There are over 3,000 tribes in the continent of Africa, with the Hausa (mostly in Nigeria) comprising of the largest group with nearly 80 million. And then there are the Maasai tribe inhabiting across northern, central, and southern Kenya as well as northern Tanzania. They are well known because of their distinctive culture, rituals, 'high jumping dance', custom dress, and being courageous warriors. They are also very hospitable and friendly to tourists, which is how they have become more commercialized for tourism in recent years. How truly authentic the visit to the Maasai village is remains a topic of debate since every detail is carefully planned out and ends with a chance for them to sell you merchandise. Still, since the Maasai are a private people, the scripted tours created by select villages for tourists allows a look into their lives, the ability to ask questions, and interact with them in a way that you would otherwise never be able to. It is also important to realize that part of the money you are spending for the tour and in their market helps the community pay for food, schooling, cows, and other necessities. In fact, nowadays children from the tribe are starting to go to the cities to attend school and university, but then oftentimes return to their communities afterwards to give back to their roots with their newly acquired knowledge and skills.
However, even with the influence of westernization, they have managed to maintain their strong cultural identity and many of their traditional practices and beliefs. They are semi-nomadic pastoralists, relying on their herds of cattle and goats for their livelihood. The Maasai have a close relationship with their livestock and view them as a symbol of wealth and status. In fact, the more cows a man owns, the wealthier he is perceived by the community and the more wives the man can have as a result.
It was a bit later in the afternoon and we decided to visit the local Maasai village not far from our lodge alongside the entrance to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Upon our arrival, we were warmly greeted by the village chief and a group of Maasai warriors who performed a traditional welcome ceremony for our group. During the ceremony, the warriors began singing and dancing in a circle and then pulled each of us in to participate.
The Maasai people have a unique and fascinating cultural practice known as "jumping dances." These dances, also known as "adumu," are an important part of Maasai culture and are performed to celebrate special life events. During a jumping dance, Maasai men form a circle and take turns jumping as high as they can while singing and shouting in perfect synchrony. As our local Maasai guide, Moses, described to us, the warriors will also sometimes jump to compete for potential wives and the one who jumps the highest will be rewarded with having the smallest dowry (known as lobola which involves the transfer of cattle from the prospective husband to the family of the prospective bride) required (minimum 5 cattle), while the one who jumps the lowest will be required to pay the largest lobola (maximum of 20 cattle). The jumping is seen as a display of strength and vitality, and we were fortunate to witness the ceremony take place during our visit as well as get involved in the action ourselves. The jumping dances are an important part of Maasai culture and continue to be a source of pride for the community. They are a testament to the Maasai people's rich cultural heritage and their deep connection to the land and their traditions.
The welcome Maasai jumping ceremony
After the official welcome, Moses led our group into the open center area of the acacia brushwood enclosure, called a boma, which is where a tribe’s cattle and goats would be herded into at night for security. Ringed around the inner edge of the brushwood enclosure were a number of huts made from wooden poles, branches and covered with cow dung and mud. In fact, when water is scarce, which is typical of the tropical climate, cow urine is used to moisturize the building material. When it’s hot, the dung mixture is fast to dry out and crack. When it happens, the huts undergo a renovation: the walls and roof are further secured with additional dung and soil layers. It is an ongoing process that requires routine labor and hugely depends on the supply of cattle. We were then shown how a typical fire is created from scratch using all-natural supplies. The tribe created a fire from the friction created by rubbing two sticks together and then igniting dry animal dung– a traditional method that has kept the pastoralist Maasai people warm and well-fed for several centuries.
Traditional Maasai home made of cow dung and mud
Creating a fire from cow dung
In the past, the Maasai had a custom of killing lions as a rite of passage and initiation into the tribe for young boys who wanted to prove their strength and become true warriors. The Maasai always behaved honestly toward the animals. They only fought a lion on the open plain to be on an equal footing with it. Speaking of weapons, the warrior used only a spear and sometimes took a shield with them. The young boys were then supposed to bring back the skin of the lion to the tribal leader. Maasai law forbade the pursuit of a drought-ridden lion or one that had been poisoned or caught in a net. However, once the lion population began to decline, the Maasai stopped the practice of hunting lions. Now, in addition to the laws of honor, lion hunting is also forbidden by Tanzanian law. The only exception may be the killing of a lion in defense when the predator attacks grazing cattle in the boma or a Maasai village.
It was interesting because their diet is very protein centric and consists mostly of milk and meat with little to no vegetable or fruit intake. However, when it comes to the consumption of animals, no part goes to waste and they are known for eating both raw and cooked meat and organs as well as raw goat and cow blood. However, because the cow is considered a prized possession, instead of killing it for the blood, the Maasai warriors will use a blunt arrow that is shot at close range to puncture the jugular vein of the cow. The blood is then quickly collected as it pours out and is oftentimes mixed with milk before drinking. The cow is not left to bleed out though, but is carefully tended to and the wound on it's neck is sealed off with the dung of the animal.
Before ending the tour of the village, we were told about the unique opportunity to hand-pick a goat and have it slaughtered and prepared the traditional way back at our lodge. The goat cost about $60, which included the meal preparation. We managed to get about 8 people from our lodge to chip in for the purchase of the goat. A few warriors from the tribe then brought over the live hand-picked goat on a bike later that evening and proceeded to begin the slaughtering and preparation process. I understand that this may be difficult for some to fathom and that it may be considered unethical, but at the end of the day if you eat meat, it is important to see and understand the process it takes to go from the animal on the farm to the point it is ready to eat on your plate. After slitting the throat of the goat while holding it down, they then poured the blood into a cup for several of us to try. It surprisingly had a warm milky taste to it, and less of that iron taste that you might typically expect from animal blood. The food preparers then continued to skin the animal and clean it while cutting off various organs for us to try in their raw form. We tried bits of the liver and kidneys, which were less gamey than you might expect. As a fun fact, goat and beef liver are among the most nutritious and healthy meats one can consume, rich in vitamins A and B, iron, copper, and many other essential nutrients. They then offered the testicles, but that's where I had to put a limit and respectfully decline the offer. Due to the explicit content, I decided not to include the videos or pictures of the process in this post. While the preparation process was a very unique experience to witness first hand, when it came to finally eating the cooked meat, there were parts of the goat that were better than others, and it was overall not my favorite meal. They also don't use any spices to marinate the meat, so that didn't help either.
Preparing the goat for dinner
Roasting the goat over the fire
Fresh flame grilled goat ready to devour