Editing Maasai people (section)

== Culture ==

<!-- [[Maasai culture]] and [[Maasai Music and Culture]] redirect here -->
[[File:Crocuta vs Maasai 2.png|thumb|Maasai warriors confronting a [[spotted hyena]], a common livestock predator, as photographed in ''In Wildest Africa'' (1907)]]
The [[monotheistic]] Maasai worship a single deity called ''Enkai'', ''Nkai''<ref name=":1" /> or ''Engai''. Engai has a dual nature, represented by two colours:<ref name=":1" /> Engai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Engai Na-nyokie (Red God) is vengeful.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.institut.veolia.org/en/cahiers/water-symbolism/water-myths/africa-water.aspx |title=African water symbolism and its consequences |publisher=Institut.veolia.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010202033/http://www.institut.veolia.org/en/cahiers/water-symbolism/water-myths/africa-water.aspx |archive-date=10 October 2007 |access-date=28 February 2012}}</ref>

There are also two pillars or totems of Maasai society: Oodo Mongi, the Red Cow and Orok Kiteng, the Black Cow with a subdivision of five clans or [[family trees]].<ref>"Maasai"_Tepilit Ole Saitoti 1980 Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York {{ISBN|978-0-8109-8099-0}}, 1990 edition.</ref> The Maasai also have a totemic animal, which is the lion. The killing of a lion is used by the Maasai in the rite of passage ceremony.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xUlpBAAAQBAJ&q=maasai+people+shamanism&pg=PT260 |title=Talking to the Shaman Within: Musings on Hunting |last=Vries |first=Manfred F. R. Kets de |date=17 June 2014 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=9781491731512 |language=en |access-date=1 November 2020 |archive-date=22 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122190032/https://books.google.com/books?id=xUlpBAAAQBAJ&q=maasai+people+shamanism&pg=PT260 |url-status=live }}</ref> The "Mountain of God", [[Ol Doinyo Lengai]], is located in northernmost Tanzania and can be seen from [[Lake Natron]] in southernmost Kenya. The central human figure in the Maasai religious system is the '''{{Visible anchor|laibon}}''' whose roles include [[shaman]]istic [[healing]], [[divination]] and [[prophecy]], and ensuring success in war or adequate rainfall. Today, they have a political role as well due to the elevation of leaders. Whatever power an individual laibon had was a function of personality rather than position.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7860 |title=Society-MASAI |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970504081734/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7860 |archive-date=4 May 1997 |access-date=28 February 2012}}</ref> Many Maasai have also adopted [[Christianity]] or [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shadowsofafrica.com/travel-africa/kenyan-tribes-religions/ |title=Kenyan Tribes & Religions {{!}} Travel to Africa |website=www.shadowsofafrica.com |language=en-US |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223042714/http://www.shadowsofafrica.com/travel-africa/kenyan-tribes-religions/ |archive-date=23 December 2017 |access-date=22 December 2017}}</ref> The Maasai produce intricate jewellery and sell these items to tourists.{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|p=169}}

[[File:Maasai Enkang and Hut.JPG|thumb|right|Maasai people and huts with enkang barrier in foreground –eastern [[Serengeti]], 2006]]

Educating Maasai women to use clinics and hospitals during pregnancy has enabled more infants to survive. The exception is found in extremely remote areas.{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|p=103}} A corpse rejected by scavengers is seen as having something wrong with it, and liable to cause social disgrace; therefore, it is not uncommon for bodies to be covered in fat and blood from a slaughtered [[ox]].<ref name="attitudes">''Cultural and Public Attitudes: Improving the Relationship between Humans and Hyaenas'' from Mills, M.g.L. and Hofer, H. (compilers). (1998) ''Hyaenas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan''. IUCN/SSC Hyaena Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. vi + 154 pp.</ref><ref>''The Lions of Tsavo: Exploring the Legacy of Africa's Notorious Man-eaters'' By Bruce D. Patterson. 2004. McGraw-Hill Professional. Page 93. {{ISBN|0-07-136333-5}}</ref>

Traditional Maasai [[lifestyle (sociology)|lifestyle]] centres around their [[cattle]],<ref>{{Cite web |year=2001 |title=Savanna: Folklore |url=https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/africa/explore/savanna/savanna_folklore_lo.html |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=[[WNET|THIRTEEN]] |publisher=[[PBS]] |publication-place=New York}}</ref> which constitute their primary source of food. In a patriarchal culture that views women as property, a man's wealth is measured in cattle, wives and children. A herd of 50 cattle is respectable, and the more wives and children the better. A man who has plenty of one but not the other is considered to be poor.<ref>''Northern Tanzania with Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar'' by Phillip Briggs (2006), page 200. {{ISBN|1-84162-146-3}}</ref><ref>''Africa's Great Rift Valley''. Nigel Pavitt. 2001. pages 138. Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York {{ISBN|0-8109-0602-3}}</ref>

All of the Maasai's needs for food are met by their cattle. They eat their meat, drink their milk daily, and drink their blood on occasion. Bulls, goats, and lambs are slaughtered for meat on special occasions and ceremonies. Though the Maasai's entire way of life has historically depended on their cattle, more recently with their cattle dwindling, the Maasai have grown dependent on food such as [[sorghum]], rice, potatoes and cabbage (known to the Maasai as goat leaves).<ref>Nelson, Jimmy. The Maasai Tribe. Beforethey.com</ref>

One common misconception about the Maasai is that each young man is supposed to kill a [[lion]] before he can be circumcised and enter adulthood. Lion hunting was an activity of the past, but it has been banned in [[East Africa]] – yet lions are still hunted when they maul Maasai livestock.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.maasai-association.org/lion.html |title=Maasai Association |publisher=Maasai Association |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2012-06-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618044327/http://www.maasai-association.org/lion.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lionconservation.org/LionKillinginAmboseliregion2000-May2006.pdf |title=Lion Killing in the Amboseli-Tsavo Ecosystem, 2001–2006, and its Implications for Kenya's Lion Population |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224220706/http://www.lionconservation.org/LionKillinginAmboseliregion2000-May2006.pdf |archive-date=February 24, 2009}}</ref> Nevertheless, killing a lion gives one great value and celebrity status in the community.{{Sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|pp=86–87}}<ref>Spencer, P. (1988) ''The Maasai of Matapato: a study of rituals of rebellion'' Manchester University Press, Manchester. Spencer, P. (2003) ''Time, Space, and the Unknown: Maasai configurations of power and providence.'' Routledge, London.</ref>

[[File:Open air classroom for Maasai children in Tanzania.jpg|thumb|Maasai school in Tanzania]]

=== Body modification ===

[[File:Maasai woman with stretched ears.jpg|thumb|Maasai woman with stretched earlobes]]
The piercing and stretching of [[earlobes]] are common among the Maasai as with other tribes, and both men and women wear metal hoops on their stretched earlobes. Various materials have been used to both pierce and stretch the lobes, including thorns for piercing, twigs, bundles of twigs, stones, the cross-section of elephant tusks and empty film canisters.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GWtWDN0BWt0C&dq=maasai+ears&pg=PA42 ''The Myth of Wild Africa: Conservation Without Illusion''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520054101/https://books.google.com/books?id=GWtWDN0BWt0C&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=maasai+ears&source=web&ots=7u768brgsE&sig=q8PlaGC5C_ot35-PeLPJYlFDhxQ |date=2021-05-20 }}. Jonathan S. Adams, Thomas O. McShane. 1996. University of California Press. page = 42. {{ISBN|0-520-20671-1}}</ref> Women wear various forms of beaded ornaments in both the ear lobe and smaller piercings at the top of the ear.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gfUbHXT2dloC&dq=maasai+ears&pg=PA91 Culture and Customs of Kenya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520054102/https://books.google.com/books?id=gfUbHXT2dloC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=maasai+ears&source=web&ots=2bhvmh_ZDO&sig=qG0fvuy6s0de2sWkSvtgICzz2fA |date=2021-05-20 }}. Neal Sobania. 2003. Greenwood Press. page 91. {{ISBN|0-313-31486-1}}</ref> Among Maasai males, [[circumcision]] is practiced as a ritual of transition from boyhood to manhood. Women are also circumcised (as described below in [[Maasai people#Genital mutilation|social organisation]]).

This belief and practice are not unique to the Maasai. In rural Kenya, a group of 95 children aged between six months and two years were examined in 1991/92. 87% were found to have undergone the removal of one or more deciduous canine tooth buds. In an older age group (3–7 years of age), 72% of the 111 children examined exhibited missing mandibular or maxillary deciduous canines.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Hassanali J, Amwayi P, Muriithi A |date=Apr 1995 |title=Removal of deciduous canine tooth buds in Kenyan rural Maasai |journal=East Afr Med J |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=207–9 |pmid=7621751}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Hiza JF, Kikwilu EN |date=Apr 1992 |title=Missing primary teeth due to tooth bud extraction in a remote village in Tanzania |journal=Int J Paediatr Dent |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=31–4 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-263x.1992.tb00005.x |pmid=1525129}}</ref>

==== Genital cutting ====
[[File:Young Maasai Warrior.jpg|thumb|right|Young Maasai warrior (a junior ''Moran'') with headdress and markings]]
Traditionally, the Maasai conduct elaborate [[rite of passage]] rituals which include surgical [[genital mutilation]] to initiate children into adulthood. The Maa word for [[circumcision]], "emorata," is applied to this ritual for both males and females.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/Maa%20Lexicon/index-english/main.htm |title=English - Maa |publisher=Darkwing.uoregon.edu |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2017-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901172726/http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/Maa%20Lexicon/index-english/main.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> This ritual is typically performed by the elders, who use a sharpened knife and makeshift cattle hide bandages for the procedure.{{Sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|pp=55, 94}}

The male ceremony refers to the excision of the prepuce (foreskin). In the male ceremony, the boy is expected to endure the operation in silence. Expressions of pain bring dishonor upon him, albeit only temporarily. Importantly, any exclamations or unexpected movements on the part of the boy can cause the elder to make a mistake in the delicate and tedious process, which can result in severe lifelong scarring, dysfunction, and pain.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html |title=Maasai Association |publisher=Maasai Association |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2019-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027143838/http://maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|pp=83, 100–103}}<ref>''Northern Tanzania - The Bradt Safari Guide'' by Phillip Briggs (2006). British Library. {{ISBN|1-84162-146-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html |title=Maasai Association |publisher=Maasai Association |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2019-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027143838/http://maasai-association.org/ceremonies.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Young women also undergo [[female genital mutilation]] as part of an elaborate [[rite of passage]] ritual called "Emuatare," the ceremony that initiates young Maasai girls into adulthood through ritual mutilation and then into early arranged marriages.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.orato.com/world-affairs/maasai-ritual-of-female-circumcision |title=Maasai Ritual of Female Circumcision: Genital Cutting Practiced throughout Africa and Middle East |publisher=Orato.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807211153/http://www.orato.com/world-affairs/maasai-ritual-of-female-circumcision |archive-date=2011-08-07 |access-date=2012-05-05}}</ref> The Maasai believe that female genital mutilation is necessary and Maasai men may reject any woman who has not undergone it as either not marriageable or worthy of a much-reduced bride price. In Eastern Africa, uncircumcised women, even highly educated members of parliament like [[Linah Kilimo]], can be accused of not being mature enough to be taken seriously.<ref name="irinnews.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.irinnews.org/IndepthMain.aspx?IndepthId=15&ReportId=62462 |title=In-depth: Razor's Edge - The Controversy of Female Genital Mutilation |date=March 2005 |publisher=IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |access-date=2012-05-05 |archive-date=2012-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418212459/http://www.irinnews.org/IndepthMain.aspx?IndepthId=15&ReportId=62462 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Maasai activist [[Agnes Pareyio]] campaigns against the practice. The female rite of passage ritual has recently seen excision replaced in rare instances with a "cutting with words" ceremony involving singing and dancing in its place. However, despite changes to the law and education drives, the practice remains deeply ingrained, highly valued, and nearly universally practised by members of the culture.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shell-Duncan |first1=Bettina |last2=Hernlund |first2=Ylva |last3=Wander |first3=Katherine |last4=Moreau |first4=Amadou |date=2013-12-01 |title=Legislating Change? Responses to Criminalizing Female Genital Cutting in Senegal |journal=Law & Society Review |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=803–835 |doi=10.1111/lasr.12044 |issn=0023-9216 |pmc=3997264 |pmid=24771947}}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|pp=168–173}}

=== Hair ===

[[File:Maasai woman.jpg|thumb|Maasai woman with short hair]]
Upon reaching the age of 3 "moons", the child is named and the head is shaved clean apart from a tuft of hair, which resembles a [[cockade]], from the nape of the neck to the forehead.{{Sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|p=169}}

Among the men, warriors are the only members of the Maasai community to wear long hair, which they weave in thinly braided strands.<ref>{{cite book|title=Broken Spears - a Maasai Journey |first=Elizabeth L. |last=Gilbert |date=2003 |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |pages=136 |isbn=0-87113-840-9}}</ref> Graduation from warrior to junior elder takes place at a large gathering known as Eunoto. The long hair of the former warriors is [[head shaving|shaved off]]; elders must wear their hair short. Warriors who do not have sexual relations with women who have not undergone the "Emuatare" ceremony are especially honoured at the Eunoto gathering.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Tribal Odyssey - Maasai: The Last Dance Of The Warriors |publisher=National Geographic |year=2005 |medium=Motion picture}}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|pp=55, 88}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://maasai-association.org/maasai.html |title=Maasai People, Kenya |publisher=Maasai-association.org |access-date=28 February 2012 |archive-date=18 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518202543/http://www.maasai-association.org/maasai.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Broken Spears - a Maasai Journey |first=Elizabeth L. |last=Gilbert |date=2003 |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |pages=82 |isbn=0-87113-840-9}}</ref>

This would symbolise the healing of the woman.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ryan |first=Michael |chapter=The Demographic Crisis |date=1993 |title=Social Trends in Contemporary Russia |pages=46–62 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] UK |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-22858-4_4 |isbn=978-1-349-22860-7}}</ref>

Two days before boys are circumcised, their heads are shaved.<ref>Maasai. Tepilit Ole Saitoti with photos by Carol Beckwith. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1980. page 79. {{ISBN|0-8109-8099-1}}</ref><ref>Maasai. Tepilit Ole Saitoti with photos by Carol Beckwith. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1980. pages 126, 129. {{ISBN|0-8109-8099-1}}</ref> When warriors go through the ''Eunoto'' and become elders, their long plaited hair is shaved off.<ref>Maasai. Tepilit Ole Saitoti with photos by Carol Beckwith. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1980. page 171. {{ISBN|0-8109-8099-1}}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|p=168}}

=== Music and dance ===

<!-- [[Maasai music]] redirects here -->
[[File:Maasai-Adumu.jpg|thumb|Traditional jumping dance]]
Maasai music traditionally consists of rhythms provided by a chorus of vocalists singing harmonies while a song leader, or olaranyani, sings the melody.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ilmurran.com/ |title=ilMurran |date=1999-12-04 |publisher=ilMurran |language=fi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428050356/http://www.ilmurran.com/ |archive-date=2007-04-28 |access-date=2012-02-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.laleyio.com/music.html |title=Maasai Music (archived copy) |date=2008-05-27 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104184707/http://www.laleyio.com/music.html |archive-date=November 4, 2011 |access-date=2012-02-28}}</ref> Unlike most other African tribes, Maasai widely use [[drone (music)|drone]] [[polyphony]].<ref>[[Joseph Jordania]]. [[Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution]]. Logos. Pg 17</ref>

Women chant lullabies, humming songs, and songs praising their sons. Nambas, the call-and-response pattern, repetition of nonsensical phrases, [[monophonic]] melodies, repeated phrases following each verse being sung on a descending scale, and singers responding to their verses are characteristic of singing by women.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/texth/Homophonic.html |title=Homophonic |date=2011-11-17 |publisher=Music.vt.edu |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2014-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027034300/http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/texth/Homophonic.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/misc/homophony.html |title=What is monophony, polyphony, homophony, monody etc.? |publisher=Medieval.org |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2021-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520054121/http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/misc/homophony.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|pp=12, 43, 85, 100}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.laleyio.com/songstructure.html |title=Song Structure of Maasai Music (archived copy) |date=2008-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050226032314/http://www.laleyio.com/songstructure.html |archive-date=February 26, 2005 |url-status=usurped |access-date=2012-02-28}}</ref> When many Maasai women gather together, they sing and dance among themselves.<ref>Maasai. Tepilit Ole Saitoti with photos by Carol Beckwith. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1980. pages 194. {{ISBN|0-8109-8099-1}}</ref>

Eunoto, the coming-of-age ceremony of the warrior, can involve ten or more days of singing, dancing and ritual. The warriors of the Il-Oodokilani perform a kind of march-past as well as the '''[[Adumu]]''', or aigus, sometimes referred to as "the jumping dance" by non-Maasai. (Both adumu and aigus are Maa verbs meaning "to jump" with adumu meaning "To jump up and down in a dance".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/Maa%20Lexicon/categories/main.htm |title=Maa - Categories |publisher=Darkwing.uoregon.edu |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2011-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628182446/http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/Maa%20Lexicon/categories/main.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.laleyio.com/performance.html |title=Archived copy of laleyio.com |date=2008-05-27 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802172342/http://www.laleyio.com/performance.html |archive-date=August 2, 2011 |access-date=2012-02-28}}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|pp=43–45, 100, 107}})

=== Cuisine ===

[[File:Maasai man with cattle.jpg|thumb|224x224px|A Maasai herdsman grazing his cattle inside the [[Ngorongoro Conservation Area]], Tanzania]]
Traditionally, the Maasai cuisine consisted of raw meat, raw milk, honey and [[Blood as food|raw blood]] from [[cattle]]—note that the Maasai cattle are of the [[Zebu]] variety.

Most of the milk is consumed as fermented milk or [[buttermilk]] (a by-product of butter making). Milk consumption figures are very high by any standards.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0251e/T0251E07.htm |title=The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries |publisher=Fao.org |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2012-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227061816/http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0251e/T0251E07.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.taa.org.uk/TAAScotland/LivestockasfoodforpastoralistsinAfrica2001.htm |title=Livestock as food for pastoralists in Africa |last=Suttie |first=J.M. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311031855/http://www.taa.org.uk/TAAScotland/LivestockasfoodforpastoralistsinAfrica2001.htm |archive-date=11 March 2009}}</ref>

The Maasai herd goats and sheep, including the [[Red Maasai sheep]], as well as the more prized cattle.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/4202/ILCA_SS_4.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Maasai herding: An analysis of the livestock production system of Maasai pastoralists in eastern Kajiado District, Kenya |date=1991 |editor-last=Bekure |editor-first=Solomon |editor2-last=Leeuw |editor2-first=P. N. de |format=PDF |via=CGSpace |access-date=2020-02-02 |editor3-last=Grandin |editor3-first=B. E. |editor4-last=Neate |editor4-first=P. J. H. |publisher=International Livestock Centre for Africa |archive-date=2021-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711081909/https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/4202/ILCA_SS_4.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|p=87}}

Although consumed as snacks, fruits constitute a major part of the food ingested by children and women looking after cattle as well as morans in the bush.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001266/126660e.pdf |title=Ethnobotany of the Loita Maasai: towards community management of the Forest of the Lost Child; experiences from the Loita Ethnobotany Project; People and plants working paper; Vol.:8; 2001 |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2012-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607222155/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001266/126660e.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|p=90}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maasai-association.org/maasai.htm|title=maasai-association.org}}</ref>
[[File:Musoke Deo MDK-MUSO A Traditional Medicines & Herbs Hawker from Masaai Tribe.png|thumb|A traditional Maasai Medicines And Herbs hawker]]

=== Medicine ===

The Maasai people traditionally used the environment when making their medicines, and many still do, due to the high cost of Western treatments. These medicines are derived from trees, shrubs, stems, roots, etc. These can then be used in a multitude of ways including being boiled in soups and ingested to improve digestion and cleanse the blood.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ryan |first=Kathleen |date=2000 |title=Edible Wild Plants as Digestive Aids |url=https://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/42-3/Science.pdf |journal=Ethnoarchaeology in Maasailand |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=2 |via=Science & Archaeology}}</ref> Some of these remedies can also be used in the treatment or prevention of diseases. The Maasai people also add herbs to different foods to avoid stomach upsets and give digestive aid. The use of plant-based medicine remains an important part of Maasai life.

=== Shelter ===

[[File:Maasai shelter.jpg|thumb|right|Shelter covered in cattle dung for waterproofing]]

<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.maasai-association.org/maasai.html |title=Maasai People, Kenya |publisher=Maasai-association.org |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2020-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518202543/http://www.maasai-association.org/maasai.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{wide image|Maasai-Enkang-near-Sekenani.JPG|800px|Panoramic view of Maasai Enkang, seen from the inside}}
{{wide image|Manyatta.jpg|800px|Panoramic view of Maasai Enkang, seen from the outside}}

=== Clothing ===
[[File:Maasai Woman Meeyu Sale Wearing her Finest.jpg|thumb|right|A Maasai woman wearing her finest clothes]]
Maasai clothing symbolises ethnic group membership, a pastoralist lifestyle, as well as an individual's social position.<ref name=":0">{{Cite thesis |last=Kotowicz |first=Allison |date=2013 |title=Maasai Identity in the 21st Century |type=MS thesis |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee]] |pages=78 |url= https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1720&context=etd |via=African Studies Commons}}</ref> From this they can decide the roles they undertake for the tribe. Jewellery also can show an individual's gender, relationship status, and age.<ref name=":0" /> Maasai traditional clothing is both a means of tribal identification and symbolism: young men, for example, wear black for several months following their circumcision.

The Maasai began to replace animal skin, [[calfskin|calf hides]] and sheep skin with commercial cotton cloth in the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5217/is_1999/ai_n19133542/pg_4 |title=Maasai |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120708194742/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5217/is_1999/ai_n19133542/pg_4 |archive-date=2012-07-08 |date=1999 |encyclopedia=Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures}}</ref>

Shúkà is the [[Maasai language|Maa]] word for sheets traditionally worn and wrapped around the body. These are typically [[red]], sometimes integrated with other [[colour]]s and patterns.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/Maa%20Lexicon/categories/main.htm |title=Maa (Maasai) Dictionary |publisher=Darkwing.uoregon.edu |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2011-06-28 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110628182446/http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~dlpayne/Maa%20Lexicon/categories/main.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> One-piece garments known as [[Kanga (African garment)|kanga]], a [[Swahili language|Swahili]] term, are common.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.glcom.com/hassan/kanga_history.html |title=Kanga history |publisher=Glcom.com |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120217212401/http://www.glcom.com/hassan/kanga_history.html |archive-date=2012-02-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Maasai near the coast may wear [[kikoi]], a [[sarong]]-like garment that comes in many different colours and [[textiles]]<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.africa.upenn.edu/NEH/kmatculture.htm |title=East Africa Living Encyclopedia |publisher=Africa.upenn.edu |access-date=2012-02-28 |archive-date=2019-10-22 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191022112308/http://www.africa.upenn.edu/NEH/kmatculture.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>''Northern Tanzania with Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar'' by Phillip Briggs (2006), page 216. {{ISBN|1-84162-146-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/beads/essay3.html |title=Klumpp 1987, 105, 30, 31, 67 |publisher=Smithsonianeducation.org |access-date=2012-02-28|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070715184107/http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/beads/essay3.html|archive-date=2007-07-15|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Influences from the outside world ===

[[File:Ludzie06(js).jpg|thumb|Maasai women repairing a house in Maasai Mara (1996)]]
A traditional pastoral lifestyle has become increasingly difficult due to modern outside influences. [[Garrett Hardin]]'s article outlining the "tragedy of the commons", as well as [[Melville Herskovits]]' "cattle complex" influenced ecologists and policymakers about the harm Maasai pastoralists were causing to savannah rangelands. This was later contested by some [[anthropologist]]s.<ref name="Sustain">McCabe, Terrence. (2003). "Sustainability and livelihood diversification among the Maasai of Northern Tanzania". Human Organization. Vol 62.2. pp. 100–111.</ref> British colonial policymakers in 1951 removed all Maasai from the [[Serengeti National Park]] and relegated them to areas in and around the [[Ngorongoro Conservation Area]] (NCA).

[[File:Lo'o Paa'pai.jpg|thumb|right|Maasai wearing protective masks during [[COVID-19 pandemic]].]]
[[File:Maasai man riding a motorcycle (close up).jpg|thumb|Maasai riding a motorcycle (2014)]]
Due to an increasing population, loss of cattle due to disease, and lack of available rangelands because of new park boundaries and competition from other tribes, the Maasai were forced to develop new ways of sustaining themselves. Many Maasai began to cultivate maize and other crops to get by, a practice that was culturally viewed negatively.<ref name="Sustain" /> Cultivation was first introduced to the Maasai by displaced [[Arusha people|WaArusha]] and [[Wameru|WaMeru]] women who married Maasai men.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-25 |title=THE MAASAI |url=https://africultures.data.blog/2022/04/25/the-maasai-2/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Africulture |language=en}}</ref>

In 1975 the Ngorongoro Conservation Area banned cultivation, forcing the tribe to participate in Tanzania's economy. They have to sell animals and traditional medicines to buy food. The ban on cultivation was lifted in 1992 and cultivation became an important part of Maasai livelihood once more. Park boundaries and land privatisation has continued to limit the Maasai livestock's grazing area.<ref>Goodman, Ric. (2002). "Pastoral livelihoods in Tanzania: Can the Maasai benefit from conservation?" Current Issues in Tourism. Vol 5.3,4. P.280–286.</ref>

Throughout the years, various projects have attempted to help the Maasai people. These projects help find ways to preserve Maasai traditions while also encouraging modern education for their children.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.siyabona.com/maasai-tribe-east-africa.html |title=The Maasai Tribe, East Africa |last=Siyabona Africa |website=Siyabona Africa |access-date=20 April 2018 |archive-date=22 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922171353/http://www.siyabona.com/maasai-tribe-east-africa.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Emerging employment among the Maasai people include farming, business, and wage employment in both the public and private sectors.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ilo.org/dyn/infoecon/docs/790/F2096573592/Pastoralists.pdf |title=Challenges To Traditional Livelihoods And Newly Emerging Employment Patterns Of Pastoralists In Tanzania |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924104436/http://www.ilo.org/dyn/infoecon/docs/790/F2096573592/Pastoralists.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-24 |access-date=2012-02-28}}</ref>

Many Maasai have also moved away from the nomadic life to positions in commerce and government.<ref>{{cite report |author=D. Sendalo |date=April 2009 |title=A Review of Land Tenure Policy Implication on Pastoralism in Tanzania |url=https://landportal.org/sites/default/files/tz-pastoral-paper-2009_copy.pdf |publisher=Department of Livestock Research, Training and Extension, Ministry of Livestock Development and Fisheries |page=16 |access-date=2022-02-17 |archive-date=2022-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217071039/https://landportal.org/sites/default/files/tz-pastoral-paper-2009_copy.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>