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The Maasai Tribe are a semi nomadic ethnic group located in Kenya and Tanzania. They originated from the lower Nile valley and began to migrate south in the fifteenth century. Today it is estimated there population is around 900,000. The Maasai speak Maa a Nilo-Saharan language and their lives are mainly centred around their cattle. The amount of cattle signifies the family's wealth and is used instead of money to trade. From the time the boys in the Tribe can walk they're sent out to graze cattle and goats. The cows also provide the main source of Maasai food, milk, and on special occasion's meat and blood. The Maasai call God Enkai or Engai. Engai is a single deity with a dual nature: Engai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Engai Nanyokie (Red God) is vengeful. Their holy place is Ol Doinvo Lengai, Mountain of God' a Volcano situated in Northern Tanzania. However nowadays many of the Massai have converted to Christianity.
Due to the fact the Maasai are traditionally nomadic, their dwellings Inkajijik are simple and made of locally sourced materials. The main structure is a timber frame and the walls are built up of grass, sticks and cow dung. These are always built by the women. The Maasai have distinctive clothing, women and men wear colourful cloths (Shúkà) and enlarge their earlobes using pieces of wood. The women shave their heads adorn themselves in handmade beadwork symbolising their position in society and their tribal colours. They also wear copper bangles which they weave round ankles and wrists. The Moran's (Warriors) also wear beaded jewellery, have long braided hair and wear sandals made of tyres.
Maasai society is lead by the elder men who make decisions for the tribe, the general laws and customs have been orally passed down through the tribe for generations. The females in the tribe look after younger siblings and perform daily chores such as milking the cattle, cooking, collecting water and fire wood. Between the ages of about 12 and 25 the males become Moran's (Warriors), around every 15 years a new generation is initiated and this passage to manhood is marked by circumcision performed by the elders. The warriors are in charge of society's security, and spend most of their time now on walkabouts throughout Maasai lands and trading cattle. The previous generation of warriors then become junior elders who take part in political decision making. The females also get circumcised when they reach puberty and are ready for marriage. An elaborate ceremony "Elatim" surrounds this ritual in which cows are slaughtered and local tribes meet and the Moran's and uncircumcised girls meet and perform a traditional courting dance, making music with their voices and bodies for hours on end. The Moran's perform their famous jumping dance while chanting deep tones. The girls also chant melodies and wear decorative necklaces made of beads which they shake to create rhythm. Some of the photographs shown here depict this ceremony as it was going on during our visit. Female circumcision has been made illegal in Kenya and Tanzania yet it still goes on as uncircumcised girls are seen as less valuable to the men. In many instances instead of happening during the ceremony it happens some months before so if checked by the authorities the girls are fully recovered. It can have terrible health implications for the girls such as infections, infertility and complications during child birth.
When we ran our project with a Maasai tribe in Kibarashi, a remote village in Northern Tanzania, it was only possible to work with the young boys and Morans as the females were busy preparing for "Elatim". We experienced a great deal of warmth from the tribe who were eager to share everything they had. The boys' photographs show many aspects of the very basic Maasai life described above and in particular they wanted to put the importance of the cattle across. Most importantly they wanted to educate the rest of the world about Maasai traditions and culture, something they have preserved for centuries and have not let go of even in this modern age.