Maasai Warrior Experience

March 24th, 2007 - March 25th, 2007

Sopai! (That's hello in Ma, the traditional language of the Maasai people)

This past weekend a group of 11 of us went on a Maasai Cultural Safari. The Maasai are the most intriguing people in Tanzania. In fact, their people actually spread beyond the borders of Tanzania into Kenya and even Ethiopia. The Maasai are nomadic people who follow green pastures and water to keep their cattle and other animals healthy. As such, the governments of Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia recognize their traditional grazing rights and the Maasai are allowed to cross these borders without any hesitation or need for a passport.

Our safari was organized by a man named Kesuma. Some of the volunteers from our group work for his organization called Kitumusote. His organization strives to assist the Maasai people in a modern world while helping them maintain their traditional ways. You can read more here: http://kitumusote.org/about

Saturday afternoon we arrived at the village of one of the Maasai tribes north of Arusha right along the Kenyan border. They live in groups of houses made of wood, mud, and cow dung. They call the groups of houses a Boma. They use thorn bushes as a fence to keep the livestock inside and the wild animals - like a lion, hyena, or other - outside the fence.

ARRIVING AT THE BOMA

We were warmly welcomed inside the Boma when we arrived. Other than Kesuma, only one other Maasai spoke English (of the 75-100). We were unable to communicate with them in Swahili either, since they still use their traditional Ma language. However, with us greeting them with Sopai and them responding with Ipa, we were able to bring smiles to their face. For most of the villagers this was only the second or third time they had been exposed to foreigners so as excited as we were to be spending the night with them they were just as excited to have us amongst them.

While we unpacked, a group of warriors was singing and dancing while the children watched on. To become a warrior you must be circumcised and they only circumcise an age-set once every 10 years or thereabouts. I wandered over to the group of warriors and was invited into the dance circle. They were taking turns jumping inside the circle so I tried as well. We all had a good laugh about it as the rest of our group also joined in the circle.

We were officially welcomed moments later when the women of the village performed a dance for us. All their dancing surrounds music that they create on their own from their mouths. The sounds are amazing - think Paul Simon's Graceland album!

To thank the villagers for welcoming us, we presented them with sugar and tea as gifts. We went around the circle and handed our gifts to the women in order, giving one item to each woman. As per Maasai tradition, they then placed all of the gifts in the centre of the circle to be divided up and shared equally amongst the villagers later.

We took a lot of photos of the Maasai when we first arrived and for many of them, they had never seen themselves in photos before. In fact, some had never seen themselves in a mirror; so watching them look at our digital cameras trying to find themselves in the image was a real laugh. Often, other villagers had to point out their friends to help them understand which person they were in the photograph.

The children also found our skin intriguing. They would grab our arms and rub them. Most had never met white people before. They were also interested in the hair on the arms of the men, because none of the Maasai had hair on their bodies.

WANDERING WITH THE MAASAI WARRIORS

After introductions, about five or six warriors then escorted us out into the nearby fields to explain to us about the flowers and the trees. They showed us the various trees they use for their medicine and the berries they like to eat that taste like candy.

Growing up, these warriors spend the whole day out in the fields herding goats (when they are young) and then cows (when they are older). Kesuma told us that he can find his way around the fields and the trees better than he can find his way around the city.

As a result of all the hours the warriors spend in the fields doing nothing but tending to the cattle, they have found many ways to keep occupied. At one point, they had a competition to see who could jump over the highest and deepest bush. As we walked, they also took turns throwing their spears attempting to hit trees as targets. Most of them were deadly accurate with their spear. And so they should be, considering that they have had to protect their herds from lions and other animals in the past.

We had a chance to throw the spears as well - it was akin to throwing a javelin, but heavier - but none of us hit the target. We also threw stones; these guys were deadly accurate while we sprayed our attempts all over the place.

GOAT SLAUGHTER

After our jaunt into the wild, we returned to the Boma for a traditional goat slaughter. They do a goat slaughter two to three times a week. Basically, the warriors smother a goat until it dies. Then, they precisely skin it without spilling any blood. They use the hide for various things - in our case the made us traditional Maasai bracelets. Following, they cut open the insides of the goat and eat various parts raw. Then comes the best part - the drinking of the blood. The warriors drink the blood because they believe it makes them strong. They drink the blood right out of the body of the goat.

All day long the warriors had been calling me 'Canadian Warrior' and telling me that I would have to slaughter the goat. The Maasai are a proud people and they frown upon showing any sign of weakness. So, I didn't want to let them down. I attempted to smother the goat how they showed me by holding the nose and mouth shut. However, the goat struggled and after about 30 seconds I couldn't hang on anymore. At that point, the warriors took over and finished the job. They choose to smother the goat instead of slitting its throat to preserve the blood for them to drink.

Watching them slice the goat apart was like a work of art. They finally got to the blood and the warriors descended upon the goat using their hands to scoop up the blood and drink it. One of the volunteers in our group drank the blood as well.

The warriors continued to slice up the goat and roast all the possible parts with meat on it upon a fire. They even roasted the head of the goat, which was later used as part of a soup.

STORYTELLING WITH THE ELDERS

As the sun set and it became dark we returned inside the Boma. A fire had been started and the children had congregated around it. After we finished our dinner we pulled out a bag of marshmallows and showed the children and the rest of the villagers how to roast them on sticks. It was funny watching them do it for the first time. Most kids just stared in bewilderment until they tasted the sugary treat; then it was a free-for-all on the bag of marshmallows.

The children were told to disappear for a while so that we could sit and listen to the elders tell us stories. In Maasai culture there is no written language, the history is oral and thus passed on from generation to generation. Kesuma translated for us while the elders shared the importance of the cow to the Maasai people and other important facts. The cow is central to the Maasai and they believe that every cow in the world belongs to them. The Maasai drink milk all the time and thus they view the cow as their lifeline.

MAASAI WARRIOR DANCE

Once the chat with the elders was over the real party began. The warriors started doing their dances, which involved chanting and other amazing oral sounds. The only light was from the small light emitting from the dwindling fire and the half moon overhead. Most of the Maasai appeared to be in a trance-like state as they danced. The dancing started around 9pm and they kept on going long after we fell asleep. I was told they danced until 3 o'clock in the morning.

The warrior dances are all based on stories that have been passed down from previous generations. While the warriors chanted a female villager sang the story. The whole scene was surreal.

THE NEXT MORNING

On Sunday morning we were awoken by the sounds of the donkeys. My friend Ron and I were the first to wake and we wandered around the Boma. All the goats that had been roaming free the day before we enclosed in a pen for their protection. However, the children had already taken the cattle out to graze.

After breakfast we were invited inside the traditional Maasai home (we had slept in tents). The inside was very smoky because of the ongoing fire they keep burning for warmth and cooking. They were surprisingly big on the inside and were able to sleep quite a few people.

We returned to the centre of the Boma to join the female villagers for a session on how to make beaded jewelry. Each colour has a special meaning for the Maasai. We also had a chance to purchase some jewelry to help support the Maasai women.

That wrapped up our time in the Maasai village. It was sad saying goodbye because even though we didn't speak a common language we were able to make a great connection through hand signals and just smiling at each other.

Our ride home was quiet until we were about 15 minutes from our home base. We went through an internal immigration stop and the officer made our van pull over. He started asking a bunch of questions in Swahili and the Maasai warriors answered.

We were being asked for documentation but none of us were carrying anything except photocopies of our passports. Since we said we were volunteers he wanted copies of our work permits. The whole work permit thing is new and basically it is a way to extort $125 USD out of volunteers who come to Tanzania. Had we been tourists, we would have been waived through, no problem!

I explained to the immigration guy the situation that all of our passports were back at the home base and that I would find someone to talk to him about our status. I called the head of our program, Mamma Esther, and she said to stay cool and she would work it out.

So, we got out of the vans and set up camp at the immigration checkpoint. I chatted with the officer a little more and he was cool with us hanging out at the checkpoint. About 10 minutes later we were told we were free to go.

Mamma Esther called the head of immigration for the Arusha region who was extremely apologetic that her volunteers had been inconvenienced. The guy immediately called the guard at the checkpoint and told him to let us go. From now on, though, we are being instructed to keep a copy of our volunteer permits with us!

That wraps up our Maasai weekend. A few of us are off to Zanzibar this Thursday for the weekend and then it will be back to the home base for my final week in Tanzania.

Best regards...

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