.
The Maasai generally don’t use musical instruments when they sing or dance. Their music is vocal, except for a large horn used for certain songs. Women love to sing as they work milking, plastering roofs or composing songs to praise a warrior.
And the Maasai love to tell stories. After the men return to camp from a day’s herding, they tell of their adventures and there is singing and dancing. Young boys play a dangerous game for fun by placing a rock on sleeping rhinoceros! The last child to place a rock on it before he wakes up is the winner. Girls play a safer game like “jacks” using a stone instead of a ball. They also like to play “Sheep and Goats” which is like playing Cowboys and Indians.
HOW ARE THE MAASAI’S HOUSES BUILT?
If you ever enter a Maasai enkaji, you would be best to duck your head. Their traditional huts are loaf-shaped and very small with only one or two rooms. The ceilings are low making it hard for these tall people to stand up. The women build the huts. The framework is formed with timber poles fixed in the ground with a lattice of smaller branches interwoven around the poles. Then a combination of cow dung and urine is applied, which is strong as cement, making the hut waterproof. Sticks and grass are plastered around this framework.
Within this space, the family cooks eats and sleeps on beds of woven branches cushioned with dry grasses and animal skins. It is here they socialize too. Nowadays, tin roofs and other more modern materials are gradually changing these simple dwellings. A Maasai village consists of eight to fifteen inkajijiks arranged in a circle called an enkang. Around the enkang is a wall of thorn-tree branches built by the men. This wall prevents wild animals from getting inside the cow pen where their cattle are sleeping. Some members of the Maasai tribes have moved out of their homeland and into urban areas. A good many, however, have remained and are keeping this way of their culture.
WHAT FOODS DO THE MAASAI PEOPLE EAT?
Generally, the Maasai eat two meals a day, one in the morning, and one at night. Breakfast is chai tea with hot milk. Most of their food needs are met by their cattle. Raw milk is their staple and meat and blood from bulls are used on special occasions. By mixing the blood with milk, they make a protein-rich custard. To prepare their food they use their cattle too. The ribs are used as stirring sticks and as spoons and spatulas. The horns are used as butter dishes and the larger horns as drinking cups. More recently, the Maasai have started farming and growing maize, rice, potatoes, and cabbage, as they no longer have enough land to raise the cattle needed to feed their families.
WHAT DO THE MAASAI PEOPLE WEAR?
In the past, the Maasai wore animal skins. In the 60s, they started wearing cotton cloth.
Women and men prefer a bright red cloth called a shuka. It is worn around their shoulders as a cape, or around their waist as a skirt. Most Maasai wear this bright red color because it symbolizes their culture, and they believe it scares lions away. Until recently, men and women wore sandals made from cowhide, but now they wear sandals and shoes usually made from tire strips or plastic.
Pictures of Maasai Men Wearing Their Shukas
Two days before a boy is circumcised, he shaves his head. Afterward, his hair is allowed to grow long because now he is a warrior, the only members of the Maasai community allowed to wear long hair. He dresses his hair by weaving it into thinly braided strands using animal fat then smears it with ochre, a red clay. Women and children keep their heads shaved.
Elaborate, beautiful beaded jewelry is made and worn by the women. Originally their beads were made from clay, shells, ivory or bone but now they use brightly colored glass beads. Women and girls wear bib-like necklaces and headbands made from the beads. All the Maasai dangle large metal hoops from their pierced, stretched earlobes.
WHAT ARE THE BELIEFS OF THE MAASAI?
The Maasai’s belief is in one god, Ngai, who created the world and three groups of people. The third group were the Maasai, to whom God gave the noble gift of raising cattle. They believed the cattle came to earth sliding down a long rope linking heaven and earth. Today, most of the Maasai are Christians and the minority are Muslims. When a Maasai dies, their body is left out for scavengers. To bury someone is believed to dishonor the earth.
WHAT HOLIDAYS DO THE MAASAI CELEBRATE?
There are no traditional holidays for the Maasai because they celebrate each of their “life-stages” with colorful festivities. But as the Maasai adapt to more modern lifestyles, they join in state celebrations such as Labor Day, and Independence Day.
WHAT LANGUAGE DO THE MAASAI SPEAK?
Maa, is the official language of the Maasai. The word Maasai itself means, “people who speak Maa”. This is an ancient language passed down from when their ancestors live by the Nile River in North Africa. It is spoken, but not written down because of their strong oral storytelling culture. Along with this ancestral language, they also speak English and Swahili.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THE MAASAI FACE TODAY?
Every day having to maintain and preserve their time-honored pastoral lifestyle is becoming more and more difficult. Droughts are severer, cattle diseases are prevalent, and they are being pushed and squeezed into smaller and smaller areas designated as National Parks and Wildlife Reserves for tourists. Their grazing land is shrinking, and so are their herds. This has forced many Maasai to come to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and other cities looking for jobs.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE FOR THE MAASAI?
Change is not easy, but the Maasai tribes are meeting these challenges head-on and keeping their culture alive. They are doing this by turning to farming. They are planting gardens of maize, beans, rice, and other crops. They are also selling their milk products in the cities. Many Maasai are making their living in the tourist industry too, becoming entrepreneurs. Now, the Maasai supplement their income by selling their beads, masks and even wood carvings to tourists. In a curious way, selling to tourists helps them retain their culture by turning their culture into a business. Many tribes are also welcoming visitors to their village to experience their traditions and lifestyle in return for a fee. They are becoming guides for safaris and helping environmentalists learn how to produce food in the desert.
Yet, despite all these changes, many Maasai still come home to wear their shuka and sandals and carry their orinka in their hands. They are proud of their beautiful, ageless traditions they will continue far into the future.