Tanzania is a diverse and rich place, and one of the things that contributes to this characterization is the Maasai tribe who live in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. The Maasai are semi-nomadic pastoralists whose livelihood depends mostly on cattle. They believe that their god Enkai granted them cattle, and therefore cattle are highly valuable and revered. In addition to using just about every part of the cattle (the blood and milk are drunk, the hide is used for shoes and household items, the dung is used to make homes, etc.) they also use them as a form of currency and a sign of wealth. The more cattle a man has, the wealthier he is. Because of this, cattle are not usually eaten or killed unless it is for ceremonial purposes. This was one of the most surprising things in my research. Because I am used to such a different lifestyle, it is hard for me to imagine using animals as currency, let alone holding them on such a pedestal. This is such a unique and interesting part of Maasai culture, and it really made me think about how different two parts of the world can be.
Gender roles are also incredibly different between our culture and the Maasai. The men are the leaders; they make all the decisions, speak for the women, and own all the property. However, it is the women who do all the manual labor. The women take care of the house, the livestock, and the family. Despite this, there is little respect for women in Maasai society. Maasai women do not have a voice. They are married off at a young age in exchange for cattle, are not allowed to be in the room when their father is eating, and must rise early and work all day without complaint. Alternatively, men of the tribe may have many wives, and are trained from a young age to be brave warriors. The women of the Maasai tribe are strong, but they are treated as property. This was difficult for me to read about. As a woman, it is incredibly frustrating that in 2014 other women across the world are still seen as inferior when compared to men. I think that one of the things more people need to push for is greater education of the Maasai people, especially women. The Tanzanian and Kenyan governments recognize that lack of girls' education is something that contributes to mass poverty, but the problem still persists. I wonder how the women of the Maasai tribe feel. Are they happy? Do they wish circumstances were different and that they could be educated in a place like the United States or the UK? I hope that one day myself and others can be influential forces in eliminating gender discrimination in the Maasai tribe, but also helping them keep their traditional values and culture.
The Maasai also suffer enormous pressures that threaten their way of life. A major threat is the fact that their grazing lands are being taken for commercial use or for wildlife preservation. As a result, they are losing their ability to roam and have begun to cultivate the land- a practice that they traditionally believe is a crime against nature. Some people even have been forced to find work in town, although their lack of education and different lifestyle makes it difficult for them to succeed in the urban world, so many go hungry. Also, less grazing land means less livestock, which leads to greater poverty and malnutrition. This conglomeration of challenges makes an uncertain future for the Maasai.
It is amazing to see how different the Maasai culture is from our own. I wonder what my life would be like if I had grown up as a girl in the Maasai tribe. I take a lot of things for granted now, but to have so little rights just because of my gender is something hard to imagine. I also can't imagine the pressure that people in the tribe feel with the increased Westernization and other cultures impeding on their values. I'm conflicted when I think about how others can attempt to help the Maasai, because I think it is important to decrease poverty and increase education and women's rights, but I also think it's crucial to preserve their culture and traditional values, and there is a fine line between helping them and hurting them in this way. However, the Maasai are still a really fascinating people. I'm so excited for the opportunity to interact with them in Tanzania. I think that seeing how they live will open my eyes to other cultures in a way they never have been before. I hope that the experience will give me a better understanding of how other people live, and maybe even some of the simpler pleasures in life that don't come from my phone or computer, but from sharing such a unique culture with an incredibly close group of people.
