The Masai are a patriarchal society meaning that women are
subservient to men. The men are in three
different groups the ilayiok, illmuran and the ilpayioni.
The ilayoik are the young uncircumcised boys they have a hard life that
involves herding cattle and physical hardships that is to prepare them for the
leap to manhood which includes their circumcision. After that the boys become illmuran, which
means warrior these men are responsible for protecting the villages, going on
raids and being messengers for the elders.
They always travel in groups and everything is shared. The next stage for the men is ilpayioni they
are the junior elders once this happens the men can get married and start a
family. They put down their weapons for
farm tools and go on to tend livestock and become the head of their
households. After junior elder they go
on to be elders, senior elders and then venerable elders. They get more and more power until they reach
the venerable elder stage and then the power goes back to the young men or
ilpayioni. The women of the Masia are in
two groups married and unmarried. The
unmarried women are called intoyie, which means that they are uncircumcised. These girls are the girlfriends of the
illmuran, which means that live in the warrior villages with them. Once the girl is circumcised she is married
to one of the village elders. The
practice of circumcision on women has been outlawed in many countries and is no
longer used in the Masia culture now.
The women are responsible for teaching their daughters about life in the
warrior villages. The senior women have
some say in the household and can sing songs about their feelings toward men. The society is very male dominated, but does
allow for some input by the women.
Background Information
Name: Maasai/Masai is a linguistice term, which refers to the speakers of Eastern Sudanic language, often called Maa, of the Nilo-Saharan language family.
Language: The official language of the Masai was first recorded by missionary Rev. Dr. Johann Ludwig Kraft; it was published using the Roman alphabet with its vowels and consonants in 1854's Vocabulary of the Engutuk Eloik ob. The language is shared within Kenya and is known as the Olmaa language or Ol Maa. F, q, v, x, and z alphabet do not occur in the Masai language. Roughly 900,000 people in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania speak this language. Maasai refers to "one who speaks the Maa language".
Population: The 2009 census revealed that Kenya has a population of 38.6 million people. Kenya's population is currently said to be at slightly over 40 million; CIA World Fact book lists the Kenya population at 41.7 million in July 2011. The Masai make up only 7% of Kenya's population. It is estimated that 1 million of Kenya's population is Masai; however most Masai people do not agree to that being the actual number.
History: The Maasai, at times spelled Masai, of East Africa consists of 5 clans; ilmakesen, il-laiser, il-molelian, il-taarrosero and il-ikumai, although there have been claims of an actual number of 7. The Masai have said that they came from a crater or deep valley known at Endikir-e-Kerio, however it is known that they initially came from the North likely from the region of the Nile Valley in Sudan, northwest of Lake Turkana. Not until the 1830's were the Masai a collective nation, yet their reputation proceeded them as fierce warriors whose livelihood consists of livestock/cattle, hence the need for strong warriors to obtain territory for pasturing and additional cattle. During the 19th century their herds were destroyed due to a cattle virus obtained called Rinderpest and drought. Treaties or colonial agreements in 1904 and 1911 with the European Government moved the Masai out of the northern lands of Laikipia. The Masai livelihood today consists of cattle and benefit by way of the national parks in which a small percentage of money generated from them provide schools, health centers and construction dams. The national parks and reserves were initially the Masai's territory and are now Kenya's tourism sector.
Language: The official language of the Masai was first recorded by missionary Rev. Dr. Johann Ludwig Kraft; it was published using the Roman alphabet with its vowels and consonants in 1854's Vocabulary of the Engutuk Eloik ob. The language is shared within Kenya and is known as the Olmaa language or Ol Maa. F, q, v, x, and z alphabet do not occur in the Masai language. Roughly 900,000 people in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania speak this language. Maasai refers to "one who speaks the Maa language".
Population: The 2009 census revealed that Kenya has a population of 38.6 million people. Kenya's population is currently said to be at slightly over 40 million; CIA World Fact book lists the Kenya population at 41.7 million in July 2011. The Masai make up only 7% of Kenya's population. It is estimated that 1 million of Kenya's population is Masai; however most Masai people do not agree to that being the actual number.
History: The Maasai, at times spelled Masai, of East Africa consists of 5 clans; ilmakesen, il-laiser, il-molelian, il-taarrosero and il-ikumai, although there have been claims of an actual number of 7. The Masai have said that they came from a crater or deep valley known at Endikir-e-Kerio, however it is known that they initially came from the North likely from the region of the Nile Valley in Sudan, northwest of Lake Turkana. Not until the 1830's were the Masai a collective nation, yet their reputation proceeded them as fierce warriors whose livelihood consists of livestock/cattle, hence the need for strong warriors to obtain territory for pasturing and additional cattle. During the 19th century their herds were destroyed due to a cattle virus obtained called Rinderpest and drought. Treaties or colonial agreements in 1904 and 1911 with the European Government moved the Masai out of the northern lands of Laikipia. The Masai livelihood today consists of cattle and benefit by way of the national parks in which a small percentage of money generated from them provide schools, health centers and construction dams. The national parks and reserves were initially the Masai's territory and are now Kenya's tourism sector.
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