Maasai People: Culture, Society, and Traditions
Maasai
Introduction
The Maasai, also spelled Masai, are a nomadic warrior aristocracy who historically dominated large areas between Kenya and Tanzania. They settled in these lands in the late sixteenth century. Their way of life and economy are based on pastoral nomadism, moving to find pasture for their cattle.
The Maasai are united by their Nilo-Hamitic language, Maa. The ethnic group consists of four major tribal groups: the Samburu, the Arbus, the Baraguyu, and the Maasai, the latter being the main group due to their social and military dominance.
Maasai Society
Their strength was based on a military organization, although their nomadic lifestyle made it impossible to form a state.
Social Classes
Blacksmiths were the lowest clan in Maasai society, often associated with a bad reputation within the kraal (village). Social classes are related to age. The first class is for children (birth to fifteen years old). The second class is for warriors (fifteen to thirty years old). The third class is for the elders (from ceasing to be a warrior until death).
The Warriors
At fifteen, Maasai men become warriors after passing a series of initiation tests. The initiation ceremony involves several days of rituals. After the ceremony, they gain a special status: they are supported by their mothers, engage in relationships, and lead a disciplined life. They receive weapons as essential attributes: an iron spear, a sword or long knife, and a shield. A warrior’s first act is to kill a lion with only a spear and sword, cutting the lion’s mane as a symbol of victory.
The Women
Women are subjected to male dominance within a strong patriarchal society. To become eligible for marriage, women undergo the removal of the clitoris and are then taught to care for cattle. Marriages are often arranged from childhood, with a dowry typically consisting of three cows, one ox, and two sheep.
Women are considered a man’s personal property, to the point that they may be offered as a token of hospitality to a warrior friend of her husband. (1)
Characteristic Features of the Maasai
The Maasai are deeply connected to their cattle, often forming a stronger bond with their oxen than with their wives. Cattle are the most representative symbol of wealth and power. They have a profound contempt for agriculture, considering it unworthy and unclean for a cattle-based aristocracy, and reject cultivated land products.
The Maasai are of Sudanese origin, with physical characteristics that favor military activities: tall, strong, and agile. They lavishly decorate their bodies with necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and bronze rings. They also care for their hair, often braiding it and smearing it with grease and mud, which dyes the hair reddish.
Villages
Villages, known as kraals, are arranged in circles with cabins built from branches and tree trunks smeared with dung to harden the structure. The cabins have small access doors and no windows. Livestock is kept within the village at night, protected by an outer wall made of branches and trees. (2)
Religion
Maasai culture connects the origin of life with God, Man, and Cattle. God created man and gave him cattle as a form and meaning of life, believing that all Maasai cattle belong to them, characterizing their warrior nature.
Initially, the earth and sky were united, but the god Ngai moved to heaven, from where he sent cattle and curses: the farming of other peoples.
Bibliography
ยท “The White Masai”, Corinne Hofmann, 2006.