Tanzania and the Maasai

Tanzania certainly stands out as a unique country with its savannahs, which are home to so many wild animals, its interesting tribes, the snowy peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro and its friendly and welcoming people.

The first thing that attracts your attention when you travel in Tanzania is its flora. Take, for example, the cashew trees. Cashews can be found along the East African coastline. While it takes quite a long time for the cashew fruit to grow on its branch, each fruit only yields one nut. Due to the increasing demand for this nut, cashew factories have been set up in Tanzania. This has offered Tanzanians another way to make money.

In addition to cashew nut cultivation, another popular economic activity in the country is fishing. The country, which borders the Indian Ocean, has an abundant supply of fish. Fishing is done by conventional methods because the latest technology is not available. Even though many people think Tanzania’s capital is Dar es Salaam, it is actually Dodoma. But even if Dar es Salaam is not the capital, it is still a very important city. Dar es Salaam is the most prominent and populous city. With a population of 2.8 million, the city is at the heart of the economy and politics. Traffic moves on the left in this country. Like most African countries, Tanzania is a multicultural country. There is no conflict between tribes. It is a land where peace and love prevail. Around 35-40 percent of the multicultural Tanzanian population is Muslim.

African nationalism is more dominant than Tanzanian nationalism. The shared language of the different tribes is Swahili. Every child first learns how to speak his own tribe’s language. Later on they learn Swahili, which is the language used to communicate with people from other tribes, and English. Swahili is the common language of East Africa. Swahili comes from the Arabic word sawahil, which means “boundaries” or “coasts.” Swahili is the common language along the East African coastline from Somalia to Mozambique. In addition to Tanzania, it is spoken in Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and even Malawi. There are many Arabic words in this language. While dailies are available in both Swahili and English, Swahili is more popular.

The most interesting tribe in the country is the Maasai tribe. The Maasai people live in Tanzania’s Arusha district. Its vast plains are filled with all kinds of animals, including goats, sheep and cows because cattle are very important for the Maasai. According to their beliefs, all cattle throughout the world belong to them. This tribe prefers to avoid technology.

Next to the single-story village homes made from mud bricks are animal shelters surrounded by fences. The insides of most homes are dark. They have no windows, the rooms are very narrow and the ceilings are so low that it is almost impossible for a person to stand up straight. The Maasai women usually cook food over fires inside homes that have no chimneys. The only vent for the smoke is the door. Some homes even have a place for animals inside. The Maasai people share their homes with sheep and goats. “We love our animals. So we don’t mind sleeping in the same place as them,” they say.

The many members of this tribe adhere to indigenous religions. They believe in a creator but they use intermediaries to reach him. These intermediaries can include a mountain or a tree. There are also members of the tribe who use magic and spells and don’t mix with the rest of the people often. Like many African tribes, the Maasai people express their joy and sorrow by dancing. The interesting sounds that are made and dances performed by woman on one side and men on the other are sometimes done as a prayer for good luck or rain. Prayers consist of folkloric dances. Jumping is the most repeated movement in the dances. The higher a Maasai can jump, the better.

The people are always barefoot. Living in a natural environment since the day they were born, they are not in the habit of wearing shoes.

A Maasai woman applying face paint Tanzanian fisherman

Clothes made from red plaid fabric distinguish the Maasai from other tribes. This color, even if the shades vary slightly, and plaid are essentially the tribe’s symbol.

You can also recognize the Maasai from their stretched earlobes. It is a tradition to wear handmade ear accessories. They have a culture and tradition that is very unfamiliar and a lifestyle that is foreign to many of us.

In the past, Maasai men used to have to kill a lion as a rite of passage, but they no longer continue this tradition. According to the Maasai culture, a Maasai man can marry as many women as he wants. However, the number of women he marries depends on how much cattle he has. That is because cattle are a symbol of wealth. So the richer you are, the more women you can take care of. An indication of polygamy is the presence of more than one house on the same piece of land. Every wife has a separate home. These homes are built next to each other. The man and woman start building their new home as soon as they get married and usually complete it by the time their first child is born. Newborn babies open their eyes to the world in the new home.

Most of the work is taken care of by the women. They are responsible for everything from raising the children to fixing homes damaged by rain. When they finish dealing with the house, they work outside. Maasai women are also responsible for taking care of the animals. Milking the animals, cleaning the house, cooking food and carrying water are all a woman’s responsibility. Usually water is brought from places that are far from the home. They also gather the wood used for cooking.

As for men, they are responsible for grazing the animals and protecting their tribes and animals. They are also responsible for finding new places to live during drought and moving the villages to the new locations.

Members of the tribe spend most of their time in their village. They only go to the city when they have to buy medicine for their animals. The first thing they buy if they have money is cattle. The Maasai people said that because they have no banks, this is how they make the most of their money and noted that having cattle is a source of wealth. They say don’t ask a Maasai about how he is, instead ask him how his cattle are. That is because if the cattle are fine, then the person is happy as well.

[QUICK FACTS] Capital: Dodoma (official), Dar es Salaam (de facto) Official language: Kiswahili or Swahili Government: Republic President: Jakaya Kikwete Prime minister: Mizengo Pinda Area: 947,300 square kilometers Population: 41,048,532* GDP (PPP): $57.5 billion** Religion: Christian (30 percent), Muslim (35 percent), Indigenous beliefs (35 percent) *July 2009 estimate **2008 estimate

There are very few old people in the tribe. Most Maasai try to find cures for illnesses through herbal remedies. Only a very small number of them ever go to the hospitals in the town for treatment.

The total number of Maasai is estimated to be a little under 1 million people, including those who live in Kenya. Some Maasai go to the city to receive an education, but soon after they finish, they return to their villages. They say, “We like living this way, and we don’t want to change,” and continue living their tribal life. There are some who never return to the villages after going to school in the city, but their numbers are extremely low. Most of them continue to maintain their own culture and traditions despite pressure from the modern world.

As the Tanzanians say in Swahili, “Mungu akipenda tutaonana badai, inshaAllah,” meaning, if God wills, we will see each other again.