Introduction to the Masai people

The Masai are dark skinned people who live in Kenya and

Tanzania in East Africa. There are more than 377,000 Masai people. They have lived in East Africa since 1378. Masai

 people have been described as fierce warriors but also as verybeautiful people. The Masai speak the Maa Language. They

move around their land called ‘Masailand’. It has wide grassy plains, large lakes and big rivers. The Masai people love their

cattle and sheep.

Masai Food

The Masai love to drink cattle blood mixed with cattle milk but

 would never kill their cattle for that. They just pump out theblood from under a live cattle’s ear for this. The Masai people eat

 the meat of their cattle when it is dead and use the bones too.They also eat black cattle filled with honey-beer. Then the meat

gets roasted and put into a cool place to dry.

Masai Shelter

The Masai live in East Africa in Kenya and Tanzania. Theylive in small villages with six to ten huts that are made out of 

branches, twigs and clay. The Masai traveled in and around the border of Masailand. When a Masai women is married

she builds a Hut out of sticks, twigs, dung and mud. Shemakes this with the help of her neighbors. The hut is big

enough to fit a family with ten to thirteen people in it. Theinside of a hut has two bathrooms, two bedrooms, one

kitchen and one living-room for people to live in. Masai take baby animals into their huts for nights to take care of 

 them.

Masai Clothing

The smaller Masai children wear mostly cloths around their

bodies and they did not decorate themselves with as muchbeaded work as the older people. They wore small sandals

made out of leather strips. Women wore wide flat beadedcollars around their neck. Young women wear special

Headdresses covering their forehead. Warriors wearspecial beaded bands around or on their head, ears, neck,

 waist and ankles.

Masai Art

 When Masai women are finished with their other work they love

 to make some things for their family like necklaces and otherbeaded work. They wear these at special ceremonies. Masai

beadwork is beautiful and interesting. Some women also makeextra things for tourists and sell them outside their town or on

grassy plains. The Masai women make their bead work by putting colorful beads onto leather. They also make capes out of 

leather, wool, animal skin and fur. Masai people also love to playmusic and invent their own instruments like the Kundu horn.

The Masai People of Africa

Bibliography

McQuail Lisa, The Masai of Africa, Minneapolis, Lerner

Publications, 2002

Project by: AntoniaGrade:4

Masai Traditions

Masai people believe in the god named Enkai - who is notfemale or male and mostly prayed on grassy plains. They

believe Enkai gave all the cattle just to them and used to stealcattle from other tribes but didn’t think it was stealing because

 they thought that their god gave all the cattle to them. Alsocattle was the Masais favorite animal and they love it more

 than their other animals like sheep, goats and donkeys.

 When the Masai met Europeans and Americans

In the 1840’s European people discovered that Africa had

many expensive natural resources. Europeans came to Africa because they wanted to have bits of land and set up

colonies . They built thousands of houses out of wood, they took land for their animals and didn’t leave much space for

 the Masai people to live in. American people also joined infor land. Masai don’t live in peace and harmony or have

enough land now. The American and European people alsobuilt roads, schools and hospitals in many parts of Africa also

on the Masai peoples land.