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 Their article of clothing is referred to as a shuka, and was originally made out of animal skins, but the material was transitioned into cotton.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