The Maasai are an indigenous ethnic group of semi-nomadic people living in northern Tanzania and Kenya,
and they are the only group allowed free travel over the border. The Masai reside near many game parks
and their dress is very distinctive. Consequently, they are probably the most well-known African ethnic
group in the world.
Masai families live in small traditional bomas which the women make from mud, sticks, grass and cow dung. Bomas are scattered over the area and are just large enough for sleeping and cooking. Women leave them at dawn each day to fetch firewood and water. Children spend their days playing around the boma and are taught to tend livestock while still very young. To help them grow strong, children are given a mixture of cow’s milk, blood and urine.
Women create wonderful and colourful beaded jewellery for body ornamentation. It is worn by all Masai people with patterns determined by age. It is a symbol of their culture all over the world. Young men often smear their bodies with ochre and can spend hours working on ornate hairstyles which are ritually shaved as they pass into the next age.
A most important person in Masai culture is the medicine man. The nomadic healers move between villages and as well as providing remedies for the sick or injured, they make predictions.