Maasai Market

Saturday morning we woke up early and made our way into town to go to the Maasai market. After three Dalla-Dalla rides and a one hour drive with 25 people crammed in to a 12 person van, we made it to Dumila. For one of the first times since I've been in Tanzania, I was certain this is where we got off the Dalla-Dalla. The field was full of colorful tribespeople herding their cattle towards the market. The paths were lined with dietict bright fabrics of the Maasai people.

The Maasai are pastoral nomads who have actively resisted change, and still follow the same lifestyle that they have for centuries. Their culture centers on their cattle, which provide many of their needs- milk, blood, and meat for their diet, and hides and skin for clothing. The land, cattle, and all elements related to cattle are considered sacred.
Maasai boys pass through a number of trasitions throughout life, the first of which is marked by the circumcision rite. Successive stages include junior warrior, senior warriors, junior elders, and senior elders; each level is distinguied by its own unique rights, responsibilities, and dress. The most important group is that of the newly initiated warrions, morran, who are in charge of defending the cattle. Maasai women play a subservient role and have no inheritance rights. Polygamy is widespread and marriages are arranged by the elders, without consulting the bride or her mother.

The women wear Kangas of saphire blue and plum purple, large, wrapped gold bands around their wrists and ankles, and have their ears stretched long enough to put a toonie through. Added to their colorful dress are layers of large, beaded necklaces and earings. The men wear one Kanga wrapped around their waist, topped with a shoulder sash on one side. They carry a long stick (which is used to control the cattle) and have a machete and tobacco pipe always fastened around their waist.

For me, walking through the market was like flipping through the pages of my Anthropology textbook; a year ago I studied the Maasai, trying to memorize their lifestyle for a test, now I was walking amidst that very lifestyle I was trying to memorize only so I could pass a test. This has been one of the highlights of my African adventure. I've always dreamed about seeing indigineous tribes, but I never thought I would be able to get that close to observing their lifestyle. As I shook hands and conversed with the Maasai people, ther was undoubtably a surge of ecstatic energy flowing through my veins. One more notch ticked off my "50 Things to do before I die".