MASAI and other Ngorongoro, Tanzania Local Custom Tips

Tanzania has more than 120 ethnic groups. The largest are the Sukuma and the Nyamwezi. Each represents about a fifth of the country's population and both speak a Bantu language. A well-known non-Bantu tribe, the Masai, occupies the northeastern region. On Zanzibar, many people are descended from Arabian peoples, including the Shirazi of Persia and Comorians ...
The Maasai are a pastoral people whose name was derived from their language, Maa. Actually a combination of Nilotic and Cushitic peoples, the Maasai originated northwest of Lake Turkana. They spread down through the Rift Valley, which provided fertile grasslands for their cattle. Milk, either fresh or curdled, is the basic Maasai food and is often mixed with blood tapped from a cow's jugular. Wild animal meat is generally forbidden, although eland and buffalo meat is allowed. Authority among the Maasai is based on age-group and age-set. Prior to circumcision a natural leader (olaiguenani) is chosen to lead his age-group until old age.

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Like many other tribes, Maasai youth are not circumcised until mature. Every twelve to fifteen years a new age-set is initiated together. The young warriors (il-murran) go through a period of initiation which lasts for some time. Warriors are not permitted to drink milk in their parents' huts or to eat meat in the i-manyat. Meat is provided for the warriors by killing oxen away from the settlements. The warriors carry the traditional long-bladed stabbing spears and buffalo-hide shields with their black, red, and white designs to mark their status. Eventually, the warrior age-set is replaced by their juniors and goes through a special ceremony (eunoto) to reach senior status. In order to "open the way" for the initiation of an age-set, a young warrior of repute with leadership qualities and no physical blemish is chosen. After being approved by the oloiboni, a bullock is slaughtered and the chosen leader (the olotuno) drinks the blood from the animal's neck first. The eunoto's four days of rituals takes place in the enkang o sinkira, an enclosure and ceremonial hut built specifically for the occasion. Each warrior has his head shaved by his mother while sitting on the same cowhide on which he was circumcised. His head is then decorated. The olotuno may select any girl he chooses for his wife at the end of the ceremony. This marks the next stage for his age-set (the new senior warriors), because they are now permitted to marry. After going through further rituals, the restrictions on drinking milk and eating meat are lifted.

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