The Masai : Past & Present

These pastoral nomads have followed the same way of life for hundreds of years and have a centuries-old reputation as fearsome warriors. Maasai life centres on their cattle, and they tend to these animals fearlessly, even when surrounded by Africa's most dangerous predators.

The Maasai territory was one of the last parts of East Africa ventured into by Europeans. In the nineteenth century even the ruthless slave traders feared the Maasai warrior temperament and gave their territory a wide berth. Despite their dominance over the area however, the Maasai were relative newcomers to their present territory. It is estimated that the Maasai arrived in their present area in the 17th or 18th century, forcefully displacing resident tribes.

At the close of the 19th century, Europeans arriving in the area brought with them disease, and the Maasai and their cattle were hard hit by smallpox and rinderpest epidemics. Severe drought and bloody land disputes further weakened the tribes. In an ironic twist, much of the Maasai people's former territory was reclaimed at this time by the tribes they had displaced a century earlier. This colonial era also claimed some 50 percent of Maasai land for game reserves and settler farms.

Despite the massive loss of land, the area occupied by Maasai today is still among the most extensive of any Tanzanian tribe. Their territory flows from the Maasai steppes of northeast Tanzania to massive parts of the Ngorongoro highlands and the Serengeti Plains.

Although they do not have grazing rights in the Serengeti National Park, the Maasai do have the right to graze their cattle on the periphery of the Masai Mara and to hunt within the reserve. They have similar arrangements with many of the parks and reserves in Kenya and Tanzania and often ignore international borders as they move their vast cattle herds to the timing of the seasons.

Large areas of grasslands to the north and east of the Masai Mara National Park are being sold and leased to wheat farmers which does increase the difficulties the Maasai face in retaining their nomadic way of life.

Nevertheless, the Maasai today exist peacefully alongside their local and foreign neighbours. Although their tolerance for neighbours has increased in recent decades they hold onto their traditional lifestyle and display little, if any interest in changing it.

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