Our Culture
The Maasai
The Maasai (/ˈmɑːsaɪ, mɑːˈsaɪ/) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known local populations internationally due to their residence near the many game parks of the African Great Lakes, and their distinctive customs and dress.
Maasai (not Masai) is the correct spelling of this noble tribe: it means people speaking maa. Masai was the incorrect spelling of the British settlers and has remained in current use. The Maasai have always been special. Their bright red robes set them apart visually. Spear in hand, they are calm and courageous regardless of the danger.
Fearless Warriors
In decades past, young Maasai men proved themselves as warriors (morani) with the ritual killing of a lion—either single-handedly or in a group, and using only their iron spears as weapons. (Typically, only male lions were hunted in this initiation rite, known as ala-mayo, since female lions were considered sacred progenitors of life.) Though ritual lion-hunting is now outlawed in East Africa, and Maasai will now only kill a lion if it is threatening their livestock, the fierce bravery of the morani is still revered today.
Maasai culture is centred around the belief that God (called Engai, or Enkai, in the tribe’s Maa language) created cattle especially for them, and they are the custodians of all the world’s cattle. For Maasai, life revolves around amassing and grazing large herds of cows (and to a lesser extent, goats). As well as being the tribe’s primary income source (livestock are traded for other products or cash), cows also play an important role in Maasai communal life. Families and clans establish alliances through the exchange of cattle; and consuming the meat and milk of cows is considered a sacred act, one that binds them to their creator.
The Maasai are known for their physical beauty—not just their lithe, graceful physiques but for their unique garb and body ornamentation. The most iconic Maasai garment today is the shuka—a woven, thick cotton blanket, usually red with a striped or checked pattern in blue or black, which is worn wrapped around the body. Though it isn’t traditional in a historical sense—the shuka only replaced animal-skin clothing around the 1960s, and is purchased rather than made by tribespeople—it is now worn by virtually all Maasai across East Africa. The signature garment has been widely emulated by modern fashion designers, including Louis Vuitton; and many high-end jewellery designers have also taken inspiration from Maasai jewellery—in particular, the intricately beaded, brightly coloured necklaces and bracelets worn by both men and women.
A Maasai warrior is a fine sight. Those young men have, to the utmost extent, that particular form of intelligence which we call chic; daring and wildly fantastical as they seem, they are still unswervingly true to their own nature, and to an immanent ideal. Their style is not an assumed manner, nor an imitation of a foreign perfection; it has grown from the inside, and is an expression of the race and its history, and their weapons and finery are as much a part of their being as are a stag’s antlers.
- Karen Blixen –