The Maasai

For a very long time, Maasai status in their society was determined and measured by how many cattle a male owned. Livestock was an indicator of prosperity and animals were commonly offered as part of a bride price, but the Maasai did sometimes lend their cattle to relatives in difficulties, too. In a certain sense, cattle held communities together by providing a common and mutually beneficial bond of ownership. Specific members of kin group’s herded animals, but the whole belonged to the wider social unit irrespective of their actual geographical spread.

In times of drought when milk was in short supply or animals even died, those with only a small herd were forced to farm or hunt for themselves, which as we have seen above, was regarded as the ultimate failure. Warriors lived together in separated clusters of dwellings, ate in each other’s presence, shared property and always travelled together.

All Maasai individuals belonged to a family, clan, and district group. Representatives of these groups formed councils of male elders – seniority in age was an important criterion for the Maasai elite – which met regularly to discuss and decide matters important to the Maasai as a whole and establish the rights and mutual obligations of each of these three levels of society. Elite groups typically ended up controlling the best grazing land and the vital watering places. Youths were permitted into adulthood through initiation ceremonies, which involved circumcision (for both sexes).

Prosperous groups of Maasai were able to permit some individuals to pursue other activities such as basketry, textile work, religion, and art. Another task could be housebuilding, traditionally regarded as a woman’s responsibility along with the household chores and childcare, while men tended the animals.

Trade with other tribes permitted the acquisition of such necessities as grain, vegetables, and other foodstuffs produced by agriculturalist tribes (notably the Kikuyu), salt, iron, weapons, tools, and luxury goods such as well-made pottery and decorative items for the body and home. Interestingly, trade was the responsibility of Maasai women.

The Maasai paid for these goods in the form of cattle, milk, skins, and leather. Another area of exchange was expertise, with the pastoralists performing minor surgeries and tooth extractions in return for the agriculturalist’s knowledge of medicines.