Cattle at the heart of Masai way of life

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31 2014
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After winning the only UK place on an International Federation
of Agricultural Journalists trip to Tanzania in November,
Georgina Haigh reports on her visit to a Masai tribe where she
learned about the tribes’ cattle and their family structure.
Cattle at the heart
of Masai way of life
A
reduction in available
land, a series of illnesses and boughts of
drought means modern-day Masai tribes
now live in a large corridor of
grassland between Kenya and
Tanzania known as the Serengeti
plains. Average rainfall across the
plains is between 505-1,270mm
each year, and is much drier in the
South around Tanzania, than the
North.
With the loss of their land,
many Masai are no longer able to
survive by their old ways, and
are often involved in tourist
attractions such as performing
dances, guiding guests and selling
traditional beaded jewellery.
Although growing crops is not
traditionally a part of the Masai
tribes’ way of life, it is becoming
more necessary as their land area
shrinks.
However, Masai culture is still
steeped in tradition, and way of life
is a lot like it was thousands of
years ago, unlike other native
tribes which have adapted to more
western life styles.
Their cattle are the most
important thing to them, and their
welfare is traditionally asked
about before the family of a Masai
warrior.
As nomadic people, they travel
with their herd to find grazing,
and believe God specifically created cattle for the use of the Masai.
In the past this belief led to
widespread theft of cattle from
other tribes and ranchers, as they
reclaimed what they believed to be
rightfully theirs. However, this is
not an issue in modern-day Masai
culture.
Cattle
Living almost exclusively off their
cattle, it is easy to see why they are
so important to the tribe. Their
diets consist of the meat, blood
and milk from their own cattle.
Generally Masai tribes have
Zebu or Ankole cattle, and take
blood regularly from living cows
in their herd, by shooting a small
arrow into the jugular.
Blood is mixed with milk, natural herbs and remedies before
being drank by the tribe, which
they believe makes their bodies
strong and powerful.
Each village has its own market,
which takes place most weeks.
Donkeys, swaths of grass in
bundles (similar to hay), clothes,
herbs and jewellery are also sold
at these.
At the Tanzanian Masai tribe
near to Arusha a small cow will sell
for about 150,000 Tanzanian
shillings (TZS) (roughly £56) and
a large cow around one million
TZS (about £368).
Rather than paying for cattle
with cash, and not having access
to cards or cheques, Tanzanian
farmers in general, including
Masai warriors, use their mobile
phones to pay each other.
Most adults have a mobile
phone in Tanzania, linked to
their bank accounts to speed up
payments.
Masai society revolves around
each generation of men becoming
warriors, which involves many
‘coming of age rituals’, which
women also partake in. Masai tribes are defined by
age groups or sets, especially
among men. For example, the
groups would be young boys, junior warriors, senior warriors,
junior elders and senior elders; or
something similar.
Tribe members do not move
from one group to another at a
certain age, but normally when
the tribe decides to create a new
warrior set; about every 15 years
or so.
Masai warriors are vital to a
Masai tribe, with each boy going
through the process. A man can
only become a warrior after being
circumcised and living apart from
their own family for a long period
of time for training and further
ceremonies. Only then can they
have their own family.
After 10 years they will become
a senior warrior, when they are
able to take a wife.
The amount of wives a warrior
has is a testament to their wealth;
wives are exchanged for cows,
which are given to the female’s
family in exchange for her hand in
marriage. A warrior must also
ensure he has enough cattle to
feed all of his family before taking
another wife.
Masais take blood from living cows, which are usually Zebu or Ankole breeds. PICTURE: Jurgen Schmucking
Swaths of grass are also sold at the Masai markets, which take place most weeks, as feed for livestock.
Masai warriors own about 1001,000 cows each, and although the
sale of cattle is avoided, they will
sell livestock to pay for important
things such as education, or medical fees. A Masai warrior’s herd
size is also a sign of his wealth.
A warrior’s job is to protect the
villages and cattle, while women
do other farming work, build and
maintain houses and cook and
clean for their families. Houses
are small and round, built out of
mud, sticks, grass, cattle manure
and urine. Although women of the tribe
tend to most matters, the fences
which surround the Masai villages
are built by the warriors.
The fence around the village is
made out of Acacia thorns, which
are long, and painfully sharp needles grown to keep predators away
from the village and cattle.
It is a woman’s responsibility to build and maintain the houses,
which are made of mud, sticks, grass, cattle manure and urine.
The Masai
■ It is thought the Masai’s
migrated from the Nile valley
region in the 1500s, finally
coming to take over the Great
Rift Valley at some point over the
next 300 years. The Great Rift
Valley starts in Ethiopia and
stretches through Kenya, down
to Tanzania
■ Due to their nomadic lifestyle
the Masai claimed a large
Members of the Masai tribes sing and dance to welcome visitors.
proportion of The Great Rift
Valley region as their own. At
their peak, the Masai held land
covering the entire valley
■ Masai warriors were a
formidable force in the area,
and were responsible for much
of their territory expansion by
conquering neighbours and
stealing their cattle
■ But the Masai faced a downfall
towards the end of the 1800s,
when not only was their
population devastated by
drought and a series of illnesses;
much of their land was taken by
the Kenyan Government for
wildlife preservation parks
■ Land population was also
reduced by the arrival of white
settlers who claimed the Masai’s
land for ranches. Historical
estimates predict two-thirds
of Masai land was taken over
during this period
■ Members of the Masai tribe
are recognised by their bright
red or blue robes, and beaded
jewellery. Traditional, cultural
dances are performed to
welcome visitors, and for special
occasions; designed to show off
the Masai’s strength