MaasaiColors of

M aasai people of Tanzania are known for their distinctive clothing, made from brightly colored cloth & decorated with intricate beadwork. The colors and patterns of the cloth have specific meanings and reflect different stages of life & social status. Red stands for bravery and unity, yellow and orange symbolize hospitality, white represents peace, purity, & health, blue represents energy and the sky, green symbolises health and land, black represents people & the struggles they must endure.

C attle represent the fundamental currency in traditional Maasai society. Families seek to accumulate large herds to demonstrate their wealth and status. They are sold and bartered in many kinds of exchanges involving goods & services. Maasai have historically depended on their cattle in meeting all of their basic needs: food, clothing, & shelter. Their traditional diet relies heavily on milk, dairy products, lean beef and other meats, cattle fat, and blood, on which they depend for their salt intake.

I n the Maasai culture, it is the women that are responsible for the daily household chores and cooking, the physical construction and ongoing maintenance of the homes, the child-rearing, as well as the time-consuming and burdensome task of collecting firewood and clean water each and every day. The women of Africa are resourceful, industrious and unrelentingly resilient.

Women Maasai

The Maasai women build their homes, called Enkaj. The traditional huts are often quite small, circular or oval, and are built without any windows. For the walls, the women make them out of mud mixed with cow dung and sticks; the roof is built out of grass and sticks. Given thenomadic lifestyle of the Maasai, houses are semi-permanent and cannot withstand the harsh weather conditions. The materials used degrade very quickly and it is usually women and children who carry out the constantly needed repairs.

Polygamy is an important part of Maasai culture, allowing men to marry more than one wife. Among cattle keeping people, polygamy is closely tied to economy. A man with one wife can never acquire the wealth and status associated with hundreds of cows, for it is the children who take care of the cattle. A sizeable household is also a sign of prestige and respect for older men.

Labor among traditional herding Maasai is clearly divided. The man’s responsibility is his cattle. He must protect them and find them the best possible pasture land and watering holes. Women do the rest, such as raise children, maintain the home, cook, and do the milking. Boys herd the cattle from a very young age to learn the ropes; sometimes that means just carrying the spear for the older warrior (morani ), whose responsibiity is to protect the herd.