Africa's symbolic tribe, the Masaai

It does not matter if you ever set foot in Africa or not. You would still identify the continent with these tall herdsmen of the Masai standing erect, red robes wrapped round their shoulders, stick and knife to one side. If the Dallas Cowboys are THE “American Team” , it's safe to say the Masai are Africa’s symbolic tribe.

The day I entered the Ngongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania, I first made a stop at a Masai village. I knew they were a nomadic people and that they lived generally in both sides of the border between Kenya and Tanzania. However, that was the extent of my knowledge about them.

I found the short glimpse we got into their lifestyle very interesting. I got a chance to visit one of the small huts and there talk a little bit about how they live.

Among the things one of the warriors shared:

• things are communal; they make crafts and the sales go to the entire group
• they are polygamous
• since their huts are so small, the house in which the warrior sleeps at night, any kids older than 4-5 get sent to another wife’s hut
• the warriors’ job is the safety of the group; women have a long list of things they are responsible for like building the huts, cooking, fetching water, minding the children, etc.
• life centers around the cattle on whose milk and blood they depend
• they move every 2-3 months to a new place (where there is more grass for their cattle)
• when someone dies, they leave the body out in the open to be nourishment for animals; they leave some marker so people know not to build their camp there; supposedly, a few months need to pass before the area can be used again
• they live typically into their 100s.

I left with admiration for a people who seem to strike a workable balance between living according to their traditions while dealing with some of modern life with common sense.