When I started researching the
culture of the Masai I was looking for information on their food, homes, and
conflicts. While finding this
information I found that they were not what I expected them to be. They eat more meat then I expected, I thought
that sense they were nomadic they wouldn’t but this turned out to be
incorrect. The women build the houses,
which is different then what I have normally seen. The conflicts the Masai are involved with are
about cattle mostly or food and are with other tribes. The Masai people do have different customs
and ways of life but they are from a different part of the world and live in a
different style of life as well, so this is all something that needs to be remembered
when looking at people in areas other than our own.
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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