What makes Maasai people unique in Kenya

What makes Maasai people unique in Kenya : Maasai people are known as the ethnic group in Africa of semi-nomadic people settled in Kenya. Maasai people are famous in Kenya because due to their distinct traditions, customs, dressing code, residence as most of them do like staying near the national park and national reserves, the Maasai people are such unique in terms of their culture and among others and these can be best identified on a Kenya Safari during the different cultural visits and safaris that are done in different national parks and national reserves. Maasai people are the nomadic pastoralist Maasai people are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting selected though in large parts of northern, central and southern Kenya and across the border in the northern Tanzania.

Things that make Maasai people unique.

Maa language.

Maasai people are known of their united language that makes them to be unique that was delivered from the Nilo-Saharan, related to Dinka and Nuer. Not only that the Maasai people as well do speak the official languages of Kenya that is English and Swahili that do unites them with other different people for other tribes.

Population.

Maasai people being the semi-nomadic pastoralists or living in the semi-nomadic lifestyle they are estimated to be over 1,189,522 in Kenya in the 2019 census, although the Kenya government has tried to encourage the Maasai people to leave behind their traditional way of living, the Maasai have carried on their age-old customs though it’s being changed slowly.

Maasai shelter.

The Maasai  people are nomadic people that is they base of the local traditional available materials and the indigenous knowledge to do construct their unusual and attractive housing facilities, the Maasai people’s houses are constructed in a way that they are not permanent because of their daily movement from a place to another where they are impermant in nature, and these houses are known as Inkajijik houses that are either circular or loaf-shaped and they are made and constructed by the women. On the other hand their villages are enveloped in a circular Enkang (fence) built by men and this protects their cattle at night from wild animals.

Maasai clothing.

Maasai clothing is so attractive in a such way that the clothing varies by sex, age and place that is the young men wear black for several months after their circumcision, though red being the most favorite color among the Maasai the black, blue checkered and striped cloth are also worn together with the multicolored African garments.

Maasai music and dance.

Among the many singing and dancing ceremonies practiced by the Maasai, the best-known is without doubt the adamu, or jumping dance. In the ritual young Maasai men gather in the semi-circle while rhythmically chanting in unison, each takes a turn stepping in front of the group and jumping several times straight up in the air, as high as he can, the adamu is usually accompanied by the high-energy whoops, and carefully observed by Maasai women standing nearby functions as a show of strength for young Maasai warriors hoping to attract the wives.

For Maasai, cows are wealth.

Maasai culture believe that God created the cows specifically for them as in their tribe God is called Engai, and they are the custodians of all the world’s cattle, as for the Maasai life revolves around amassing and grazing large herds of cows though at a lower extent the goats as well.

Culture.

Maasai people have got the totemic animal, which is the lion, however the animal can be killed, the way the Maasai kill the lion is different from trophy hunting as it is used in the rite of passage ceremony. The Maasai people are known for their intricate jewelry and for decades have sold these items to tourists who come on a safari to Kenya, and the shukas where they get away of earning. One common misconception about the Maasai is that each young man is supposed to kill a lion before he can be circumcised and enter adulthood, as this gives one great value and celebrity status in the community.

Maasai diet.

Maasai people do eat the foods that are met by their cattle including the meat, drink the milk daily, and drink the blood on occasions, though the bulls and goats, lambs can be slaughtered for meat on the special occasions and for ceremonies, though historically the Maasai’s entire life has depended on their cattle more recently with the cattle dwindling that’s when the Maasai have grown dependent food like sorghum, rice, potatoes and among others for survival.