Malik Cole the Maasai Food

Raw meat and some vegetables and fruits, although in many villages they do not eat any fruit or vegetables at all. The chief staple of the Maasai diet is cattle's milk, an element that makes the tribe's diet high in both protein and fat. Modern Maasai also integrate grains, particularly maize meal, to balance out vitamin deficiency. Some Maasai also harvest crops such as rice, cabbage and potato. In general, however, "the Maasai consider widespread agriculture as harmful to the environment and detrimental to grazing, their society's central practice". Modern social, agricultural and political realities have forced changes in the traditional food consumption patterns of the Maasai people. Originally, their diet consisted mainly of raw milk, meat and blood taken from their herds. Blood, in particular, was thought to aid in the recuperation of a wide number of persons, including those recovering from circumcision, childbirth, general illness and even hangovers. Modern Maasai consume less raw meat and blood, though milk is still consumed daily as an individual drink, or added to sweet tea. Italians have pasta and Americans have cheeseburgers and sweets traditional foods can be found in every culture, and the ethnic and tribal groups living in Tanzania are no exception.To a westerner, though, traditional eating for the Maasai may seem distinctly unorthodox. That’s because a traditional Maasai diet not only includes, but primarily relies upon, both cow’s milk and cow’s blood.In Maasai culture, cattle are highly valued. The size of your herd indicates your status in the community, and accumulating animals rather than consuming themis common practice.

Raw beef is also consumed, but much more fascinating and possibly a little off-putting to the western palate is the tradition of drinking raw blood, cooked blood, and blood-milk mixtures.

"Blood is obtained by nicking the jugular artery of a cow precisely, allowing for blood-letting that doesn’t kill the animal. Mixed blood and milk is used as a ritual drink in special celebrations, or given to the sick.Of course blood and milk aren’t the only things Maasai eat the diet has always been supplemented with tubers, honey, and foraged plants that are most often used in soups and stews. More recently, Maasai have supplemented their diet with grains and maize-meal (and of course many modern Maasai live an urban lifestyle, with the more varied diet that entails. They still play an important role in many Maasai meals, however; for example, ugali a thick maize-based porridge that serves as a staple food throughout Tanzania is generally served with milk in Maasai households.



THOMSON SAFARIS.Traditional Maasai Food:"Blood and Milk balanced diet in the bush" November 7  2015http://www.thomsonsafaris.com/blog/traditional-maasai-diet-blood-milk/

Maasai People and the Arts

The Maasai and Art and Beauty

The Maasi create their clothing for the main purpose of camouflage. They either use colors the colors of red or white, red to blend in with the red dirt of Kenya, and white to blend in with the grains. Their article of clothing is referred to as a shuka, and was originally made out of animal skins, but the material was transitioned into cotton. The Shuka is typically wrapped around the body. Beaded jewelry is also wrapped around the neck and arms by both men and women and vary in color depending on the occasion. They either walk around barefoot or adorn cowhide sandals. Men and women both adorn stretched earlobes as their symbol for beauty, and they decorate the earlobes with metal hoops. The women often shave their heads and remove their two bottom middle teeth for oral delivery of the traditional medicine. The younger girls of the tribe pay close attention to their appearances, especially when it comes to jewelry and 'makeup'.  They make and wear colorful and intricate headbands and earrings. They also made and ivory bands on their upper arms when the material was in abundance. Jewelry like this aided in courtship for the women and young girls. As for 'makeup', they would slather ochre and sheep's fat, which was considered body paint for them. The ochre would come in a variety of colors for different colorful designs.

The men, on the other hand, used clothing for symbolic expression. When young men go through 'warriorhood' (which can be considered teenage/adolescence),  this is a special time in their lives and they can show their achievement through their appearance. Firstly, they can grow their hair out and braid it into very complex styles. They can wear earrings and bracelets and beaded necklaces, the necklaces which dangle down the frontside and backside of the body. There are also symbolic cloths that can show off specific achievements. There is a symbol for a man who has managed to fight and kill another man and that cloth is called an errap, and it is worn around the upper arm. It's typically made of leather and metal coils. There are also different types of headdresses that men can wear: one made out of a lion's mane and one made out of the plumes of an ostrich. The lion's mane one is referred to as the Olawaru, and it's says that the man who wears it has killed a lion. The ostrich one is called a Enkuwaru, and it says that the man has fought the lion, but the lion survived. There are also body markings that are made in white limestone chalk that create nonsymbolic patterns. Finally, the hair is colored red with ochre and animal fat.

Women also have symbols for aging, but women only go through two ages: childhood and adulthood. This culture does practice female circumcision, and only after that is a woman considered an adult. When the men have undergone warriorhood, the mothers of those men wear items called surutia, which are coiled metal medallions. If the woman's son is the first to get his head shaven during the ceremony, the item changes from a surutia to a loosurutia. Women who are married can also adorn long leather earrings. When the women dance during the warriorhood ceremony, they wear the beaded necklaces higher in the front and lower in the back. However, beading is very important to the Maasai. Red beads mean having a connection to blood, blue beads mean having a connection to the Heavens and God, and other colors beads and simply decorational.

The Maasi hardly have any time for sports. From time to time, they will partake in a game of soccer, volleyball, and basketball in school, but other than that, they don't really have sports that correlate with Western society. The children will join in on a game of tag, but the adults have no time to play games like these.

The Maasai excelled in beadwork, making impressive forms of neclaces, earrings, headbands, and wrist and ankle bracelets. Styles of the jewlery they made varies based on age groups. One can identify the the year a peice was made based on the age group it was made in. The people also excelled in wood carvings. They use their hand in beadwork and wood carvings to attract tourists and make profit. 

Works Cited

Werlin, Katy. “The Fashion Historian: The Maasai.” The Fashion Historian. November 14 2016. http://www.thefashionhistorian.com/2011/04/maasai.html

Maasai Tribe (Masai) People of Kenya - History and Culture.” Maasai Tribe (Masai) People of Kenya - History and Culture. November 14 2016. http://www.kenya-information-guide.com/maasai-tribe.html

“Maasai.” - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major Holidays, Rites of Passage. November 14 2016. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Tajikistan-to-Zimbabwe/Maasai.html

Music of the Maasai

To the Maasai people, both traditional and contemporary styles of music are important to their way of life.  Instruments such as guitar-like strings called nyatiti and the udi, and also homemade rattles attached to the ankles for percussion sounds are popular to not only the Maasai people, but other Kenyan tribes alike.  According to an article written by Amy Witherbee of Our World, drama and dance are very much appreciated by the Maasai people. Performances begin at school age, and dramatic and dance teams travel around the countryside to compete in performance competitions (Witherbee, 2016).  This shows a direct correlation with music and the other arts.

Aside from traditional forms of music and dance, modern contemporary music has really taken hold into the Maasai culture. The Hip-Hop music form has been adopted by the Maasai as an instrument to tell the story of it's people and their struggles.  This tribe is currently using the art form in two ways.  In the first they use the music to represent to the local community, the possibility of international success.  Secondly, it's used to project the image of African traditionalism, authenticity, and hybridity to their international audience (Thompson, 2008).

The use of traditional style of music or contemporary style doesn't take anything away from who the Maasai are as a people.  Traditional garb of the Maasai is worn in concerts and videos, as well as the Swahili language (even though they also use English for their international audiences) is used as a way of not getting too far detached for the origin of the people.  Maasai imagery, clothing and hairstyle are all used to "Keep it Real," (as is one of the titles of the referenced articles).

Music is definitely a big part of the historical and modern culture of the Maasai people.  Because of its transcendent nature, world has been able to share and be educated about the culture, history, and evolution of this great nomadic tribe of Africa.

References

     
Thompson, 2008.  Keeping it Real: Reality and Representation in Maasai Hip-Hop.  Journal of    African Cultural Studies.  Vol. 20, No.  1, June 2008, pp.  33-44

Witherbee, 2016.  Kenya, Our World

Busta Rhymes stlye song
https://youtu.be/k5zrW_933jQ?list=PLKI3tF07i-c7SIug2CUktFebxWsBUE_CL

Busta Rhymes Whoo Ha!
https://youtu.be/AiVpSSkwPU4

Ngai and the Religion among the Maasai

The Maasai believe in one god, Ngai, who is androgynous. However, this god takes on two forms: Ngai Narok who is black and is associated with the North and goodness and benevolence, and Ngai Nanyokie, who is red and angry, and is associated with the South and vengeance. Ngai Narok also presides over rain, fertility, sun, and love matters. Ngai's Earthly home is "Ol Doinyo Lengai" which means the 'Mountain of God' and is located in northern Tanzania. Ngai also created the forest, mountains, lowlands, and highlands. When there is too much, too little, or just enough rain, when there is thunder, or drought or lightening Ngai is rewarding or punishing the Maasai.

According to Maasai mythology, in the beginning, the sky and were one in the same. One day they split, and Ngai went up with the sky. The god took the cattle with him, but since they couldn't survive, he made a rope out of fig tree roots and sent the cattle down to Earth to the Maasai people in a never-ending stream. (The fig tree is still very sacred to this day for the Maasai, and is still believed to be how the Maasai can connect with the divine). This connections was cut off one day by a hunter from a neighboring people, and the flow of cattle and the permanent connection between sky and Earth was broken.

As one might suspect, cattle hold an immense amount of spiritual significance for the Maasai, and drinking their milk and eating their meat is a religious experience enjoyed at major life events, like marriages, funerals, and initiations. Cattle are highly respected in Maasai society, and since grass is their sustenance, grass is also highly important; if one holds grass in his fist, it is a message for peace, and grass is also used for blessing ceremonies.

The religious leaders of the community are the Laiboni: Laiboni are liaisons between humans and the divine, and are human themselves. They are responsible for teaching, healing, and presiding over religious ceremonies, including sacrifice. They are responsible for communicating the intentions of through divination, and 'seeing' the future. There are thought to be three sub-types of Laiboni (though some may practice all types), which are those who heal or address illness and domestic disputes, those who are concerned with war, rain and other natural matters, and those concerned with the community at large. They heal physical ailments through their vast knowledge of herbs. One can only become a Laibon through ancestral inheritance. There is typically one Laibon per clan.

The Maasai also hold that once you are born a spirit is assigned to you to protect from evil while you are on earth. The Maasai believe that your destiny after death is determined by your behavior on Earth. If you are benevolent and helpful within your community, your spirit will take your soul to a beautiful place where there is plenty of grass and cattle. If you live a vengeful existence or live a disruptive life, however, you will go to a land in perpetual drought with no cattle. 

Regarding death, the Maasai people hold that Ngai created the first warrior, Le-eyo, and Ngai taught him a spell to chant over the bodies of dead children that would allow the to come back to life and become immortal. According to the fable, however, Le-eyo did not use his power until his own son was destined for death. Because he had lived his whole life and had never used his power selflessly, it was too late, and because of Le-eyo's selfishness, mankind is destined for death.

Sources:
Mazama, Ama. The Encyclopedia of African Religion. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2009.
        http://www.gmu.ac.ir/download/booklibrary/e-      
        library/Encyclopedia%20of%20African%20Religion.pdf

Finke, Jens. "Maasai - Religion and Beliefs." BlueGecko.org. 2000-2003.
        11/15/2016. http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/beliefs.htm.

The Maasai, Family, and Marriage

Family and Marriage for the Maasai is an interesting topic. Among the tribe there are what are called age-sets. This is a kind of social hierarchy for the Maasai. There are many age-sets that a male can be in. Women are in the age-set that their husbands are in."The image most people have of the Maasai warrior is one of a tall and lean man dressed in a bright red shuka cloth, or red tartan blanket wrapped around his waist or slung across his shoulders. In one hand he holds a long-bladed stabbing spear, and more often than not will be seen leaning against it with one leg off the ground hooked behind the other."(Finke 2008) This describes a Moran, a warrior. The Morani are the warriors of the tribe. Any man can be part of the Morani but first he must be circumcised. Once the elders decide that a boy is ready for initiation, he will be circumcised and prepared for junior warriorhood. These warriors are trusted with the task of protecting the cattle and engaging in warfare.

The elders will then decide after some time that the junior warriors have done their time and are graduated to the status of senior warrior. At this time they can have a wife or multiple wives and can have a family. After their time as a senior warrior, if they still survive, they are made an elder. Elders make most of the decisions of the clan or tribe. Elders are composed of men and women. Because there are many elders, decisions are made as a group, there is not one main decision maker. This way the decisions are not contested.

The women of the Maasai have a very different life. From when they are born, in most cases, they are already betrothed to a man. Even though they may be betrothed, they still enjoy sexual freedom until they are circumcised at about age 15. If they do not cry out or flinch during this procedure, they are considered clean, pure, and ready for marriage. To be married the man has to pay bridewealth for his bride. This is done to protect the wealth of the family that is losing a daughter.

After the women are married, they may still keep close ties with other men in the tribe. If they do become pregnant from this, their husband will accept the child as his own. Women, once they are married and have children, have to take care of the cattle as well as build the houses for the family. In one village, traditionally, there would be 8-20 houses, today there can be up to 50 houses, this is because of land restrictions. Maasai are being pushed out of their traditional territory. In addition to building the homes, women are expected to care for the home, children, and cattle. They also must fetch firewood and water which may be 30km or more away.

Finke, Jens. "Maasai - Religion and Beliefs." BlueGecko.org. 2000-2003.
        11/15/2016. http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/beliefs.htm.