No Products in the Cart
Fascinating Facts About the Maasai: The People of Kenya and Tanzania
Kenya is an iconic African safari destination and home to the Maasai tribe. The Maasai are well known for their unique culture and tribal dress.
They are a semi-nomadic, pastoral indigenous tribe whose ancestral territory stretches across southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinct traditions, customs, and dress and residence near the many national game parks of East Africa, the Maasai are among the major African ethnic groups and are known internationally because of their links to the national parks and reserves.
Although the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments have established programs to encourage the Maasai to leave behind their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, the Maasai people have carried on their age-old customs. However, this is changing, albeit slowly.
But, Teeris support their ancestry tradition, and we want to inspire you to discover this beautiful tribe.
According to their oral history, the Maasai originated from the lower Nile valley north of Lake Turkana (Northwest Kenya) and began migrating south around the 15th century. They arrived at a long landmass stretching from northern Kenya to central Tanzania between the 17th and late 18th centuries. They populated and expanded their land, reaching an estimated population of 900 000. Their land covers most of the Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Dodoma and Mount Marsabit.
From 1883 to 1911; they went through severe epidemics that caused the loss of 90% of the cattle and half of the wild species. Maasai in Tanzania was forced out from their fertile lands between Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru and most of their fertile mountainous regions. near the Ngorongoro in the 1940s. More land was claimed to create national parks and wildlife reserves. Masai Mara, Samburu, Ngorongoro, Amboseli, Nairobi National Park, the Serengeti, Lake Nakuru, Manyara and Tarangire.
Maasi has resisted urging the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments to adopt a more modern lifestyle. Instead, they have kept their traditions alive till today.
The Maasai are known for their physical beauty - not just their lithe, graceful physiques but for their unique garb and body ornamentation. The most iconic Maasai garment today is the shuka—a woven, thick cotton blanket wrapped around the body, usually red with a striped or checked pattern in blue or black, wrapped around the body. While the women wear Lesos, a type of cape also draped over their undergarments. Though it isn’t traditional historically, the Shuka, only replaced animal-skin clothing around the 1960s and were purchased rather than made by tribespeople. Today their garment has been widely emulated by modern fashion designers, including Louis Vuitton. They accessorize these with various brightly colored necklaces, earrings, bracelets, sandals, belts, and anklets made with leather, strings, and colorful beads.
The intricately beaded, brightly colored necklaces and bracelets worn by both men and women are primarily red and blue, but they have other colors to complement these.
Usually, clothing varies by sex, age, and place. Young men wear black for several months after their circumcision. However, red is a favored color among the Maasai. Black, Blue, checkered. And striped cloth is also worn, together with multicolored African garments.
Different colors represent different special meanings in the Maasai culture. Let’s see them together:
Modern fashion has borrowed heavily from the Maasai beadwork. Traditionally, different ornaments mean different things. Unmarried girls wear flat beaded necklaces that look like enormous disks around their necks. Once they marry, they wear a long necklace with Predominantly blue beads. The men wear colorful necklaces with exciting pendants. When the young men graduate to Morans (warriors), they wear a unique cross-body necklace. Men and women also wear headbands, anklets, bracelets, and earrings to their preference. All these are hand-made with beads, wire, leather, and strings. They take pride in this art beadwork passed down from generation to generation.
Maasai kept their traditional costumes for thousand of years, and they have been copied by big fashion brands too due to their uniqueness in colors and shapes.
Check the Savannah Collection to find the inspired designs that best make you happy!! ;)
