REGION
CORE BELIEFS
- The Maasai believe in a single God
- The Maasai God has two opposing identities: the generous Black God (Engai Narok) and the vindictive Red God (Engai Nanyoki)
THEOLOGY
The Maasai measure a man's wealth by the amount of cattle and children he has. A man who has plenty of one, but few of the other is considered to be poor. "The culture is polygamous in nature and the prestige attached to childbirth means that even if a Maasai's wife falls pregnant by another man, the child will be brought up as his own." The Maasai people pratice the warrior jumping dance, where young warrior youths jump into the air to demonstrate their strength and agility. The male had to kill a lion to earn the right to a wife but this practice has now largely ceased. While they are kids they get one or bottom teeth removed.
The Maasai's often identify themselves with red. As a tradition these people do not hunt, eat fish or vegetables. They feed almost exclusively off their cattle. "A Maasai's main diet consists mainly of meat, milk and blood from cattle. Cows are more valuable to the Maasai alive, and so are only slaughtered on very special occasions." As a result the sheep and goats play an important roe in Maasai culture.
RELIGION OVER TIME
Maasai (sometimes spelled Masai) is known as one of the many diverse tribes of Africa, occupying much of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Maasais believe that each person is sent with a guardian spirit. According to them they obtain this guardian during the birth ceremony. This guardian is sent to protect the person and ward off danger until the day the person dies. At the time of death, the guardians do one of two things with the people's spirits. If they were bad people during their time on earth, they are carried off to a desert, with no water and no cattle. In a way it connects to Buddhism and Christianity like depending on your present behavior it will depend on your after life. If they were good people while on the earth, then they are carried off to a land with many cattle and plentiful pastures. The Maasai has received the most written recognition of all the tribes of this region of Africa and prove to be very interesting to study. Although the tribe has developed rather recently from their warrior, nomadic, pastoral way of life into a more settled people, the people, the traditions that characterize their culture and their daily lives remain virtually the same.
The religion Maasai reside together among two different types of kraals. The first type is the enkang,
which is where the married people live with their families. The enkang consists of anywhere from
twenty to fifty huts enclosed by a circular thorn fence. (Adamson 222) Each family has one or two
gates in the fence. The wives huts are located on each side of the hut, the odd numbered wives
are located on the right side of the gate, while the even numbered wives are located on the left side of the gate. (Kaplan 132) The second type of kraal is the manyata where the groups of young males live along with their mothers and sisters upon their circumcision. The manyatas consists of fifty to one hundred huts that house hundreds of people. There is no fence surrounding the manyatas like what surrounds the enkang. (Adamson 224) Maasai traditional death rituals involved simply leaving a corpse out for hyenas to eat. The dead body was wrapped in a skin of a particular animal, depending on the status of the person who died. An ox is slaughtered upon the death of an adult or elderly man. The body is wrapped in the skin after being lathered in the fat and oil of the ox. Leather sandals are made from the hide of the ox and placed on the feet of the dead body. The body is buried, placed on its side facing east. When a woman dies, a black ram is killed and she is wrapped in the traditional ceremonial sheepskin. Her body is also lathered in the oils from the sheep and her beadwork is removed before she is buried. If the woman was but did not have children, or if a warrior or child dies, no animal is slaughtered. If a baby dies, it is lathered in milk and the head is shaved. If a ritual leader dies, the body is buried and covered with stones. The Maasai people are very intriguing people who live simple lives without many modern machinery or technologies. They have learned to live off of the resources provided to them by nature and are happy and successful in doing so. Their rituals are followed closely and intently, and the sense of loyalty and community that is present among them is outstanding. Although different from the Maasai rites of passages and the ceremonies performed by them, we also have our own rites of passage and traditions and ceremonies that we use to celebrate different occasions. It is always interesting to learn about different cultures ways of celebrating different rites and occasions and to
learn how they live and prosper.
The religion Maasai reside together among two different types of kraals. The first type is the enkang,
which is where the married people live with their families. The enkang consists of anywhere from
twenty to fifty huts enclosed by a circular thorn fence. (Adamson 222) Each family has one or two
gates in the fence. The wives huts are located on each side of the hut, the odd numbered wives
are located on the right side of the gate, while the even numbered wives are located on the left side of the gate. (Kaplan 132) The second type of kraal is the manyata where the groups of young males live along with their mothers and sisters upon their circumcision. The manyatas consists of fifty to one hundred huts that house hundreds of people. There is no fence surrounding the manyatas like what surrounds the enkang. (Adamson 224) Maasai traditional death rituals involved simply leaving a corpse out for hyenas to eat. The dead body was wrapped in a skin of a particular animal, depending on the status of the person who died. An ox is slaughtered upon the death of an adult or elderly man. The body is wrapped in the skin after being lathered in the fat and oil of the ox. Leather sandals are made from the hide of the ox and placed on the feet of the dead body. The body is buried, placed on its side facing east. When a woman dies, a black ram is killed and she is wrapped in the traditional ceremonial sheepskin. Her body is also lathered in the oils from the sheep and her beadwork is removed before she is buried. If the woman was but did not have children, or if a warrior or child dies, no animal is slaughtered. If a baby dies, it is lathered in milk and the head is shaved. If a ritual leader dies, the body is buried and covered with stones. The Maasai people are very intriguing people who live simple lives without many modern machinery or technologies. They have learned to live off of the resources provided to them by nature and are happy and successful in doing so. Their rituals are followed closely and intently, and the sense of loyalty and community that is present among them is outstanding. Although different from the Maasai rites of passages and the ceremonies performed by them, we also have our own rites of passage and traditions and ceremonies that we use to celebrate different occasions. It is always interesting to learn about different cultures ways of celebrating different rites and occasions and to
learn how they live and prosper.