Maasai tribe man & woman afro comb set
Ebonised African wood decorative wall art.
Dimensions: Approx 22cm long and 6cm wide at widest point.
The Maasai's are located northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania.
They are among the best known local populations. and their distinctive customs and dress.
The Maasai speak the Maa language a member of the Nilotic language family that is related to the Dinka, Kalenjin and Nuer languages.
Except for some elders living in rural areas, most Maasai people speak the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania, Swahili and English.
In common with the wildlife with which they co-exist,
the Maasai need a lot of land. Unlike many other tribes in Kenya,
the Maasai are semi-nomadic and pastoral: they live by herding cattle and goats.
The Maasai’s god is Engai. They believe he created them, gave them all the cattle in the world, and later made other human beings.
Maasai measure wealth by the number of cattle, so people without cattle are considered poor.
Maasai did not have villages with permanent buildings. Instead, they constructed a “enkang” (corral) for a group of families.
The enkang is a circle of huts, one per family, enclosed by a circular fence of thorn bushes.
The woman of each household constructs the hut from cattle dung and clay.
Periodically, the groups would abandon their enkang and construct a new one in an area with better water and grazing.
They are considered one of the tallest people in the world with average height of 6 ft 3 inches according to some reports.
Traditionally, the Maasai diet consisted of raw meat, raw milk, and raw blood from cattle
Why do Maasai jump?
This is the essence of the signature Maasai adamu, or jumping dance.
A rising beat, sweeping emotion into its path. A universal rhythm.
For the Maasai, important rites of passage in life are marked by ceremonies filled with song and dance.
Boys are divided into age groups and throughout their life are identified with and by those stages.
As they move from one stage, there’s a rhythm and movement to welcome them into the next step of their lives.
Song-and-dance-filled Maasai celebrations last for days on end, and offer an opportunity to bring people together and assemble members of the different tribes from around the region.
These gatherings are among the ways the Maasai preserve their social fabric and continue the traditional culture in the face of external pressures and societal evolution.
