Kinship, Marriage, and Family

There is one large Masai society that is divided into two moieties. A moiety in anthropology means, either of two kinship groups based on individual descent that together make up a tribe or society. The two moieties are, "orok kiteng" and "oodo mongi." This way, the groups are organized within the community. Within these two groups, smaller families, or clans, are broken up by a patrilineal line of descent. The father plays an important role within the Masai household; he is the key figure in the patriarchal family, and, theoretically, his control is absolute subject only to interference by close senior elders in situations of crisis. As the head of the family, the father is also responsible for making all the decisions within the household. Until the age of seven, boys and girls are raised together. Children join their father's sub-clan while their mother is actually a part of her own family's separate sub-clan. However, mothers remain close to their children throughout life. Even though the family unit seems segmented by different sub-clans, Masai families are actually quite tightly knit. For example, members of the same clan often live close to one another and occupy neighboring households. The reason for the close relation between clans in the community is that every tribe and lineage is descended from a common tribal ancestor. As a result, each member of the community considers the other to be a distant relative. However, of all the familial ties in the Masai community, the nuclear family is considered the closest relationship. The Masai clans are exogamous, which means that they prefer to marry only individuals outside of their own clan. Masai warriors perform a jump around dance, which is part of how they find a mate. Whoever ends up being the highest jumper ends up getting the girls. The male elders then arrange marriages within the community based on a profitable exchange of cattle. This arrangement is actually done without consulting the bride or her mother. Many of the Masai marriages are polygamous, with then men having several wives. If a man has only one wife, the reason for this is always poverty. Every new wife is given a number of cattle as a type of exchange for the children that she will provide the husband. The Masai men also most often marry much younger women, as much as fifteen years younger. A woman should not remarry after the death of her husband. Therefore, being that the husbands are much older, they typically die before the wife dies; consequently, the deceased husband's extended family is viewed as a necessary tool in raising the children. As an example, the deceased husband's brother would build a new hut for the widowed wife and would become a type of surrogate father to the children responsible for their welfare as well as initiation and marriage arrangements. Each child belongs to an "age set" from birth. To control the evils of pride, jealousy, and selfishness, children must obey the rules governing relationships within the age set, between age sets, and between the sexes. Warriors, for example, must share a girlfriend with at least one of their age-group companions. All Masai of the same sex are considered equal within their age group. Many tensions exist between children and adults, elders and warriors, and men and women. The Masai control these with prohibitions. For example, a daughter must not be present while her father is eating. And, although the younger warriors may wish to dominate their communities, they must follow rules and respect their elders' advice.

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Maasai tribe: The meaning of love & polygamy