WHO ARE THE MAASAI?
The Maasai are a semi-nomadic pastoral people with a population of approximately 300,000, whose territory stretches East Africa’s Great Rift Valley from southern Kenya deep into northern Tanzania. Their semi-nomadic ways stem from the necessity to follow the seasons in search of fresh water and grazing land for their livestock. In fact, these animals are so much a part of their culture that they dictate almost every aspect of a Maasai’s life. This is because, like money to western society, the number of livestock owned – mostly cattle, goats, donkeys, and more recently camels – is a direct reflection of a family’s wealth and therefore their status and rank within the tribe. Their semi-nomadic ways necessitate simplistic living conditions. Each clan, or family unit, is typically made up of one man, his multiple wives, and their children. They live together in a round, fenced compound known as a boma. Each boma consists of livestock pens and several homes, or manyattas. Rudimentary and s
