The Maasai Tribe Essay -- Kenya tribe Maasai Essays

The Maasai be one of the legion(predicate) entropyern- roughly tribes located in Kenya. They are physically related, and also in many other forms related to the Samburu and Turkana. The Maasai devour a relatively complex culture and traditions. In fact, for many years they were unheard of. By the late 1800s we soon discovered to a greater extent about the Maasai, mostly from their oral histories.It is presumed that the Maasai came from the north, probably from the region of the Nile Valley in Sudan. Also presumed is that they left this area sometime between the fourteenth and 16th centuries, migrating southwards towards he Great Rift Valley. fit in to the Maasai oral history, they came from a crater or deep valley somewhere to the north, at a place called Endikir-e-Kerio . Although many scholars have called this place the southeastern region of Lake Turkana, many of the oral histories say that they may have come from further up north, near the Nile river. Whichever location t his is, the migration was caused by a ironic spell. According to the Maasai a bridge was built, and after half the livestock and people had left the dry area, the bridge collapsed, leaving back the other half of the population. These people later(prenominal) climbed out of the valley, and were helped by the present day Somali, Borana and Rendille peoples. The Maasai later entered Kenya, and moved south through the Rift Valley, where there was pasture for their cattle. Because there was very trivial surface water, the Maasai resorted to pastoralism instead of agriculture.The Maasai have adapted to their environment to ensure excerption and the maintenance of their culture.The Maasai have adapted to the conditions of their environment through their religious rituals, which character in keeping their political structure, and maintaining cattle numbers. The idea of religion in the Maasai culture is attatched with the importance they place on the stages of life. Spear indicates that for the Maasai, God is determination yet completely unknowable. Each ritual transition between age-groups is a step toward old age and metaphorically a step toward God. According to Emily McAlpin in The Maasai culture and Ecological Conditions the most important event in the ceremony is the sharing of meat which brings all participants clos... ... one is in this society, the more than power attained. The most common form of sharing goods and distributing them is through assort kin groups. There is no doubt sometimes disagreements amongst the Maasai people, therefore most kin groups have an ally kin group. These are useful when a luxury item is sought after and one group has it and is instinctive to lend or give it to the other, not a necessity. When something is needed for survival, the livelong society will help. Bibliography1.Cronk, Lee2004 From Mukogodo To Maasai Ethnicity and Cultural Change in Kenya (Westview deterrent example Studies in Anthropology), Westview Press, pp . 27-352. Hetfield, Johnston1997 The Maasai of East Africa (Celebrating the Peoples and Civilizations of Africa)PowerKids Press 1st ed edition, pp. 9-133.Spear, Walker1993 creation Maasai Ethnicity & Identity in East Afri Ca (Eastern African Studies),Ohio University Press pp. 214-2214.Kituvi, Mukhisa1990 neat Kenyans Socio-economic transformation of the pastoral Maasai (Drylands research series), Acts Press, pp. 193-2015. Sankan, S.S. Ole1985 The Maasai ,Kenya Literature Bureau, pp. 77-84