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| Part
3: Warriors and teenage brides |
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| The
Maasai have a community-oriented society |
The
Maasai live in "bomas" (enclaves) around the village.
This is a very community-oriented society and families live together
in cluster dwellings circled by a fence of thorn bushes
It's the women who build the houses, in fact! The same women who
attend our class. They also carry the water, make the clothes, raise
the children and live peaceably in their polygamous society. Men
in the western world wish they had it this good!
It's a curious paradox, really, because contrary to all my expectations
the women here are also strong-willed, feisty and highly entrepreneurial,
running the curio stands and market stalls that provide the sole
monetary income of many of these families. And they're happy, too!
Warrior
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| Lesaloy
(left) is a newly-inducted warrior |
I have
become firm friends with one Maasai family in particular, the Olengunin's,
who together have taught me a great deal about their way of life.
My young Maasai guide, Lesaloy, is an Oleng'unin and has lately
been inducted as a "morani" (warrior). Along with the
rest of his age-set he is one of the protectors of the village,
a position which he takes very seriously.
His knife and spear -he carries two - are not just for effect; all
morani have to kill a lion in the wild (and endure circumcision
without anaesthetic!) in order to prove their mettle. At home we
get our driver's licence and worship at the altar of legal inebriation.
Go figure!
Teenage bride
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| Bree
with members of the Oleng'unin family |
There
are so many Oleng'unin brothers and sisters that I can but marvel
at the stamina and virility of Olemarle, the patriarch, who - at
a sprightly seventy-four years of age - has recently fathered a
brand new addition to the family and is about to take another bride,
a pert and pretty 15-year old. There are already no fewer than four
Mrs Oleng'unins: good ol' boy!
Both parties seem genuinely delighted at the prospect of the impending
nuptials, and I do mean that sincerely. And who am I to question
a way of life that has endured this long?
People tend to refer to this lifestyle as 'primitive', but in effect
the Maasai simply distil life down to its very barest essentials.
They don't get fat and soft and complicated like we do in the west
and they don't moan or whine about their lot in life. It's very
refreshing.
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