subject: The Kenyan Masaai [print this page] The Kenyan Masaai The Kenyan Masaai
These are very unique people in Kenya. They are one of the few tribes in Kenya that still hold on to their culture. They originated from the north part of the Lake Turkana according to there oral traditions. Some now live in the southern part of Tanzania in the Serengeti. They are nomadic pastoralists and they would move from place to place looking for pasture and water for there livestock. They would build very temporal structures on the way where they would cooks, eats, sleeps, socializes and stores food, fuel and other household possessions. Calves and goats would also be housed in this structure known as enkaji at night. There means of living today is being threatened by lack of grazing lands due to over population. Wildlife conflicts have also limited their movement a lot. They are now adapting to know ways of life such as farming and trade in Masaai artifacts and jewel. Their jewels and other Masaai products have become very popular all over the world. The Masaai woman can be seen in major towns selling her products which are very beautiful and unique. The Masaai market is known all over the world. The Kenyan Masaai did not highly value the girl child. When education was introduced, most favored educating the boy child leaving the girl child at home. The girl was seen as just fit for marriage to make the family richer through dowry. The Kenyan government is doing a lot lately to sensitize the need to educate even the girl child. Schools have now seen un upward trend of admitting more girls to there schools.
