MAASAI
PEOPLE
The
Maasai people of East Africa live in southern Kenya and northern
Tanzania along the Great Rift Valley on semi-arid and arid
lands. The Maasai occupy a total land area of 160,000 square
kilometers with a population of approximately one half million
people. However, many Maasai see the national census as government
meddling and often miscount their numbers to census takers.
The
Maasai society is comprised of sixteen sections (known in
Maasa as Iloshon): Ildamat, Irpurko, Irkeekonyokie, Iloitai,
Irkaputiei, Irkankere, Isiria, Irmoitanik, Iloodokilani, Iloitokitoki,
Ilarusa, Irmatatapato, Irwuasinkishu, Kore, Parakuyu, and
Irkisonko, also known as Isikirari (Tanzania's Maasai). There
was also once Iltorobo section but was assimilated by other
sections. A majority of the Maasai population lives in Kenya.
Sections such as the Isikirari, Parakuyu, Kore and Ilarusa
lives in Tanganyika.
Homestead
and labor
The
Maasai live in Kraals arranged in a circular fashion. The
fence around the kraal is made of acacia thorns, which prevent
lions from attacking the cattle. It is a man's responsibility
to fence the kraal. While women construct the houses. Traditionally,
kraals are shared by an extended family. However, due to the
new land management system in the Maasai region, it is not
uncommon to see a kraal occupied by a single family.
The
Inkajijik (maasai word for a house) are loaf-shaped and made
of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and cow's urine. Women are
responsible for making the houses as well as supplying water,
collecting firewood, milking cattle and cooking for the family.
Warriors are in charge of society's security while boys are
responsible for herding livestock. During the drought season,
both warriors and boys assume responsibility for herding livestock.
The elders are directors and advisors for day-to-day activities.
Every morning before livestock leave to graze, an elder who
is the head of the inkang sits on his chair and announces
the schedule for everyone to follow.
The
Maasai are a semi-nomadic people who live under a communal
system. The movement of our livestock is based on seasonal
rotation. Contrary to many claims made by outsiders, particularly
the Hardinian school of thought, this communal land management
system allows us to utilize resources in a sustainable manner.
Each section manages its own territory. Under normal conditions,
reserve pastures are fallowed and guarded by warriors. However,
if the dry season becomes especially harsh, sections boundaries
are ignored and people graze animals throughout the land until
the rainy season arrives. According to our traditional land
policies, no one should be denied access to natural resources
such as water and land.
Private
ownership
The
concept of private ownership was, until recently, a foreign
concept. However, in the 1960s and 1980s, a program of commercializing
livestock and land was forced on us initially by the British
and later USAID. Since then, our land has been privatized
and our economy increasingly dependent on market forces. The
land is divided into group ranches, schemes and plots. This
new land management system has economically polarized our
people; some Maasais, as well as outside wealthy individuals,
have substantially increased their wealth at the expense of
others. The largest loss of land has been to national parks
and reserves, in which the Maasai people have very limited
access to critical water sources and grazing areas.
Subsistence
traditional economy
Livestock
such as cattle, goats and sheep are our primary source of
income. Livestock serves as a social utility and plays an
important role in the Maasai economy. Livestock are traded
for other livestock, cash or livestock products such as milk
and siege. If a family wants a sheep for slaughter, it can
go to another family and trade for a young bull. Individuals,
families, clans and sections establish close community ties
using livestock. "Meishoo iyiook enkai inkishu o-nkera"-
is a Maasai prayer, "May Creator give us cattle and children.
Maasai
economy with outsiders
Livestock
products are sold to other groups in Kenya for the purchase
of beads, clothing and grains. The entrepreneurial spirit
is something new in our society. Until fairly recently, our
society prohibited the selling of livestock for cash.
During
the colonial period, the British attempted to integrate us
into their economy by imposing taxes. However, it was not
until the early 1980s with the Group Ranch project that we
became much more entrenched in a market economy and, hence,
more impoverished generally speaking. As a result, the Maasai
society, which once was a proud and self-sufficient society,
is now facing many social, political and economic challenges.
Perhaps some day we will find an exit from such darkness.
Maasai
diet
Traditionally,
the Maasai rely on meat, milk and blood from cattle for protein
and caloric needs. People drink blood on special occasions.
It is given to a circumcised person (o/esipolioi), a woman
who has given birth (entomononi) and the sick (oltamueyiai).
Also, on a regular basis drunk elders, ilamerak, use the blood
to alleviate intoxication and hangovers. Blood is very rich
in protein and is good for the immune system. However, its
use 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 (unga wa mahindi), 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. Our people
traditionally frown upon this. Maasai believe that tilizing
the land for crop farming is a crime against nature. Once
you cultivate the land, it is no longer suitable for grazing.
