Maasai

Maasai
Total population
883,000
Regions with significant populations
Kenya  (estimates vary) 377,089 or 453,000  Tanzania (northern) 430,000
Languages
Maa (ɔl Maa)
Religions
Monotheism Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Samburu

The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa, they are among the most well-known African ethnic groups internationally. They speak Maa, a Nilo-Saharan language related to Dinka, Nuer, Turkana and Songhai. The Maasai population has been variously estimated as 377,089 from the 1989 Census or as 453,000 language speakers in Kenya in 1994 and 430,000 in Tanzania in 1993 with a total estimated as "approaching 900,000" Estimates of the respective Maasai populations in both countries are complicated by the remote locations of many villages, their semi-nomadic nature and their being the only ethnic group allowed free travel over the Kenyan-Tanzanian border.^{[citation needed]}

History

A Maasai man.

According to Maasai oral history, they originated from the lower Nile valley north of Lake Turkana (southern Sudan) and began migrating south around the fifteenth century, arriving in a long trunk of land stretching from northern Kenya to central Tanzania between the seventeenth and late eighteenth century. Other ethnic groups were forcibly displaced as they settled in a long trunk of land stretching from northern Kenya to central Tanzania. [1] The Maasai territory reached its largest size in the mid-nineteenth century, and covered almost all of the Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Mount Marsabit in the north to Dodoma in the south. At this time the Maasai, as well as the larger group they were part of, raided cattle as far east as the Tanga coast in Tanzania. Raiders used spears and shields, but were most feared for throwing clubs which could thrown accurately up to 70 paces. In 1852 there was a report of a concentration of 800 Maasai warriors on the move in Kenya. In 1857, after having depopulated the “Wakuafi wilderness” in southeastern Kenya, Maasai warriors threatened Mombasa on the coast of Kenya. [2]

Because of this migration, the Maasai are the southernmost Nilotic speakers.

The period of expansion was followed by the Maasai "Emutai" of 1883-1902. This period was marked by epidemics of Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, rinderpest, and small pox. The estimate first put forward by a German lieutenant in what was then northwest Tanganyika, was that 90 per cent of cattle and half of wild animals perished from rinderpest. German doctors in the same area claimed that “every second” African had a pock-marked face as the result of small pox. This period coincided with drought. Rains failed completely in 1897 and 1898. [3]

The Austrian explorer Oscar Baumann travelled in Maasailand in 1891-1893, and described the old Maasai settlement in the Ngorongoro Crater in the 1894 book “Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle” (By Massailand to the Source of Nile). "There were women wasted to skeletons from whose eyes the madness of starvation glared ... warriors scarcely able to crawl on all fours, and apathetic, languishing elders. Swarms of vultures followed them from high, awaiting their certain victims."

By one estimate two-thirds of the Maasai died during this period. [4]

In 1911, Maasai lands in Kenya were reduced by 60 percent when the British evicted them to make room for settler ranches, subsequently confining them to present-day Kajiado and Narok districts.[5] A lot of land was also taken as wildlife reserves and national parks (Amboseli, Nairobi, Maasai Mara, Samburu, Nakuru, Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Tsavo).

Maasai are pastoralist and have resisted the urging of the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. They have demanded grazing rights to many of the national parks in both countries and routinely ignore international boundaries as they move their great cattle herds across the open savannah with the changing of the seasons. This resistance has led to a romanticizing of the Maasai way of life that paints them as living at peace with nature.

Essentially there are twelve geographic sectors of the tribe, each one having its own customs, appearance, leadership and even dialects. These subdivisions are known as the: Keekonyokie, Damat, Purko, Wuasinkishu, Siria, Laitayiok, Loitai, Kisonko, Matapato, Dalalekutuk, Loodokolani and Kaputiei.[6]

Culture

Maasai people and huts wih Enkang barrier in foreground - eastern Serengeti, 2006

Maasai society is patriarchical in nature with the elders deciding most matters for each Maasai group. The laibon or spiritual leader acts as the liaison between the Maasai and God, named Enkai or Engai, as well as the source of Maasai herblore. The Masaai are mostly monotheistic in outlook, but many have become Christian under the influence of missionaries. Traditional Maasai lifestyle centers around their cattle which constitutes the primary source of food. They also believe that God gave them his cattle to watch over. The Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programs to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle and adopt an agrarian lifestyle instead.

The Maasai measure a man's wealth in terms of cattle and children rather than money - 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. The Maasai believe that they own all the cattle in the world.

As a historically nomadic and then semi-nomadic people, the Maasai have traditionally relied on local, readily available materials and indigenous technology to construct their housing. The traditional Maasai house was in the first instance designed for people on the move and was thus very impermanent in nature. The Inkajijik (Maasai word for a house) are either loaf-shaped or circular, and are constructed by women. The structural framework is formed of timber poles fixed directly into the ground and interwoven with a lattice of smaller branches, which is then plastered with a mix of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and urine, and ash. The enkaji is small, measuring about 3m x 5m and standing only 1.5m high. Within this space the family cooks, eats, sleeps, socializes and stores food, fuel and other household possessions. Small livestock are also often accommodated within the enkaji.[7][8] Villages are enclosed in a circular fence (Enkang) built by the men, usually of thorned Acacia. At night all cows and goats are placed in an enclosure in the center, safe from wild animals.

The central unit of Maasai society is the age-set. Every 15 years or so, a new and individually named generation of Morans or Il-murran (warriors) will be initiated. This involves most boys between 12 and 25, who have reached puberty and are not part of the previous age-set. Every boy must undergo the Emorata (circumcision ceremony), which is performed without anaesthetic, before he is accepted as a warrior. When a new generation of warriors is initiated, the existing ilmoran will graduate to become junior elders, who are responsible for political decisions until they in turn become senior elders. [9]

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. Women are responsible for making the houses as well as supplying water, collecting firewood, milking cattle and cooking for the family. [10]

File:Traditional Maasai Dance.jpg

A Maasai traditional dance, Adumu.

One myth about the Maasai is that each young man is supposed to kill a lion before they are circumcised. Although lion hunting was an activity of the past, and lion hunting has been banned in East Africa, lions are still hunted when they maul Maasai livestock,[11] and young warriors who engage in traditional lion killing do not face significant consequences.[12] Increasing concern regarding lion populations has given rise to at least one program which promotes accepting compensation when a lion kills livestock, rather than hunting and killing the predator. [13] Nevertheless, killing a lion gives one great value and celebrity status in the community. Women can only marry once in a lifetime, although men may have more than one wife (if enough cows are owned, they may have more than one at a time).

Young girls undergo Female genital cutting (FGC) in an elaborate rite of passage ritual in which they are given instructions and advice pertaining to their new role, as they are then said to have come of age and become women, ready for marriage. These circumcisions are usually performed by a hired local expert without anaesthetic using crude knives, glass or other sharp implements available for as much as US $6.00 per girl. Girls are married off early, sometimes as young as seven years old.

The practice of FGC draws a great deal of criticism from both abroad and many women who have undergone it, and in some cases has recently been replaced by a "Cutting with words" ceremony involving singing and dancing in place of the mutilation. However, the practice remains deeply ingrained and valued by the culture, as well as being held as necessary, since Maasai men typically reject any woman who has not undergone it as either not marriageable or worthy of a much-reduced bride price. FGC is illegal in both Kenya and Tanzania. [14][15]

Masai dance.

Challenges and hope in the 21st century

Due to influence from other cultures (mostly western), the traditional Maasai way of life is increasingly threatened. 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 emerging forms of employment among the Maasai people include farming, business (selling of traditional medicine,running of restaurants/shops, buying and selling of minerals, selling milk and milk products by women, embroideries), and wage employment (as security guards/ watchmen, waiters, tourist guides), and others who are engaged in the public and private sectors.[16]

Body modification

Maasai elder with stretched earlobes

The piercing and stretching of earlobes has been common among the Maasai.

The removal of deciduous canine tooth buds in early childhood is a practice that has been documented in the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. There exists a strong belief among the Maasai that diarrhoea, vomiting and other febrile illnesses of early childhood are caused by the gingival swelling over the canine region, and which is thought to contain 'worms' or 'nylon' teeth. This belief and practice is not unique to the Maasai. In rural Kenya a group of 95 children aged between six months and two years were examined in 1991/92. 87% were found to have undergone the removal of one or more deciduous canine tooth buds. In an older age group (3-7 years of age), 72% of the 111 children examined exhibited missing mandibular or maxillary deciduous canines. diagram [17] [18]

Diet

Traditionally, the Maasai diet consisted of meat, milk, and blood from cattle. However, the inclusion of blood 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, 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. [19]

Clothing

Maasai woman

Red is a favored colour among the Maasai. Many Maasai in Tanzania wear simple sandals, sometimes soled with pieces of motorcycle tires. Both men and women wear wooden bracelets. The Maasai women regularly weave and bead jewellery. This bead work plays an essential part in the ornamentation of their body.

Music and culture

The Maasai tribes are located in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya and Tanzania. The area they inhabit is approximately 100,000 square miles and is sometimes referred to as Maasailand. Essentially there are twelve geographic sectors of the tribe, each one having its own customs, appearance, leadership and even dialects. These subdivisions are known as the: Keekonyokie, Damat, Purko, Wuasinkishu, Siria, Laitayiok, Loitai, Kisonko, Matapato, Dalalekutuk, Loodokolani and Kaputiei. The native language of the Maasai is Maa. Maa is a language that derives from the Nile region. Maasai literally translates into ‘one who speaks the Maa language.’ The Maasai practice pastoralism and rely greatly on their livestock. This nomadic tribe herds various types of livestock that range from sheep to goats and donkeys to cattle. When traveling the Maasai women create temporary dwellings called kralls. Kralls are constructed from small clusters of cow-dung and mud. The combonation of mud, dung, and sun allows the mixture to harden and create durable temporary structures while the land is grazed. The houses are strategically placed in order to protect livestock from carnivores. The Maasai diet comprises primarily of meat and milk, however it is forbidden to mix the two. The Maasai create a drink made from milk and blood which is created by puncturing the loose flesh on the cow's neck with an arrow. The wound is closed after the correct amount of blood is obtained. This monthly operation does not have hazardous effects on the cow. A variety of corn, sorghum, and other grains are also incorporated into the Maasai lifestyle. The Maasai will not eat wild animals because it is seen as barbaric, and they also choose not to farm.

Culture

75% of the Maasai population devote their faith to traditional worship of Enkai, the other 25% practice Christianity. Laibons are the religious leaders in the Enkai faith. Other members in the tribe in control of power are the Chiefs who hold political power and the Elders who resolve local disputes. A main article of Maasai clothing is a wrap, the women's wraps are called kanga and the men's are called kikoi. The tribe usually incorporates some form of red in to their attire. Some believe that red is a special color to them because the tribe traditionally created the color for their shields by mixing the clay with the red sap of the solanum campylae fruit or cattle blood. The Maasai’s red clothing is also believed to stand for power. The men color their hair red with clay and red ocher which is a pigment found in natural form in volcanic regions. Cattle are the root of the Maasai culture. Cattle are a symbol of wealth as well as a source of pride. A main responsibility of the tribe is to care for the herd. Their everyday duties may involve grazing the cattle, protecting the cattle from carnivorous animals, as well as seeking fresh pasture land and water for the herd. The Maasai believe that God gave them cattle to care for. The Maasai class is determined by the number of cows owned by the family. Recently, the Maasai have had trouble maintaining their pastoral lifestyle because of the privatization of land and programs instituted by the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments.

Warriors

A young Moran herding cattle.

The Morani are the great protectors of the Maasai community. These warriors are known for being brave and pround. When the Maasai are young men, around the age of 15, they learn to become Morani. They are not allowed to travel or eat alone in hope to teach them to work as a group. The young Morani hunt lions as a way of proving themselves brave warriors. These warriors are recognized by their painted faces as well as their headdresses which are made out of feathers and wood. In order to increase their braveness the warriors drink a special narcotic made from the bark of the thorny olkiloriti tree. Within the Morani are two groups, seniors and juniors. Junior warriors are called Ilkiliyani. They are recognized by the handles on their wooden handled spears and by their short hair. Their hair is short because warriors will have their heads ceremoniously shaved following the circumcision ceremony into manhood. Following the ceremony the warriors let their hair grow long. Many hours are spent by warriors braiding each others’ hair. The long hair style is designated only for warriors in the tribe. Senior warriors are called Ilingeetiani. They are recognized by their ebony handled spears and long braided hair.Warriors that spear a lion early in their training are the most respected. They then wear the lion’s mane as a head piece in some ceremonies to exhibit their bravery.

Music

Music of the Maasai is purely instrumental with the exception of the Eunoto ceremony where a kudu horn is incorporated. The music is based on a call and response format involving the guttural polyrhythms of the warriors and the participation of the community. Most ceremonies are around the season of the rains in which passages of life such as circumcision and marriage take place. The performances are in public where women can join off to the side. Rarely are women allowed in to the Morani dance. If it is allowed it can be a way for the Morani to flirt.

The format of the ceremonies include the Morani standing in a circle or a line performing the adumu or aigis, meaning “to jump.” The Morani dance includes warriors jumping solo as high as possible in front of the tribe. Simultaneously others are swaying their bodies back and forth. As soon as a warrior tires, typically after one or two leaps, another warrior takes his place. Another common movement in Morani dance involves the neck. Neck movements differ during the ceremony while jumping, dancing, sitting or standing. The head position relies on the whether the singer is breathing in or out. When breathing out the head is leaned forward and when breathing in the head is tilted back. The music incorporated consists of a deep rhythm created by grunts. Everyone involved has a part that has allowance for ornamentation. Members of the group may raise the pitch of their voices based on the height of the jump.

Music structure

An olaranyani is a song leader that starts each song with a namba. Nambas form the beginning of the song through the means of an olaranyani singing a line or the title of the song. The other members of the ceremony then respond in recognition to the olaranyani. Several singers may lead a song; each singer will start his or her verse with a namba. The songs lyrics usually follow a theme and commonly are repeated throughout the song. Women ceremonial song is normally sung in a call-and-response pattern. Women are not likely to include throat singing in their music. Most of the females’ songs are homophonic melodies that are used as lullabies and milking songs. Typically the singer responds to their own verses and repetition of phrases is common.

Body art

Young men cover their bodies in ocher to enhance their appearance. Also warriors spend ample time completing ornate hairstyles. Young men can also be seen scaring their bodies with heated spears in order to show bravery. Beadwork is often important in Maasai body ornamentation. Complex bead patterns cover discs that hang around their necks. The patterns may be used to determine an age set or hierarchy in the tribe. Typically woman and young girls partake in the beadwork.

Mythology

The supreme being and creator is Enkai (also called Engai) guardian over rain, fertility, the sun and love who gave cattle to the Maasai people. According to some sources Neiterkob "that which began the earth" may also be a reference to Enkai. Neiterkob is a minor deity, known as the mediator between God and man.

Olapa is the Goddess of the Moon, married to Enkai. They fought one day, and Olapa, being a short tempered woman, inflicted Enkai with a wound. To cover up his wound he took to shining so bright, that no one could look straight at him and see his shame. In revenge Enkai hit Olapa back and struck out one of her eyes. This can be seen today, when the moon is full.

Contemporary issues of the Maasai

Many groups of indigenous people from around the world are dealing with issues of sustainability. Traditional lifestyles often clash, to some degree, with an attempt to stay active and participatory in the growing global economy. For the Maasai, small scale practices are being pushed aside to make way for western expansion. The Maasai are caught between a desire to maintain their cultural traditions and their need to adapt to a changing social, political and economic background.

Maasai Culture

The Maasai are indigenous to North Central Tanzania and Southern Kenya. In old traditional Maasai stories it is said that the Maasai journeyed from Northern Africa in search of fertile grasses to feed their cattle. That their cattle were dying and consequently they didn’t have enough food to feed their children. The elders knew that they must move their people to a more prosperous place, but they had no idea where to go. Upon turning to nature to provide them with answers, they saw a bird land in a bare tree with green grass in its beak; working on building a nest. They watched the bird as if flew over the horizon and up into the cliffs. The elders sent a few boys to go climb that cliff and see what was beyond it. The boys did so and they came back with the news that they had seen a green and lush land with rivers, green trees and rich grasses. The Maasai then decided that they would move to the other side of the cliffs. A giant ladder was built and the entire village, people and cattle alike, began to climb their way up in hopes of a better life. Half the population had reached high ground when the ladder collapsed. The people up on the cliffs edge knew there was nothing they could do for those left behind. They began a new life and prospered in the new land; they were the Maasai and that is how they came to be separate from other peoples (Zeleza 1994). This is an important story in Maasai oral culture and it tells how they feel they became a people.

Current Maasai population is roughly 1 million people and they live in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa; North central Tanzania and Southern Kenya (Philips 2001). At one point Maasailand was spread over an area more than 77,000 square miles of the richest grazing lands in around the rift Valley. Maasai have lived sustainably for hundreds of years on these lands and have developed a culture rich in knowledge and understanding of their environments. Maasai are often known as bright and colorful ornamented warriors. Their beadwork and other body adornments have a rich meaning and they can spend hours creating intricate pieces. Maasai community members adorn themselves according to traditional age and gender designs and body adornment is a sought after ritual at each stage in their lives.

The main staple to Maasai life and culture is cattle (Mathews 2006). For hundreds of years the Maasai have been sustainably through grazing their herds. Cattle are the traditional staple of Maasai diet, which used to consist of meat, milk and blood, and also are tightly intertwined in Maasai economy, social structure, religion and relationships. Herd size has always been a way to distinguish the rich from the poor and have long been the bond between many social and personal bonds. Upon marriage tradition constitutes the bride price of cattle and upon social disputes cattle have been used for trading or reconciliation. Of equal importance is the use of cattle slaughtering in religious transitional ceremonies for boys. As boys move up to the status of men a cow is slaughtered as an offering, marking their completion into the next chapter of their lives. For the Maasai, cattle have always been an integral part of culture and survival (Mathews 2006).

The Maasai are a semi nomadic pastoralist culture. Traditionally they have far more equalized gender roles than that of Western Culture. The cultural roles of men and women have traditionally been balanced out by gender specific tasks that promoted equality and sharing of power. While the male specific tasks of cattle grazing and watering, digging wells, protecting the herd, making weapons and building enclosures, where important, they were balanced out by equally important women’s tasks. Women have the jobs building huts, household chores, childcare, crop cultivation, animal tending and slaughtering. Women were also in charge of allocating milk and food within the family system. It was not until the infiltration of western influences, such as agriculture, that the Maasai began to feel an inequality of gender roles (Zeleza 1994).

The picture of Maasai culture and lifestyle is very quickly being distorted. Tradition is challenged and many times overthrown by a lack of customary resources. Time-honored practices have little chance for survival within the context of rapid western influence. Everything is threatened. No longer are the times where the Maasai can maintain a cattle centered lifestyle. Kenyan and Tanzanian governments, along with some conservationalist groups, have come close to eradicating the Maasai way of life. Traditional means of sustenance, medicine, water and education have been labeled as inefficient by western influences and newly empowered Kenyan and Tanzanian governments. Due to changes in political structure the Maasai are facing devastating issues, the most pertinent being Maasai land allocation, wildlife preservation, disease, poverty, lack of education, no healthcare, and lack of clean and safe drinking water. These issues are all tightly intertwined and endlessly complex; altering cultural practices, shifting traditional power dynamics, redefining survival essentials and threatening lives.

Water

The most unexpected threat to the Maasai is the lack of clean drinking water. Maasailand is located in an ideal position to benefit from the largest water resources in Kenya, the Kilimanjaro Water Development, whose pipelines actually cut right through Maasai territory itself. Water is diverted out into to Machakos, Makueni district, and Athi-River Town, leaving the Maasai people unnerved. Only the wealthiest of the Maasai can afford to divert any water, leaving almost all Maasai to fight disease, hunger, and poverty without this precious, and ironically very local, resource that can be of fundamental use to exponentially improve the quality of life for all Maasai [20].

Land Allocation and Wildlife Preservation

The Maasai currently inhabit just a fraction of the land in which they once had free reign (Hillman 1994). Their land has been confiscated for mass agricultural purposes and wildlife conservation. Conservationalists have depicted them as incompatible with nature and consequently much of their land has been taken way from them in order to make way for animal reserves (Schaffer 2007). Although seemingly well intentioned, Game Parks and reserves are a cause of great stress and injustice for the Maasai. Upon implementation of these reserves and promotion of ecotourism the Maasai were completely left out of the equation. The Maasai have been living with the land, as opposed to off the land, for hundreds of years. They have a profound knowledge of wildlife, trees herbs, roots, grasses and other plants in their country. They have long been utilizing all of their natural resources for medicinal purposes, both for themselves and their livestock. Despite evidence that Maasai pastoralism has no negative effects on nature their traditional ways of life have been challenged by limited access to traditional lands uses, they are losing some of their best land and being pushed into drier areas (Kimani 1998). Due to increased emphasis on wildlife preservation many Maasai have been forced to convert to a more western way of live. Maasai herd sizes have shrunk significantly and many Maasai are now involved in agriculture. This western imposed sedentary lifestyle has proven to yield insufficient food for the Maasai and has left the land overused and eroded. The seasonal climatic shifts and poor soil quality of most of Maasailand have proven to be far more favorable for traditional Maasai sustenance methods of pastoralism. Western impositions have put the Maasai in a position of poverty, famine and economic duress (Hillman).

Disease and Healthcare

In villages of southern Kenya, the nearest clinic is over sixty miles away. Most of the sick can not afford to make this journey and many that try do not survive. Maasai have traditionally been able to take care of themselves through the use of traditional homeopathic medicine, but their modern sedentary lifestyle often prohibits them from being able to have access to traditional medicines. Furthermore Maasai people and cattle have fallen ill due to diseases brought upon by western colonization. It used to be standard practice of the Maasai to graze their cattle at night, as to avoid the dangerous disease laden tsetse flies, but with grazing land being converted into game reserve areas, areas that had been free of flies in the past had become unsuitable for grazing. What were once safe lands to travel, across now turned into dangerous hosting grounds for these disease carrying insects. Cholera is another disease prevalent within Maasailand, completely preventable, if the Maasai had access to the Kilimanjaro Water Development, hundreds are dying from drinking unsafe contaminated water. Also prevalent In Kenya are TB,malaria, HIV and trachoma (Crowe 1997). Many Maasai members are unaware that all of these diseases preventable or treatable to some extent.

Lack of Education and Poverty

The Maasai are not rigid and opposed to learning about the western ways that have been imposed upon them. To the contrary, most Maasai feel that some change in inevitable and welcome the education as a means to better understand and act within the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments that rule so many aspects of their lives and culture. Maasai leaders are eager to see a progress is made, but they have strong obstacles to overcome. There are very few schools in Maasai region and no colleges. There is no investment into the children of Maasai; government leaders live a lavish lifestyle while their privileged children are sent to get a proper education over seas. The Maasai have become the underprivileged and often overlooked minority group. Kenyan and Tanzanian governments have done little in the way of supporting Maasai culture. As more land is being taken away, and more conditions are being placed on government aid, the Maasai are faced with the difficulty of having to navigate an entirety new sociopolitical system with very little education into it.

Conclusion

Although the prognosis seems grim for the Maasai the fact still remains that they have proven to be a strong and vibrant culture that can and have tackled many adversities. There are programs implemented to empower the Maasai to force a change in their best interest. A culture known as warriors, the Maasai will continue to work hard towards the survival of not only their people, but their culture as well.

As a result of the many 21st century issues that are plaguing the Maasai many support groups have been founded. Organizations from around the world seek the aid of everyday individuals, such as you and me, with an interest that all humanity should be served. One such organization is Village Volunteers. “Village Volunteers works in collaboration with rural non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to implement sustainable solutions for community survival, education, and growth. Village Volunteers brings together self-sacrificing and passionate community leaders who empower local people, rely on indigenous resources, and build upon their existing cultural and economic context” (Village Volunteers.org). Village Volunteers are strong believers that we should all see ourselves as global citizens and take part in the lives of others around the world. We are all capable of facilitating change. “Village Volunteers is dedicated to assisting village communities in their quest to achieve a healthy, sustainable life. By exploring ways to stimulate economic development, and always working in partnership with local villages, we are working to help insure sustainable self-sufficiency” (Village Volunteers.org). By signing up with Village Volunteers you get the opportunity to directly make a positive change in the life of the Maasai community members. Visit their website for more information, [21].

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• Problems Plaguing the Maasai. Website for Maasai Warriors: [24] ; Accessed May 2007.

• The Maasai. Maasai-Mara: [25]; Accessed May 2007.

• Schaffer, D., Eshan, M., Ndege, Y., Bagla, P., Mantell, K. Dry: Life Without Water. Environment: Jan-Feb 2007; 8(11).

• Village Volunteers.org. [26]; Accessed May 12 2007.

• Zeleza, Tiyambe Ph.D. Maasai. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group;1994.

External links

• Network of Change Organization for Maasai
• Maasai communication/info exchange - NOC Community
• Massailand Informative Webseite about the Massai people, also help to self-help with supporting of Projects.
• Volunteer to help with projects in Maasailand - Kenya
• Maasai Development Project. An organisation which helps the Maasai people.
• An Administrative Survey of the Masai Social System 1939
• An all Maasai Organization
• Maasai People of Africa
• Maasai Language Project
• Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition
• Maasai history culture song images
• BlueGecko.org [27]

• Laleyio.com [28]

• Art and Life in Africa Online [29]

• Maasai Development Project.
• Harold Scheub: A Dictionary of African Mythology, The Mythmaker as Storyteller Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000, ISBN 0195124561
• Description of Engai on God Finder
• Naomi Kipury: Oral Literature of the Maasai (1983: East African Educational Publishers Ltd., PO Box 45314 Nairobi, Kenya
• Introduction to Maasais in Kenya

Photographs

• Photos of Maasai Mara & Maasai People (Photo gallery available with descriptions)
• Africa on the Matrix: The Maasai (photographs and information)
• Photographs of Kenya peoples, including Maasai (photographs and information)
• Photographs in Maasai Village (photographs)

Credits

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• Maasai  ^history
• Maasai_Music_and_Culture  ^history
• Maasai_mythology  ^history
• Contemporary_Issues_of_the_Maasai  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Maasai"

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