Maasai

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Maasai


image_caption =
population = 883,000
region1 = flagcountry|Kenya spaces|8(estimates vary)
pop1 = 377,089 or 453,000
ref1 = lower| lower|0.95em|
region2 = flagcountry|Tanzania (northern)
pop2 = 430,000
ref3 = lower|
languages = Maa (ɔl Maa)
religions = Monotheism
including Christianity
related = SamburuThe Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa, they are among the most well-known African ethnic groups internationally. They speak Maa, a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer, and are also educated in the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania: Swahili and English. The Maasai population has been variously estimated as 377,089 from the 1989 Census [http://kenya.rcbowen.com/people/population.html Kenya - Population Distribution] rcbowen.com, '1989 Census, ... Kenya Factbook, 15th Edition, 1997-1998. Kul Bhushan, Newspread International'] or as 453,000 language speakers in Kenya in 1994 [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mas Ethnologue report for language code:mas] ethnologue.com, '453,000 in Kenya (1994 I. Larsen BTL) ... 430,000 in Tanzania (1993)', Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International] and 430,000 in Tanzania in 1993 with a total estimated as "approaching 900,000" [http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/ Maasai - Introduction] Jens Fincke, 2000-2003] Estimates of the respective Maasai populations in both countries are complicated by the remote locations of many villages, and their semi-nomadic nature.

Although the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programs to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, the people have continued their age-old customs. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 122. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6] Recently, Oxfam has claimed that the lifestyle of the Maasai should be embraced as a response to climate change because of their ability to farm in deserts and scrublands. [cite web | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7568695.stm | title = Maasai 'can fight climate change' | date = 18 August 2008]

History

According to their own oral history, the Maasai originated from the lower Nile valley north of Lake Turkana (North-West Kenya) and began migrating south around the fifteenth century, arriving in a long trunk of land stretching from northern Kenya to central Tanzania between the seventeenth and late eighteenth century. Other ethnic groups were forcibly displaced as they settled there. [http://www.maasaieducation.org/maasai-culture/maasai-history.htm] The Maasai territory reached its largest size in the mid-nineteenth century, and covered almost all of the Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Mount Marsabit in the north to Dodoma in the south. ["Northern Tanzania with Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar" by Phillip Briggs 2006 page 200 ISBN -10: 1 84162 146 3 ] At this time the Maasai, as well as the larger group they were part of, raided cattle as far east as the Tanga coast in Tanzania. Raiders used spears and shields, but were most feared for throwing clubs (orinka) which could be accurately thrown from up to 70 paces (appx. 100 meters). In 1852 there was a report of a concentration of 800 Maasai warriors on the move in Kenya. In 1857, after having depopulated the “Wakuafi wilderness” in southeastern Kenya, Maasai warriors threatened Mombasa on the coast of Kenya. [http://books.google.com/books?id=PQJjYC74tu8C&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=mombasa+maasai+1855&source=web&ots=1qDbq0WFrH&sig=-fwB9fWjkEt4scMNLIpnyIpTBMo] ["Sources and Methods in African History: Spoken, Written, Unearthed" by Toyin Falola, Christian Jennings (2003), page 18 2. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 1580461344] Because of this migration, the Maasai are the southernmost Nilotic speakers. The period of expansion was followed by the Maasai "Emutai" of 1883-1902. This period was marked by epidemics of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, rinderpest, and smallpox. The estimate first put forward by a German lieutenant in what was then northwest Tanganyika, was that 90 per cent of cattle and half of wild animals perished from rinderpest. German doctors in the same area claimed that “every second” African had a pock-marked face as the result of smallpox. This period coincided with drought. Rains failed completely in 1897 and 1898. [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ecology/news/news.asp?id=192] The Austrian explorer Oscar Baumann travelled in Maasai lands in 1891-1893, and described the old Maasai settlement in the Ngorongoro Crater in the 1894 book "Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle" ("Through the lands of the Maasai to the source of the Nile"): "There were women wasted to skeletons from whose eyes the madness of starvation glared ... warriors scarcely able to crawl on all fours, and apathetic, languishing elders. Swarms of vultures followed them from high, awaiting their certain victims." By one estimate two-thirds of the Maasai died during this period. [http://www.ntz.info/gen/n00526.html] Starting with a 1904 treaty, [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,699336,00.html] and followed by another in 1911, Maasai lands in Kenya were reduced by 60 percent when the British evicted them to make room for settler ranches, subsequently confining them to present-day Kajiado and Narok districts. [http://www.kitumusote.org/history] Maasai in Tanzania were displaced from the fertile lands between Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro, and most of the fertile highlands near Ngorongoro in the 1940s. ["The Myth of Wild Africa: Conservation Without Illusion". Jonathan S. Adams, Thomas O. McShane. 1996. University of California Press. page = 44. ISBN 0520206711] [http://books.google.com/books?id=GWtWDN0BWt0C&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=maasai+ears&source=web&ots=7u768brgsE&sig=q8PlaGC5C_ot35-PeLPJYlFDhxQ#PPA44,M1] More land was taken to create wildlife reserves and national parks: Amboseli, Nairobi National Park, Masai Mara, Samburu, Lake Nakuru, and Tsavo in Kenya; Manyara, Ngorongoro, Tarangire [http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/tarangire.htm] and Serengeti in Tanzania. Maasai are pastoralist and have resisted the urging of the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. They have demanded grazing rights to many of the national parks in both countries. The Maasai stood against slavery and lived alongside most wild animals with an aversion to eating game and birds. Maasai land now has East Africa's finest game areas. Maasai society never condoned traffic of human beings, and outsiders looking for people to enslave avoided the Maasai. ["Africa's Great Rift Valley". Nigel Pavitt. 2001. Page 122. Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York ISBN 0-8109-0602-3] Essentially there are twelve geographic sectors of the tribe, each one having its own customs, appearance, leadership and dialects. These subdivisions are known as the Keekonyokie, Damat, Purko, Wuasinkishu, Siria, Laitayiok, Loitai, Kisonko, Matapato, Dalalekutuk, Loodokolani and Kaputiei. [http://www.laleyio.com/facts.html]

Culture

Maasai's society is strongly patriarchal in nature with elder men, sometimes joined by retired elders, deciding most major matters for each Maasai group. A full body of oral law covers many aspects of behaviour. Formal execution is unknown, and normally payment in cattle will settle matters. An out of court process called 'amitu', 'to make peace', or 'arop', which involves a substantial apology, is also practiced. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Pages 53, 54. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6]

The Maasai are monotheistic, and their God is named "Enkai" or "Engai". Engai is a single deity with a dual nature: Engai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Engai Nanyokie (Red God) is vengeful. [ [http://www.institut.veolia.org/en/cahiers/water-symbolism/water-myths/africa-water.aspx African water symbolism and its consequences ] ] The "Mountain of God", Ol Doinyo Lengai, is located in northernmost Tanzania. The central human figure in the Maasai religious system is the laibon who may be involved in: shamanistic healing, divination and prophecy, insuring success in war or adequate rainfall. Whatever power an individual laibon had was a function of personality rather than position. [http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7860] Many Maasai have become Christian, and to a lesser extent, Muslim.

A high infant mortality rate among the Maasai has led to babies not truly being recognized until they reach an age of 3 moons. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 160. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6] For Maasai living a traditional life, the end of life is virtually without ceremony, and the dead are left out for scavengers. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 103. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6] Burial has in the past been reserved for great chiefs, since it is believed to be harmful to the soil. [The Lions of Tsavo: Exploring the Legacy of Africa's Notorious Man-eaters By Bruce D. Patterson. 2004. McGraw-Hill Professional. Page 93. ISBN 0071363335]

Traditional Maasai lifestyle centers around their cattle which constitutes the primary source of food. The measure of a man's wealth is in terms of cattle and children. A herd of 50 cattle is respectable, and the more children the better. A man who has plenty of one but not the other is considered to be poor. ["Northern Tanzania with Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar" by Phillip Briggs (2006), page 200. ISBN -10: 1 84162 146 3] A Maasai myth relates that God gave them all the cattle on earth, leading to the belief that rustling cattle from other tribes is a matter of taking back what is rightfully theirs, a practice that has become much less common. ["Africa's Great Rift Valley". Nigel Pavitt. 2001. pages 138. Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York ISBN 0-8109-0602-3]

helter

As a historically nomadic and then semi-nomadic people, the Maasai have traditionally relied on local, readily available materials and indigenous technology to construct their housing. The traditional Maasai house was in the first instance designed for people on the move and was thus very impermanent in nature. The "Inkajijik" (houses) are either loaf-shaped or circular, and are constructed by women. The structural framework is formed of timber poles fixed directly into the ground and interwoven with a lattice of smaller branches, which is then plastered with a mix of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and urine, and ash. The enkaji is small, measuring about 3m x 5m and standing only 1.5m high. Within this space the family cooks, eats, sleeps, socializes and stores food, fuel and other household possessions. Small livestock are also often accommodated within the enkaji. [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Th7Q1mTUG-oJ:www.thinkcycle.org/tc-filesystem/download/development_by_design_2001/sustainable_improvement_of_traditional_maasai_housing_through_participatory_technology_development/Maasai%2520Housing.pdf+maasai+house&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us] [http://www.maasai-association.org/maasai.html] Villages are enclosed in a circular fence (Enkang) built by the men, usually of thorned acacia. At night all cows, goats and sheep are placed in an enclosure in the center, safe from wild animals.

ocial organization

The central unit of Maasai society is the age-set. Although young boys are sent out with the calves and lambs as soon as they can toddle, childhood for boys is mostly playtime. Girls are responsible for chores such as cooking and milking. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Pages 55, 94. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6] Every 15 years or so, a new and individually named generation of Morans or Il-murran (warriors) will be initiated. This involves most boys between 12 and 25, who have reached puberty and are not part of the previous age-set. One rite of passage from boyhood to the status of junior warrior is a painful circumcision ceremony, which is performed without anaesthetic. The Maa word for circumcision is emorata. [ [http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/Maa%20Lexicon/index-english/main.htm English - Maa ] ] The boy must endure the operation in silence. Expressions of pain bring dishonor, albeit temporarily. The healing process will take 3-4 months, and boys must remain in black cloths for a period of 4-8 months. [ [http://www.maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html Maasai Association ] ]

During this period, the newly circumcised young men will live in a "manyatta", a "village" built by their mothers. The manyatta has no encircling barricade for protection, emphasizing the warrior role of protecting the community. No inner krall is built, since warriors neither own cattle or undertake stock duties. Further rites of passage are required before achieving the status of senior warrior, culminating in the eunoto ceremony, the "coming of age". ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 83, 100-103. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6]

When a new generation of warriors is initiated, the existing ilmoran will graduate to become junior elders, who are responsible for political decisions until they in turn become senior elders. ["Northern Tanzania - The Bradt Safari Guide" by Phillip Briggs (2006). British Library. ISBN-10:1 84162 146 3] [ [http://maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html Maasai Association ] ]

The warriors are in charge of society's security, and spend most of their time now on walkabouts throughout Maasai lands, beyond the confines of their sectional boundaries. They are also much more involved in cattle trading than they used to be, developing and improving basic stock through trades and bartering rather than stealing as in the past. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 88. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6] Boys are responsible for herding small livestock. During the drought season, both warriors and boys assume responsibility for herding livestock. Elders are directors and advisors for day-to-day activities. Women are responsible for making the houses as well as supplying water, collecting firewood, milking cattle and cooking for the family. [ [http://maasai-association.org/maasai.html Maasai People, Kenya ] ]

One myth about the Maasai is that each young man is supposed to kill a lion before they are circumcised. Although lion hunting was an activity of the past, and lion hunting has been banned in East Africa, lions are still hunted when they maul Maasai livestock, [ [http://www.maasai-association.org/lion.html Maasai Association ] ] and young warriors who engage in traditional lion killing do not face significant consequences. [ [http://www.lionconservation.org/LionKillinginAmboseliregion2000-May2006.pdf Lion Killing in the Amboseli -Tsavo Ecosystem, 2001-2006, and its Implications for Kenya’s Lion Population] ] Increasing concern regarding lion populations has given rise to at least one program which promotes accepting compensation when a lion kills livestock, rather than hunting and killing the predator. [ [http://bigcatrescue.blogspot.com/2007/07/maasai-tribesmen-help-lions-rather-than.html Field Reports: Maasai tribesmen help lions rather than kill them ] ] Nevertheless, killing a lion gives one great value and celebrity status in the community.

Young women also undergo excision ("female circumcision" or emorata) as part of an elaborate rite of passage ritual in which they are given instructions and advice pertaining to their new role, as they are then said to have come of age and become women, ready for marriage. In Kenya female circumcision is practiced by 38% of the population. The most common form is clitorectomy. [ [http://english.okprosjekt.no/artikkel.asp?AId=46&Back=1&MId1=34 OK Prosjekt ] ] These circumcisions are usually performed by an invited 'practitioner' who is often not Maasai, usually from a Dorobo group. The knives and blades which make the cut are fashioned by blacksmiths, il-kunono, who are avoided by the Maasai because they make weapons of death (knives, short swords (ol alem), spears, etc). Similar to the young men, women who will be circumcised women wear dark clothing, paint their faces with markings, and then cover their faces on completion of the ceremony. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Pages 168-173. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6]

To others the practice of female circumcision is known as female genital cutting, and draws a great deal of criticism from both abroad and many women who have undergone it, and in some cases has recently been replaced by a "cutting with words" ceremony involving singing and dancing in place of the mutilation. However, the practice remains deeply ingrained and valued by the culture, as well as being held as necessary, since Maasai men typically reject any woman who has not undergone it as either not marriageable or worthy of a much-reduced bride price. [ [http://www.irinnews.org/IndepthMain.aspx?IndepthId=15&ReportId=62462 Razor's Edge - The Controversy of Female Genital Mutilation] IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs March 2005, accessed May 14, 2007] FGC is illegal in both Kenya and Tanzania. [ [http://www.afrol.com/News2001/tan007_fgm.htm tan007 Tanzania fails to enforce law against female mutilation ] ] [ [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001524.html The Abolition of Female Genital Mutilation — Infoplease.com ] ]

Married women who become pregnant are excused from all heavy work such as milking and gathering firewood. Sexual relations are also banned. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Pages 169. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6] The Maasai are polygamous by necessity: a long standing and practical adaptation to high infant and warrior mortality rates. Polyandry is also practiced. A woman marries not just her husband, but the entire age group. Men are expected to give up their bed to a visiting age-mate guest. The woman decides strictly on her own if she will join the visiting male. Any child which may result is the husband's child and his descendant in the patrilineal order of Maasai society. "Kitala", a kind of divorce or refuge, is possible in the house of a wife's father, usually for gross mistreatment of the wife. Repayment of the bride price, custody of children, etc, are mutually agreed upon. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 86-87. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6]

Music and dance

Maasai music traditionally consists of rhythms provided by a chorus of vocalists singing harmonies while a song leader, or olaranyani, sings the melody. The olaranyani is usually the singer who can best sing that song, although several individuals may lead a song. The olaranyani begins by singing a line or title (namba) of a song. The group will respond with one unanimous call in acknowledgment, and the olaranyani will sing a verse over the group's rhythmic throat singing. Each song has its specific namba structure based on call-and-response. Common rhythms are variations of 5/4, 6/4 and 3/4 time signatures. Lyrics follow a typical theme and are often repeated verbatim over time. Neck movements accompany singing. When breathing out the head is leaned forward. The head is tilted back for an inward breath. Overall the effect is one of polyphonic syncopation. [ [http://www.ilmurran.com/ ilMurran ] ] [ [ http://www.laleyio.com/songstructure.html] ] [ [http://www.laleyio.com/music.html Maasai Music ] ]

Women chant lullabies, Huming songs, and songs praising their sons. Nambas, the call-and-response pattern, repetition of nonsense phrases, monophonic melodies [ [http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/texth/Homophonic.html Homophonic ] ] [ [http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/misc/homophony.html What is monophony, polyphony, homophony, monody etc.? ] ] repeated phrases following each verse being sung on a descending scale, and singers responding to their own verses are characteristic of singing by females. [The Last of the Maasai. Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Pages 43, 100. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6] [ [http://www.laleyio.com/songstructure.html Song Structure of Maasai Music ] ]

One exception to the vocal nature of Maasia music is the use of the horn of the Greater Kudu to summon morans for the Eunoto ceremony. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 12. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6]

Both singing and dancing sometimes occur around manyattas, and involve flirting. Young men will form a line and chant rhythmically, “Oooooh-yah”, with a growl and stacatto cough along with the thrust and withdrawal of their lower bodies. Girls stand in front of the men and make the same pelvis lunges while singing a high dying fall of “Oiiiyo..yo” in counterpoint to the men. Although bodies come in close proximity, they do not touch. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 85. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6]

Eunoto, the coming of age ceremony of the warrior, can involve ten or more days of singing, dancing and ritual. The warriors of the Il-Oodokilani perform a kind of march-past as well as the often photographed adumu, sometimes referred as “the jumping dance” by non-Maasai.

The girlfriends of the moran (intoyie) parade themselves in their most spectacular costumes as part of the eunoto. The mothers of the moran sing and dance in tribute to the courage and daring of their sons. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Pages 43-45, 100, 107. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6]

Contemporary Hip Hop musicians X Plastaz from northern Tanzania are incorporating traditional Maasai rhythms, beats and chants into their music.

Influence of the modern world

Government policies such as the preservation of parks and reserves, with the exclusion of the Maasai, along with increasing populations, etc, have made the traditional Maasai way of life increasingly difficult to maintain.

With increasing poverty and migration, the traditional authority of Maasai elders appears to be lessening. [ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:octnW8R5P5QJ:www.colorado.edu/IBS/pubs/pac/pac2003-0001.pdf+maasai+ears&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=39&gl=us 403 Forbidden ] ]

Over the years, many projects have begun to help Maasai tribal leaders find ways to preserve their traditions while also balancing the education needs of their children for the modern world.The emerging forms of employment among the Maasai people include farming, business (selling of traditional medicine,running of restaurants/shops, buying and selling of minerals, selling milk and milk products by women, embroideries), and wage employment (as security guards/ watchmen, waiters, tourist guides), and others who are engaged in the public and private sectors. [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Eg8ZzMS6WE8J:www.ilo.org/dyn/infoecon/docs/790/F2096573592/Pastoralists.pdf+maasai+diet+farm+urban&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=35&gl=us]

Many Maasai have moved away from the nomadic life to responsible positions in commerce and government. [http://www.mashada.com/forums/23988-post19.html] Yet despite the sophisticated urban lifestyle they may lead, many will happily head homewards dressed in designer clothes, only to emerge from the traditional family homestead wearing a shuka (colourful piece of cloth), cow hide sandals and carrying a wooden club (o-rinka) - at ease with themselves and the world. [ [http://www.travelafricamag.com/content/view/230/56/ Kenya: The Maasi - Travel Africa Magazine ] ]

Body modification

The piercing and stretching of earlobes is common among the Maasai. Various materials have been used to both pierce and stretch the lobes, including thorns for piercing, twigs, bundles of twigs, stones, the cross section of elephant tusks and empty film canisters. Fewer and fewer Maasai, particularly boys, follow this custom. ["The Myth of Wild Africa: Conservation Without Illusion". Jonathan S. Adams, Thomas O. McShane. 1996. University of California Press. page = 42. ISBN 0520206711] [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=GWtWDN0BWt0C&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=maasai+ears&source=web&ots=7u768brgsE&sig=q8PlaGC5C_ot35-PeLPJYlFDhxQ The Myth of Wild Africa] , Google Books.] Women wear various forms of beaded ornaments in both the ear lobe, and smaller piercings at the top of the ear. ["Culture and Customs of Kenya". Neal Sobania. 2003. Greenwood Press. page 91. ISBN 0313314861] [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=gfUbHXT2dloC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=maasai+ears&source=web&ots=2bhvmh_ZDO&sig=qG0fvuy6s0de2sWkSvtgICzz2fA Culture and Customs of Kenya] , Google Books.] The removal of deciduous canine tooth buds in early childhood is a practice that has been documented in the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. There exists a strong belief among the Maasai that diarrhoea, vomiting and other febrile illnesses of early childhood are caused by the gingival swelling over the canine region, and which is thought to contain 'worms' or 'nylon' teeth. This belief and practice is not unique to the Maasai. In rural Kenya a group of 95 children aged between six months and two years were examined in 1991/92. 87% were found to have undergone the removal of one or more deciduous canine tooth buds. In an older age group (3-7 years of age), 72% of the 111 children examined exhibited missing mandibular or maxillary deciduous canines. [http://www.medem.com/MEDEM/images/AMA/ama_preventive_oralhealth_lev20_theteeth_01.jpgdiagram]

[ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=7621751 Removal of deciduous canine tooth buds in Kenyan r... [East Afr Med J. 1995 - PubMed Result ] ]

[ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=PubMed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=1525129&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus Missing primary teeth due to tooth bud extraction ... [Int J Paediatr Dent. 1992 - PubMed Result ] ]

Diet

Traditionally, the Maasai diet consisted of meat, milk, and blood from cattle. An ILCA study (Nestel 1989) states: “Today, the staple diet of the Maasai consists of cow's milk and maize-meal. The former is largely drunk fresh or in sweet tea and the latter is used to make a liquid or solid porridge. The solid porridge is known as uoali and is eaten with milk; unlike the liquid porridge, uoali is not prepared with milk. Meat, although an important food, is consumed irregularly and cannot be classified as a staple food. Animal fats or butter are used in cooking, primarily of porridge, maize, and beans. Butter is also an important infant food. Blood is rarely drunk.”

Studies by the International Livestock Centre for Africa (Bekure et al. 1991) shows a very great change in the diet of the Maasai towards non-livestock products with maize comprising 12 – 39 percent and sugar 8 – 13 percent; about one litre of milk is consumed per person daily.

Studies have also found that the Maasai consume approximately 1 litre of milk per person per day. Most of the milk is consumed as fermented milk or buttermilk - a by-product of butter making. Milk consumption figures are very high by any standards. The needs for protein and essential amino acids are more than adequately satisfied. However, the supply of iron, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin A, thiamine and energy are never fully met by a purely milk diet. Due to changing circumstances, especially the seasonal nature of the milk supply and frequent droughts, most pastoralists, including the Maasai, now include substantial amounts of grain in their diets [http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0251e/T0251E07.htm] [http://www.taa.org.uk/TAAScotland/LivestockasfoodforpastoralistsinAfrica2001.htm]

The Maasai herd goats and sheep, including the Red Maasai sheep, as well as the more prized cattle. [ [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:6O5D6pxx8xEJ:www.ilri.org/ILRIPubAware/Uploaded%2520Files/20041029128410.00BR_ISS_AfricanGeneticTreasuresKeyToReducingDiseaseAndPoverty.pdf+maasai+sheep&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us 403 Forbidden ] ] Electrocardiogram tests applied to 400 young adult male Maasai found no evidence whatsoever of heart disease, abnormalities or malfunction. Further study with carbon-14 tracers showed that the average cholesterol level was about 50 percent of that of an average American. These findings were ascribed to the amazing fitness of morans, which was evaluated as "Olympic standard". ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 87. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6]

Soups are probably the most important use of plants for food by Maasai. Acacia nilotica is the most frequently used soup plant. The root or stem bark is boiled in water and the decoction drunk alone or added to soup. The Maasai are fond of taking this as a drug, and is known to make them energetic, aggressive and fearless. Maasai eat soup laced with bitter bark and roots containing cholesterol-lowering saponins; those urban Massai who don't have access to the bitter plants develop heart disease. [National Geographic Oct. 1995, page 161] Although consumed as snacks, fruits constitute a major part of the food ingested by children and women looking after cattle as well as morans in the wilderness. [ [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001266/126660e.pdf Ethnobotany of the Loita Maasai: towards community management of the Forest of the Lost Child; experiences from the Loita Ethnobotany Project; People and plants working paper; Vol.:8; 2001 ] ]

The mixing of cattle blood, obtained by nicking the jugular vein, and milk is done to prepare a ritual drink for special celebrations and as nourishment for the sick. ["The Last of the Maasai". Mohamed Amin, Duncan Willetts, John Eames. 1987. Page 90. Camerapix Publishers International. ISBN 1 874041 32 6] However, the inclusion of blood 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, 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. [http://www.maasai-association.org/maasai.html]

Clothing

Clothing varies by age, sex, and place. Young men, for instance, wear black for several months following their circumcision. However, red is a favored color. Blue, black, striped, and checkered cloth are also worn, as are multicolored African designs. The Maasai began to replace animal-skin, calf hides and sheep skin, with commercial cotton cloth in the 1960s. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5217/is_1999/ai_n19133542/pg_4 Maasai | Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ]

Shúkà is the Maa word for sheets traditionally worn wrapped around the body, one over each shoulder, then a third over the top of them. These are typically red, though with some other colors (e.g. blue) and patterns (e.g. plaid.) Pink, even with flowers, is not shunned by warriors. [ [http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/Maa%20Lexicon/categories/main.htm Maa (Maasai) Dictionary] ] One piece garments known as kanga, a Swahilli term, are common. [ [http://www.glcom.com/hassan/kanga_history.html Kanga history ] ] Maasai near the coast may wear kikoi, a type of sarong that comes in many different colors and textiles. However, the preferred style is stripes. [ [http://www.africa.upenn.edu/NEH/kmatculture.htm East Africa Living Encyclopedia ] ]

Many Maasai in Tanzania wear simple sandals, which were until recently made from cowhides. They are now soled with tire strips or plastic. Both men and women wear wooden bracelets. The Maasai women regularly weave and bead jewellery. This bead work plays an essential part in the ornamentation of their body. Although there are variations in the meaning of the color of the beads, some general meanings for a few colors are: white, peace; blue, water; red, warrior/blood/bravery. ["Northern Tanzania with Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar" by Phillip Briggs (2006), page 216. ISBN -10: 1 84162 146 3]

Beadworking, done by women, has a long history among the Maasai, who articulate their identity and position in society through body ornaments and body painting. Before contact with Europeans beads were produced mostly from local raw materials. White beads were made from clay, shells, ivory, or bone. Black and blue beads were made from iron, charcoal, seeds, clay, or horn. Red beads came from seeds, woods, gourds, bone, ivory, copper, or brass. When late in the nineteenth century, great quantities of brightly colored European glass beads arrived in East Africa, beadworkers replaced the older beads with the new materials and began to use more elaborate color schemes. Currently, dense, opaque glass beads with no surface decoration and a naturally smooth finish are preferred. [ [http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/beads/essay3.html (Klumpp 1987, 105, 30, 31, 67] ]

See also

* Maasai mythology
* Lion hunting
* Kenya
* Tanzania

References

External links

* [http://www.networkofchange.org/index.html Network of Change Organization for Maasai]
* [http://networkofchange.ning.com/ Maasai communication/info exchange - NOC Community]
* [http://www.massailand.com/en/default.php?language=en Massailand] Website about the Maasai people and supporting projects.
* [http://www.networkofchange.org/volunteer.html Volunteer to help with projects in Maasailand - Kenya]
* [http://www.4mdp.org Maasai Development Project. An organisation which helps the Maasai people.]
* [http://www.geocities.com/olmorijo/social_system_fosbrooke.htm#_Toc435099919 An Administrative Survey of the Masai Social System 1939]
* [http://www.maasai-association.org/welcome.html An all Maasai Organization]
* [http://www.africanholocaust.net/peopleofafrica.htm#m Maasai People of Africa]
* [http://www.uoregon.edu/~maasai Maasai Language Project]
* [http://www.maasaierc.org/ Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition]
* [http://www.geocities.com/olmorijo/introduction.htm Enkang' oo lMaasai the Home of the Maasai]
* [http://laleyio.com/ Maasai history culture song images]
* [http://www.ilmurran.com/video.html video of Maasai singing]
* [http://abibitumikasa.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1171426631 Sound Clip of Maasai Music]
* [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:octnW8R5P5QJ:www.colorado.edu/IBS/pubs/pac/pac2003-0001.pdf+maasai+ears&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=39&gl=us Maasai Migrations - Implications for HIV/AIDs and Social Change in Tanzania Ann May January 2003]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3DA1F30F93BA25751C1A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 Subduing the Lion Killers in The New York Times Magazine February 2008]

Photographs

* [http://www.pbase.com/ratluk/masai Photos of Maasai People in Kenya and Tanzania]
* [http://www.networkofchange.org/index.html Photos of Masai Mara & Maasai People] (Photo gallery available with descriptions)
* [http://www.on-the-matrix.com/africa/masai_people.asp Africa on the Matrix: The Maasai] (photographs and information)
* [http://www.phototravels.net/kenya Photographs of Kenya peoples, including Maasai] (photographs and information)
* [http://www.vanheertum.downloaden.com/kenya/masai_village/index.html Photographs in Maasai Village] (photographs)
* [http://www.tommyhansen.se Photos, Slideshows and info from Osinoni area, Maasai Mara ] (Photos, Slideshows, and info related to Maasai Culture)

Videos

* [http://www.compulsivetraveler.tv/videos/47-At-home-with-the-Masai "At Home With the Masai"]
* [http://www.correspondent.tv/Catalogue/index.cfm?ccs=461&cs=201 Maasai and Climate Change] Video showing the dramatic effects of climate change on the Maasai's way of living