What are some traditions and legends of the Maasai?
In the beginning there was no death. This is the story of how death came into the world.
There was once a man known as Leeyio who was the first man that Naiteru-kop brought to earth.
Naiteru-Kop then called Leeyio and said to him: "When a man dies and you dispose of the corpse,
you must remember to say, 'man die and come back again, moon die, and remain away'."
Many months elapsed before anyone died. When, in the end, a neighbour's child did die, Leeyio
was summoned to dispose of the body. When he took the corpse outside, he made a mistake and
said:
"Moon die and come back again, man die and stay away." So after that no man survived death.
A few more months elapsed, and Leeyio's own child went missing. So the father took the corpse
outside and said: "Moon die and remain away, man die and come back again." On hearing this,
Naiteru-kop said to Leeyio: "You are too late now for, through your own mistake, death was born the
day when your neighbour's child died." So that is how death came about, and that is why up to this
day when a man dies he does not return, but when the moon dies, it always comes back again.
In the beginning the sun married the moon. They travelled together for a long time, the sun leading
and the moon following. As they travelled, the moon would get tired and the sun would carry her* for
three days every month.
On the fourth day the donkeys are said to be able to see the moon. People can only see the moon
on the fifth day.
One day the moon made a mistake and she was beaten by the sun in just the same way women are
beaten by their husbands. But it happened that the moon was one of those short-tempered women
who fight their husbands. When she was beaten, she fought back, and wounded the sun's forehead.
The sun also beat the moon and scratched her face and plucked out one of her eyes.
When the sun realized that he was wounded, he was very embarrassed and said to himself, "I am
going to shine so hard that people will not be able to look at me." And so he shone so hard that
people could not look at him without squinting. That is why the sun shines so brightly.
As for the moon, she did not feel any embarrassment and so she did not have to shine any brighter.
And even now, if you look closely at the moon, you will see the wounds that the sun inflicted on her
during their fight.
Once there were two gods: the black god and the red god. The black god was very humble, kind and
loving, while the red god was malevolent and did not care about people at all. These gods lived
together way up in heaven, but the black god lived below the red god, and therefore closer to the
people on earth.
One day famine spread all over the world. Cattle could find neither grass to eat nor water to drink
and they were almost dying from starvation. Then the black god spoke to the red god and said "Let us
give people water for they are about to starve to death." The red god was at first reluctant to let
people have water, for he had no liking for them, but after much pleading from the black god, he
relented. It was then agreed that water was to be released from heaven to earth. When this was done,
it rained very hard for many days.
After some time, the red god said to the black god: "You can now hold back the water, for the
people have had enough." The black god answered: "Let us leave it for a few more days for the earth
has been parched dry." This was done, and when the red god again told the black god to hold back
the water, he did so and the rain stopped falling.
A few more days elapsed and the black god once more asked the red god to release some more
water for the people. The red god refused, and there ensued an argument between them, with the red
god threatening to wipe out all the people, whom he described as having been spoilt, and the black
god struggling to prevent him doing so. And so, up to this day, when one hears loud thunder, it is the
red god who is trying to get past the black god to wipe out the people on earth. But when the sound of
thunder is not very loud, it is the black god who is trying to prevent the red god from killing the people.
In the beginning, the Maasai did not have any cattle. One day God called Maasinta, who was the first
Maasai, and said to him: "I want you to make a large enclosure, and when you have done so, come
back and inform me." Maasinta went and did as he was instructed, and came back to report what he
had done. Next, God said to him:
"Tomorrow, very early in the morning, I want you to go and stand against the outside wall of the
house for I will give you something called cattle. But when you see or hear anything do not be
surprised. Keep very silent."
Very early next morning, Maasinta went to wait for what was to be given him. He soon heard the
sound of thunder and God released a long leather thong from heaven to earth. Cattle descended
down this thong into the enclosure. The surface of the earth shook so vigorously that his house
almost fell over. Maasinta was gripped with fear, but did not make any move or sound. While the
cattle were still descending, the Dorobo, who was a house-mate of Maasinta, woke up from his sleep.
He went outside and on seeing the countless cattle coming down the strap, he was so surprised that
he said "Ayieyieyie!” an exclamation of utter shock. On hearing this, God took back the thong and the
cattle stopped descending. God then said to Maasinta, thinking he was the one who had spoken: "Is it
that these cattle are enough for you? I will never again do this to you, so you had better love these
cattle in the same way I love you." That is why the Maasai love cattle very much.
How about the Dorobo? Maasinta was very upset with him for having cut God's thong. He cursed
him thus: "Dorobo, are you the one who cut God's thong? May you remain as poor as you have
always been. You and your offspring will for ever remain my servants. Let it be that you will live off
animals in the wild. May the milk of my cattle be poison if you ever taste it." This is why up to this day
the Dorobo still live in the forest and they are never given milk.
Long ago wild animals used to be women's cattle. Then, one morning before the cattle were taken out
to graze, a cow was slaughtered.
Soon the cattle started moving away to graze by themselves and wandered off. One woman told one
of the children to go and drive the cattle back before they went too far. When the child's mother heard
this she said:
"Oh, no, my child is not going until he has eaten the kidney." It followed that whenever a child was
asked to go, his mother forbade him to go until he had had a bite of the meat. This went on until all
the cattle, sheep and goats wandered away into the bush and got lost. When all the children had
eaten the meat, they tried to bring the cattle back, but they found that they had all gone wild. And so
that is how it came about that women lost their cattle. They then went and lived with the men who had
all along taken good care of their cattle. This is why up to this very day, all the cattle belong to the
men and women simply wait for the men to provide for them.
Once upon a time a group of warriors set off on a cattle raid, and on the way, one of the warrior's
sandals broke and he had to sit down to repair it. As he did so, he said to the others:
"Comrades, please wait for me." The others said:
"Let the last one wait for you." He said the same to another group of warriors, who also told him the
same thing:
"Let the last one wait for you." This went on until the last warrior came by.
"Please wait for me comrade," said the warrior with the broken sandal. "I will place a branch on the
path that we will take when I get to the fork on the path, then you can follow that path and catch up
with us," said the last warrior, as he hurried to catch up with the others. The other warrior agreed with
him and continued mending his sandal.
The last warrior went on, and when he got to the fork he cut a branch and placed it on the path that
the warriors had followed. As the warriors went on, a strong wind came and blew off the branch to the
other path. When the warrior with the broken sandal got to the spot after repairing his sandal, he
found the branch and he followed the path on which it lay hurriedly, in a bid to catch up with his
friends.
As he went along, he came upon the moon grazing. He stopped to stare at him. The moon asked him:
"Hey you warrior, where do you come from and where are you going to in these parts?" The warrior
answered:
"I am from home and we are off on a cattle raid but the other warriors left me as I was repairing a
broken sandal". The moon further questioned him: "When you look at me, what do you think I look
like?"
"Oh, you look very fine to me," answered the warrior. The moon further said to the warrior: "You
may proceed and when you come across anybody, do not tell them what they look like, just tell them
they look fine, and do not take anything along the way, and when you are given a choice between a
good and bad thing choose the bad thing." With these instructions accepted, the warrior continued
with his journey.
Soon he came upon a river with flowing water. As he was about to cross it, the river said to him:
"Hey you warrior, have a drink before you cross me." The warrior answered: "Let me first cross you,
then I will drink you from the other bank." He crossed the river and went on without drinking the water.
He next came upon a river of milk, and as he was about to step into it, the river requested him to drink
from it before he crossed over to the other side. The warrior spoke to the second river in the same
way as he had spoken to the first, whereby he crossed and continued on his way. When he next
came upon a river of blood, the same thing happened. He crossed all the three rivers without drinking
from any of them.
As the warrior continued on his journey, he came upon two swords that were sharpening themselves.
They said to the warrior:
"Hey warrior, sharpen us then you can take the sharpest of the two." The warrior said to them: "Let
me walk a little, and then I will come and sharpen you." He went past them and continued with his
journey. He next came upon delicious looking pieces of meat that were frying on their own. The meat
said to him: "Hey warrior, stir us, then you can eat the cooked one." The warrior again managed to
trick the meat as he had done with the other things, and left it.
As he went along, the warrior found two axes that were fighting each other. They said to him:
"Hey warrior, please separate us, then you can take one of us to your mother to hew wood with."
The warrior said: "Hold on a little while, I'll be right hack." He went on with his journey. The warrior
continued with his journey, and whenever he came upon something he played tricks with it, and left
without doing anything with it. He left everything behind.
Eventually, he came upon a man who was herding God's cattle. This man had two heads, and all the
cattle had two tails. After exchanging greetings' the older man asked the warrior: "Hey, how do you
find me?" "Oh, you look just like everybody else," answered the warrior. "And how do you find these
cows?" the old man further asked the warrior. The warrior answered: "They are like all other cattle."
The old man then gave the younger man directions, and they parted.
The warrior went on. When he was about to reach God's homestead, the homestead moved further
away. He walked on with patience until he reached it When he was about to enter the house, it also
moved away. He went on until he got near it and entered inside it. As he tried to sit down, the stool
also moved away from him but he followed it and managed to sit on it. And it so happened that there
was a lady of God* in this house. After greetings and exchange of news, the old lady asked the
warrior:
"Would you like fresh or stale milk?" The warrior answered: "What use do I have for fresh milk when
stale milk is in plenty!" He was given fresh milk. Later on, just before bedtime the old lady again asked
the warrior: "Would you want curdled or fresh milk?" The warrior said he wanted fresh milk. He was
given curdled. When the time for people to retire for the night came, the old lady asked the warrior
whether he wanted a bed that had been cleared of dust or one that was not. The warrior chose the
latter, and was offered the former, whereupon he retired and was soon sound asleep.
At the earliest flickers of dawn, the lady went to wake the warrior up and said to him: "I want you to
stay inside and when you hear the sound of thunder you should not utter a sound or come outside."
The warrior did as he was instructed. In a few minutes he heard the sound of thunder and the house
vibrated. The warrior remained still until the old lady invited him outside whereupon he found a large
herd of cattle together with sheep, goats and donkeys. The lady said to him:
"All this is your property drive it and go in peace." The warrior took the cattle through a different
route from the one he had followed before, and returned to his country.
As he was nearing his village some clouds of dust were seen a distance away. After waiting for a long
time the other warriors had given up their companion with the broken sandal. They assumed he had
been eaten by wild beasts. His family had mourned until they had become sober. Then the warrior
arrived with an enormous herd. When asked how he had obtained the cattle, he related his whole
experience in God's country. His companions had returned empty handed.
Meanwhile, when the brother of the fortunate warrior heard his story, he made up his mind to go to
God's country, so that he may be granted cattle. His brother forbade him to go, saying: "Please do not
go, for you are not able to do the things I did." But he insisted. He said: "I must go."
The warrior's brother went on and on until he came upon the moon as he was grazing. The moon
talked to him in the same way he had talked to his brother, and asked him: "What do you think of
me?" "I have never ever seen anything like you!" answered the warrior in astonishment. The moon
gave him directions, and he proceeded on the same path as his brother.
On coming upon the river of water the river requested him to have a drink before crossing. He knelt
down and drank to his fill before crossing. He also drank from the river of milk and that of blood,
crossing them all after doing so. He next came upon swords that were sharpening themselves. When
the swords asked him to sharpen them and take the sharpest, he did so, leaving with the sharpest. He
found meat that was frying itself. He sat down, cooked it and ate the cooked bits. When he found the
fighting axes, he separated them, and took one along as they had asked him to. He did everything
that his brother had not done.
He next came upon the two-headed man as he was grazing two-tailed cattle. They talked together
for a little while, and the old man posed the same question he had put to his brother: "How do you find
me?" The warrior boldly answered: "You have two heads." "And how do you find these cattle?"
continued the old man. "They each have two tails," added the warrior. The old man, nonetheless,
directed the warrior to God's village and returned to tend his cattle.
He walked on. When he was about to go through the gate, the village moved further away. He
swung his club and threw it at the village, which then stopped. When the house moved as he was
about to enter it, he hit it with his club and it stopped. When he tried to sit on the stool as it moved off,
he took his club and hit it, splitting it into two, and then he sat on the floor. When the old lady asked
him to choose between fresh and stale milk he said: "Why should I choose stale milk when there is
fresh milk!" He was given stale milk. At bedtime, he said he did not want fresh milk; he wanted curdled
milk. He was given fresh milk. He chose a fine clean bed and he was given one with ashes. He was
given all the bad things when he expressed preference for good ones.
Very early the next morning, the old lady went and gave him instructions to remain still and not to
utter a sound nor leave the house when he heard the sound of thunder. But no sooner had he heard
the sound of thunder than he shot up and went outside to check on what was making the sound. The
lady once more asked him to go back to the house. But once again, as soon as he heard the sound of
thunder, he rushed outside. He did this over and over again, and eventually the lady said to him: "You
go, you do not want property." He returned to his country empty handed, but for the axe, the sword
and the other weapons.
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The Masai tribe is traditionally a seminomadic tribe. They live off their cattle almost exclusively.
The Masai have a reputation of being a fierce warring tribe.
Masai men may have more than one wife.
Masai women build their houses out of sticks and grass, and then cover it with a mixture of cow dung and mud.
A Masai village is called an enkang.
The men put a thick wall of dried thorn-tree branches around the circle of houses to prevent wild animals from
coming into the village.
The women do a lot of beading in their spare time. They bead necklaces, headdresses, gourds, and dresses.
The young Masai children sometimes play a game where they place rocks on a sleeping rhinoceros. The last one
to place a rock on it before it wakes up is the winner. This, of course, is a dangerous game.
When a Masai boy leaves boyhood, he enters the morani or warrior class. He is expected to be brave enough to
spear a lion. If a warrior holds the tail of a lion as it dies he is awarded with that lion's mane and gains great
honour in his tribe. The ceremony for boys entering the morani is held every seven years.
Women and children keep their heads shaved while the morani wear their hair in long braids dyed with red clay.
The Masai eat custard made from the blood of their cattle. The blood is mixed with milk and curdled to make
the custard.
The Masai pierce and stretch their earlobes and wear large metal hoops at the tops of their ears. This goes for
both male and female members.
It is a sign of beauty for women to have long stretched earlobes. Decorative cuts are also made on women’s'
faces for beauty.
Their sun god is named Ruwa and lives on Mount Kilimanjaro.
When a Moran has proven himself he can become an elder. Women can also become elders once their have
given birth to four healthy children.
The language of the Masai is called 'Maa'.
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The Maasai believe that each person is sent a guardian spirit. They obtain this guardian during the
birth ceremony. This guardian is sent to protect the person and ward off danger until the day the
person dies. At the time of death the guardians do one of two things with the person’s spirit. If
they were a bad person during their time on earth they are carried off to a desert, with no water
and no cattle. If they were a good person while on the earth they are carried off to a land with
many cattle and plentiful pastures.
In the Maasai religion there are two great deities. The Supreme Being and creator is Enkai (also
called Engai and Ngai) guardian over rain, fertility, the sun and love. Enkai is a single deity with a
dual nature: Enkai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Enkai Nanyokie (Red God) is vengeful. In
Maasai mythology Enkai was the one who gave the cattle to the Maasai people.
Olapa is the Goddess of the Moon, married to Enkai.
According to some sources Neiterkob/Naiteru-kop ("that which began the earth") may also be a
reference to Enkai. Neiterkob is a minor deity, known as the mediator between God and man.
These great deities fought one day, and Olapa, being a short tempered woman, inflicted Enkai with
a wound. To cover up his wound he took to shining so bright, that no one could look straight at
him and see his shame. In revenge Enkai hit Olapa back and struck out one of her eyes. This can
be seen today, when the moon is full.
mean a supernatural or immortal being who may be thought of as being holy, divine, or
sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers.
*Deities
There are several different versions to the story of how Enkai came to be. They all have common
details and ideas. The belief is that Enkai was once a human who owned all the cattle in the world.
When the sky and earth split he sent all the cattle down from the sky along a long bark rope. The
Maasai people received all these cattle. When a jealous group of hunters did not receive any cattle
they cut the bark from the sky. This created a gap between the heavens and earth, which stopped
the flow of the cattle to the Maasai. This leaves the Maasai with the belief that cattle are a direct
link to Enkai and that he intended that all cattle were for the Maasai.
Because the Maasai believe that Enkai intended all the cattle in the world for them, they place
themselves at the center of the universe as the chosen people of Enkai. They believe that Ngai
created three groups of people to roam the earth. The first is the Torrobo, the hunters and
gathers, to whom Enkai sent honey and wild animals. The second group is the Kikuyu, the
cultivators; Enkai blessed them with seed and grain. And the final group is the Maasai, to whom he
gave all the cattle in the world.
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The Masai dance that is repeatedly seen in African documentaries is usually called the "jumping
dance". This particular dance is performed by the men of the village, who leap into the air to show
their strength and stamina as tribal warriors.
Each young man will jump as high as he can while the others stand in a circle and sing. The voices of
the men get higher as the jumping increases. This jumping dance is as familiar to the Western world
as the red-clad and beaded Masai warriors themselves. In the Masai language, this dancing
competition is called the "adumu".
Though the jumping dance is the most unusual and best known, there are plenty of other traditional
dances that the Masai perform. Masai dances are very structured and are performed for certain
occasions.
There are dances for celebration when a lion is killed by the warriors, a dance for the blessing of
cattle, and dances performed at wedding ceremonies. Most of the Masai dances are pretty simple,
and consist of a lot of bending, but with the feet staying still on the ground.