African Jewels Safari Newsletter
January 15, 2011 Issue #00021 The Maasai
 The Maasai are a semi-nomadic people located near the many game parks of East Africa who will be encountered while on game safari. The Maasai are very distinguishable by their attire and adherence to their established customs. The Maasai population has been estimated as approaching 900,000.
Traditional Maasai lifestyle centers around their cattle which constituted their 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.
Villages are enclosed in a circular fence usually of thorned acacia. At night all cows, goats and sheep are placed in an enclosure in the centre, safe from predators. The traditional Maasai house are either star-shaped or circular constructed of a structural wooden mesh plastered with a mix of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and human urine, and ash. Both sexes of the Maasai are traditionally polygamous and circumcision is widely practiced for both sexes.
The piercing and stretching of earlobes is common among the Maasai. Traditionally, the Maasai diet consisted of meat, milk, and blood from cattle however in more recent times, the Maasai have a more mixed diet as they have been forced to settle into ever decreasing areas of land and adapt to a more sedentary lifestyle which in some cases includes growing or buying cultivated food.
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 Maasai are a fascinating people to meet and to learn more about.
African Jewels Safari Newsletter |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment