Maasai Culture
Kenya and Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south border the United Republic of Tanzania to the north.
The Indian Ocean is on its eastern side. It is the largest of the East African nations and has the lowest and highest points of the entire continent. Mount Kilimanjaro towers majestically over the northeastern part of the country, and below it are the low-lying savannahs of Longido.
Despite it being such a dry habitat, Tanzania has an abundance of colorful birds and wildlife. Much of the Serengeti Plain is home to wildebeest, monkey, antelope, lion, cheetah, gazelle, flamingo, the blue wildebeest and other bovid which take the famous thundering migration each year.
Up to 250,000 wildebeest perish each year in their long and arduous movement to find forage in the dry season. In Africa, one tribe more than any other has resisted change and fought to preserve a way of life that is colorful, romantic and vibrant.
That is, of course, the proud Maasai warrior. The Maasai is an indigenous ethnic group of semi-nomadic people living in northern Tanzania and across the border to Kenya. It is the only group allowed free travel over the border. Their residences near many game parks, as well as distinctive customs and dress, make the Maasai probably the most well-known African ethnic group in the world.
The Masai People have a reputation of being fierce warriors. Warriorhood prepares the young males to be responsible people both for themselves and for their community. Known for their bravery and courage, typically the Masai worriors are never seen without their sharply honed spears.
They protect the homestead, maintain water sources for the community, and protect the livestock from wild animals and theft. It is true that when they surrounded a marauding lion, they crossed on it and speared it to death. Their nomadic way of life led to no attachments to possessions, and togetherness banded by the age sets of those who underwent circumcision ritual together.
When a young man reaches junior adulthood he has the freedom to have sex with the wives of other elders, his comrades, if he so wishes. Likewise, a Masai woman belongs to the entire age-set and sexual jealousy does not exist.