Learn About Maasai Tribe – 10 Interesting Tanzania Cultural Facts!
Written By
African Scenic Safaris
29/04/2022
Safaris
Last updated on February 22nd, 2023 at 05:59 pm
Tanzania Cultural Tours provides a gateway to explore the country’s rich cultural heritage. From the iconic Maasai jumping dance to the Makonde’s intricate wood carvings, each tour offers a unique experience. Tanzania Cultural Tours discover local communities, learn about their traditions and create unforgettable memories on a cultural journey like no other.
Apart from benefiting from the vast and diverse Tanzania Safaris and serene beaches across the country, Tanzania also attracts a large pool of crowds from all over the world for Cultural Tourism.
Walking in the Footsteps of Tanzania Cultural Tours
Tanzania Cultural Tourshas started to play a crucial role in uplifting the Tanzanian tourism industry. It has helped boost the number of tourists incoming into the nation resulting in economic development.
Not only this has led to the country’s upliftment but also delegated rural communities to benefit from the ever-rising tourism industry.
Tanzania Cultural Tourism enables tourists to explore authentic, endemic Tanzanian culture, local tradition, folklore, arts and crafts, rituals, ceremonies, and a lot more giving an insight into the everyday lives of the people with addiction to this it provides exposure to the wildlife treasure of the country.
Maasai Lifestyle: Living in Harmony with Nature
With so many wonderful ways to explore the vibrant and deep-rooted Tanzanian culture, we are here to provide you with a brief note on the incredible tribe of the Maasais, which is an appeal on its own. Their age-old beliefs, customs, traditional houses, and unique sense of dressing never fail to impress keen tourists.
A cultural stroll in the native villages of the tribes gives a broad idea of the lives of the Maasai people. The Maasai Tribe comprises nomadic and pastoralist people, who are a fusion of North Africans and Nilotic tribes originating from the northern part of Turkana lake in Kenya, which they left in the 15th century to inhabit large parts of Kenya and northern Tanzania.
The Maasai tribe’s unique and interesting costume style and their settlements near game reserves and conservation areas have made them well-known all over the world. They have plenty of unique cultural characteristics, such as their dress, diet, and way of life.
Maasai Homes
Women are the ones who are responsible to build their shelters using readily available materials like cow dung mixed with mud and sticks for structuring the walls and the roof. The huts are mostly circular or loaf-shaped. The men build fenced huts to protect their cattle from wild animals during the night.
Maasai Language
Maasais are named after their language Maa language. It is primarily the spoken language. Many people of the tribe also speak Swahili and English, which are the official language of Tanzania and Kenya.
Maasai Costume
The Maasai community typically wraps themselves in a red sheet (Shuka) or interchangeable black and blue colors, depending on the occasion. They also wear multiple pieces of jewelry over it. Young men tend to wear black for several months after their circumcision ceremony.
The Maasai people have stretched earlobes and decorated them with rows of beads and a single earring to add weight.
Maasai Follows Polygamy
Maasai women often enter polygamous marriages with wealthier men in the community. The tribe’s elders often arrange these marriages.. The men are quite elder as compared to the wives which means the Maasai Tribe has a lot of windows. They are not expected to remarry, either. The primary role of the Maasai women is to have and raise children.
Maasai Eating Habits
Maasai people fulfill their protein and calorie intake from milk and meat from their cattle. Recently, they have started introducing maize meals, potatoes, rice, and cabbage into their diet.
Maasais believe raw blood from cattle to be rich in protein content. They consume blood on various occasions like when they are sick, have just been circumcised, or have just given birth.
Cattle Symbolises Prosperity
Maasais spend most of their time gathering cows. They believe the more cows the more your wealth and the more prosperous you are. They rely greatly on their cattle for milk, meat, and cheese, and the clothes and mattresses they wear or use are often made out of cowhide.
Maasai Calendar
Maasais follow their calendar. There are three main seasons- long rains, short rains, and seasons of drizzles.
Maasai Religion
The Maasai people are monotheistic, and worship their God named Engai or Enkai. They believe their God to have two different forms.
Enkai- Narok, The Black God, good and beloved.
People worship him in the form of thunder and rain, as he brings grass and prosperity.
Enkai-na-Nyokie, the Red God, vengeful, brings famine and hunger. People identify him with the dry season, as he is found in lightning..
Today, most of the Maasais are Christians and very few are Muslims.
Maasai Hair
Both the women and men Maasais clean and shave their heads to celebrate rites of passage such as circumcision and marriage, this symbolizes a fresh start as one begins a new phase in their life. The Maasai warriors are allowed to wear long hair, which they weave in thinly braided strands.
Maasai Music and Dance
Maasai music mostly involves vocals without any instruments, except for the large horns used in certain songs.. The lead vocalist starts singing wherein the rest members respond with one unanimous call in acknowledgment.
The peak season for singing and dancing is during the rains, which is of course a favorable time to celebrate important passages of life such as circumcision and marriage. Maasais jump and dance to celebrate and express happiness and merrymaking.
Conclusion
The Maasai people are known for living simple life and sticking to their traditions. If you want to learn more about the life of the Massai people, here is a book that you can read written by Eti Dayan named – One of Them.
Tanzania Cultural Tours gives a wonderful opportunity for all its visitors in knowing about this incredible tribe and see their lives nearby. If you love learning about different cultures and traditions prevailing in the world, then Tanzania Safari is the best way to describe it.
