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Symbols are also worn to show off their achievements.

  • The errap is worn around the top part of the arm. It is made of leather with coils of metal wire in the front and the back. Representing that this man has fought & killed another man.

Although local governments have instituted programs to encourage the Masai to replace their traditional lifestyle with modern practices, people have continued their tribal customs.

Modern Variations

Similar Tribe

Sadamu Girl

The Samburu

-Origins of Northern Kenya

-Also a Nilotic group

-Herd cattle with some goats, sheep, and camels

-They believe in the Nkai God, stating that god is the source of all protections from hazards of their existence

-Culture surrounded by Adamu jumping dance

The Masai cleverly adapt to increasing globalization.

  • They charge a fee for any photographs taken of them, using Western curiosity about traditional African cultures to their advantage.

Clothing used to be made of animal skin but now cotton is the main material.

Face a difficult challenge of trying to maintain their traditional grazing methods in increasingly drier and less productive scrub-land against climate and political pressures to abandon their traditional livelihoods.

Cultural importance

The Maasai believe that Ngai (God) entrusted all the world's cattle to them for safe-keeping when the earth and sky split at the beginning of time, and this is how they justify raiding cattle from other tribes.

The story goes that Ngai (a name synonymous with sky) was once one with the earth. Then earth and sky separated, and Ngai delivered cattle to the Maasai by means of the aerial roots of the wild fig tree, which is sacred.

Other Tribes

Religious connections

  • Kenya is home to many different tribes other than the Masai
  • The North: Somali, Turkana, Masai, and other small tribes
  • The West: Kisii, Luo, Kikuyu, Kalenjin
  • The East: Somali
  • The South: Mijikenda and other smaller tribes

Masai's are one of the wealthiest cattle-owning peoples in Africa.

A typical family (8-10 people) owns 125-140, of which over half are milk cows on which the family depends for daily subsistence.

More pictures of clothing

The central human figure in the Maasai religious system is the laibon (ritual leader)

  • who may be involved in;
  • shamanistic healing
  • divination
  • prophecy, ensuring success in war or a good amount of rainfall

Worship one god who dwells in all things, but may manifest himself as either kindly or destructive

Clothing

The main garment worn is the shuka

Its a piece of fabric that can be worn in a variety of ways.

Adumu Dance

This a competition of who could jump the highest without your heel touching the ground

Who ever jumps the highest, will earn the warrior status & will have the option of choosing their prettiest bride

Performed by Young Masai men

Adumu is a “jumping Dance”

Adumu means to jump up and down during the dance

Circle is formed by warriors while 1-2 jump

Warriors get louder as jumping gets higher

This type of dance is usually performed during Eonoto, which is the coming of age ceremony of warriors

A boy reaches warriorhood around the age of 15

They are to undergo rituals called almal lengipaata

Livestock are primary source of income (cattle, goats and sheep)

  • Traded for other livestock, cash or livestock products

  • Individual, families, and clans established close ties through giving or exchange of cattle

  • Serves as a social utility and plays an important role in their economy.

It is rubbed with red color/ dye so they could camouflage with the red dirt of that part of Africa

History

The hair is colored red with ochre and animal fat.

Variations on performance style

Music and dance

Music traditionally consists of rhythms provided by a chorus of vocalists singing harmonies while a song leader (olaranyani) sings the melody.

Women chant lullabies, humming songs, and songs praising their sons.

Both singing and dancing sometimes occur around ceremonies and involve flirting.

Young men will form a line and chant rhythmically “Oooooh-yah”, while girls stand in front of them and singing a high dying fall of “Oiiiyo..yo” in counterpoint to the men.

  • Nilotic group.
  • Inhabit the African Great Lakes region
  • Territory reached its largest size mid-19th century
  • covered almost all of Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Mount Marsabit in the north to Dodoma in the south

Masai Tribe

"Adumu: The Traditional Maasai Dance." BE ON THE ROAD. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://

www.beontheroad.com/2012/10/adumu-traditional-maasai-dance.html>.

"Dance with the Maasai People !" Tourism On The Edge. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://

www.tourismontheedge.com/people/dance-with-the-maasai-people.html>.

"London to Dar Es Salaam." Details of Great Rift Valley at 1,000m. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://

hiddenjourneys.co.uk/London-Dar-Es-Salaam/Great Rift Valley/Middle.aspx>.

"Maasai People, Kenya." Maasai People, Kenya. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.maasai-

association.org/maasai.html>.

"Maasai Livestock - Cattle - Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya." Maasai Livestock - Cattle - Traditional

Music & Cultures of Kenya. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/livestock.htm>.

"Samburu of Kenya - The Samburu Tribe." Samburu of Kenya - The Samburu Tribe. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2013. <http://goafrica.about.com/library/bl.samburu.htm>.

"The Fashion Historian." : The Maasai. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://

www.thefashionhistorian.com/2011/04/maasai.html>.

"Young Maasai Man Performing the Adumu, Also Know as the ‘jumping Dance’, Tanzania 22nd December

2010." ExposedPlanet RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://exposedplanet.com/young-maasai-man-performing-the-adumu-also-know-as-the-jumping-dance-tanzania/>.

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