The Maasai tribe is a semi-tribal tribe living in northern Kenya and Tanzania in Africa. Due to their unique culture, customs and dress, as well as their proximity too many national wildlife parks in East Africa, the Masai are one of the most important ethnic groups in Africa and are internationally recognized for their partnerships with national parks and conservation areas.
Language: A language of the Nilo-Saharan people, related to Nuer, Dinka, and Maa. They converse in English and Swahili as well. Population: As of right now, there are an estimated 900 000 Masai people.
The governments of Tanzania and Kenya have tried to get the Maasai people to give up their culture for half of their lives, yet they have managed to hold onto their age-old customs. Though slowly, this is beginning to change.
Maasai History
The Maasai tribe came in the Lower Nile Valley north of Lake Turkana (northwest Kenya), according to their own oral history. In the 15th and 16th centuries, they started to migrate southward, and in the 17th and 18th centuries, they migrated far throughout central Tanzania and northern Kenya. The majority of the Great Rift Valley, as well as the nearby areas of Dodoma and the Marsabit mountains, were included in the Maasai region at its largest point in the 19th century.
In the meantime, cattle were attacked by the Maasai off the coast of eastern Tanzania, near Tanga. They employ shields and spears, but they are terrified to throw sticks, which can only be hurled as far as 70 feet, or roughly 100 meters.
Following their relocation to Kenya in 1852, the Wakuafi wilderness in eastern Kenya was cleared of its inhabitants, and reports of the army’s consolidation mentioned Mombasa, which is located on Kenya’s coast, as being under threat from the Masai army. The Maasai are now a speaking community south of the Nile as a result of this migration in.
Maasai “Emutai” 1883-1902 came after a period of expansion
This period was stricken by smallpox, rinderpneumonia, and rinderpest. About 90 percent of cattle and half of all wild animals die from rinderpest. This intense period coincided with a drought. In 1897 and 1898, rains filled the ground.
In order to create room for settlements, the British evacuated the Maasai lands in Kenya between treaties in 1904 and 1911. This resulted in the suppression of the Maasai and the destruction of 60% of their territories. Now, people are visiting the Kajado and Narok regions.
The majority of the land surrounding Ngorongoro and the area between Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru were forced to be abandoned by the Tanzanian Masai in the 1940s. It’s claimed that more acreage is required to establish wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. Masai Mara, Nairobi National Park, Samburu, Ngorongoro, Amboseli, Lake Nakuru, Manyara, and Tarangire were among the places visited.
The traditional Maasai people have put pressure on the governments of Tanzania and Kenya to embrace contemporary living. In several national parks in Tanzania and Kenya, the Maasai people asserted their right to plant and raise crops.
The Maasai detest eating wildlife and birds, are opposed to slavery, and coexist peacefully with the majority of the nation’s wild animals. Today, the Maasai nation is home to some of East Africa’s most beautiful landscapes and fauna.
Maasai Residence
The Maasai tribe has historically been a people who have always relied on simple materials. They also use local techniques to build their unusual and interesting homes. Traditional Maasai houses were built for immigrants, so their houses are not very solid. Inkajijik (house) is round or nut-shaped and made by women. Their villages are surrounded by enkang circles (fences) built by men, which protect their livestock from wild animals at night.
Maasai Culture
Because of their patriarchal nature, ex-Maasai men occasionally co-rule the majority of the Maasai people alongside senior elders. They follow the Maasai faith, and Engai, also known as Enkai, is their god.
The deceased are left in the fields for diggers by the Maasai who lead normal lives; there is no funeral at the time of death. Because the Maasai considered burial to be a violation of the land, burial customs were previously restricted to top officials.
Cattle is the primary source of sustenance for the Maasai people in their traditional way of life. The Maasai and a few other African tribes utilize children and animals as a stand-in for wealth. Therefore, more is preferable. One is deemed impoverished if they have a large number of animals but few children, etc. Due to the Masai mythology, which holds that God gave them every animal in the world, people used to think that stealing animals from other groups was a form of payment; however, this is no longer the case.
Masai Music and Dance
Marseille music is usually sung in unison by choirs under the direction of oraniani (leaders). Generally speaking, Olayani are the best singers. When Orangani began to sing a song about Namba, they all let out a collective yell of gratitude. Ladies hum tunes, calm babies, and compliment their boys. One flaw in Maasai music is that the kudu pipe’s function was to invite the Moran, or initiate, for the Eunoto ceremony, which is a rite of passage.
The average ritual lasts ten days or longer. To get into the tournament, there is a lot of singing and dancing around the tower. Women sing to guys as they stand in front of them as men yell slogans. Maasai music, singing, and percussion are now included into the music of contemporary hip-hop artists from northern Tanzania.
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