Maasai Tribe

Maasai people are semi-nomadic people located primarily in Kenya and Northern Tanzania. We are considered to be part of the Nilotic family of African tribes.

According to oral history the Masai people originated in the Nile Valley in Northern Africa and migrated south around the 15th century with their cattle. It is not well known why they moved but given that we are pastoral tribe , i believe it was simply out of need for better grazing land. During the expansion, the our fathers found such land and satisfied their desire for more cattle.  They quickly spread south through the Rift Valley where the fertile grasslands were ideal for cattle reaching the present home in Kenya and Tanzania.

Over the years we have remained faithful to our ancestry and traditional way of life, making us the strong symbol of East African culture.

Our Way of Life

Our lives revolves around our livestock. We believe that God, Enkai, created cattles only for us and we own all the cattle on earth. This has led us to a nomadic way of life following patterns of rainfall to different locations in search of food and water for livestock's. Traditionally, all of the needs were met by the cattle; for meat,blood.They were also sold to purchase grain for food and medicine.

Animals were slaughtered for ceremonies, and the skin were used for clothing, shoes and bedding .Cow dung is also used for building houses.

We have managed to retain many of the traditional ways, however, this becomes more challenging every year. The ability to graze their cattle over large areas has diminished considerably over recent years due to increased urbanization and the declaration of the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti Game Reserves, which were former Maasai grazing land.The climate change has also affected rainfall seasons hence its been very hard to move around as most the areas stays dry throughout the year.

We have now adapted a more sedentary lifestyle that includes growing and buying cultivated food. Reducing the amount of livestock's owned.

Because of drought a lot of cows have died hence families became poor hence they have had to find means of survival.This means seeking employment in order to earn money for their families. Most parents have also taken their children to school.

Traditions

There are numerous traditions and ceremonies performed by Maasai men. Perhaps best known is the ‘warrior’ jumping dance where young Maasai moran (youth) leap into the air from a standing position in order to demonstrate strength and agility.

Officially this practice has stopped although there is evidence that it continues in the more remote areas.

Another tradition is killing of a lion. This is where a group of warriors would go into the bush looking for a lion and kill one. This is one of the stages to show strength and ability to defend the community.They will kill using their spears . The first warrior to throw the spear is the man who killed the lion. He will walk away with the tail of the lion. They will then come home celebrating singing traditional songs that praises their warrior-ship. This is not an easy process as its take so much time and also there is no an exact location of the lion. Currently this tradition is stopping due to laws initiated by the government.

Clothing

As pastorals we never had to hunt wild animals, we have always been an extravagantly colored and beautifully adorned tribe. As tribesmen we would dye our clothing red to distinguish from other tribes who usually wore white, and so that if a man was injured in battle the blood would not show on his clothes and the enemy would not realize his weakened state.

Today blue, black and checkered cloths are also worn. Beadwork done by the women defines our identity and position in society through body ornaments and painting. Tribesmen of all ages including tiny babies will wear jewellery.

Language

We speak the Maasai language, an Eastern Nilotic.In areas Maasai also speak Swahili, the language of East Africa.