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Masai - The Shepherds of East Africa

© P Jerome Jayanth

The Masai are a nomadic and pastoral people living in East Africa. They are perennial nomads wandering through the year and living entirely on the blood, meat and milk of their flocks.

The Masai live in small clusters of houses called 'kraal'. A kraal consists of a circular thornbush fence around a string of mud houses. A kraal may consist of four to eight families. The kraals also house the cattle. The settlements are surrounded by barbed wire as extra protection. The huts in the kraal are built by the women. They may take upto seven months to build. They are built of a plaster made from grass, twigs, cowdung and urine and applied around a frame of branches.

The hut contains a bed on which the members sleep. The bed is made of branches woven together and cushioned with grasses and animal skins. The cattle is central to Masai life as it is the only recognised form of wealth. Each family marks its own cattle with a unique slit for easy identification. The Masai use the cattle's milk. Occasionally, they also drink its blood. They make a cut in the jugular vein of the cattle and draw blood. When the blood has been drawn, they seal the slit with cow dung Masai Society is rigidly divided into groups such as child, junior warrior, senior warrior, junior elder and senior elder. Masai men between the ages of 14 to 30 are generally known as Morans. They live in isolation in the bush. During this time they learn customs and develop courage, strength and endurance which the Masai are known for.

When a Masai boy reaches the age of fifteen, an initiation ceremony is held. They decorate themselves with ornate headgear made of ostrich plumes. They shave their heads and get circumcised. They are now called "Moroni' or Young Warriors. They are then taught survival techniques. In the past, young Masai had to prove their manhood by hunting a lion with a spear alone. But, the Kenyan government has banned hunting.The young Masai live together in a separate hut called Boma.

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Masai roamed the Great Rift Valley of Africa. The first encounter between the Masai and the Europeans took place in 1840. After this encounter the Masai faced drought, famine and an epidemic of small pox, probably, due to contact with the Europeans. Their cattle were also decimated by an attack of rinderpest.

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