MAAS AI
Th e Maasaipeoplelive in East Africa.The y may
havesepa ratedfr om otherNi lotic groupsas early
as 1,000yearsago an d movedinto whatis kno wn
tod ay as th e countries of Sud an and Uganda.This
split was followed by two maj or migrationwaves,
on e that might haveoccu rred300 yearsago or
earlierand the secondone in th e 18th century.
These migratory mov eme nts accou nt for the
Massai’s present-day loca tio ns in Kenya and
Tanzania. The Maasaiare primarilya pastoral
pe ople,althougha few amongthemdevotetheir
time and ener gy to agric ul ture.
The Massaibelievein on e sup re me God,Ngai
(alsonamedEngai orEn kai). Th at supremeGod
is androgynous—that is, bothfem ale and male.
Ngai ’s primordialdwelling,theOl DoinyoLengai,
literally “The Mountainof God, ” is loc atedin
northe rn Tanzania.Ngaicreatedthe forest,moun -
tains, lowlands, and highl ands.Nat uralforce s,
suchas rain,thunder,drought,and lightning , ac t
as gifts or punishmentsfromGod.
The MaasaiGod ap pearsin two manifesta -
tions:NgaiNar ok, char acterized by goodness and
be nevolence,is bl ack , whe re asNgai Nanyokie,
the angryone, is red like the Britishcolonize rs
who disru pted Maasaili fe. NgaiNarokis associ-
ated withthe northand presi des over rain,fertil -
ity, the sun , andlove matters, whereas Ngai
Nanyokie is asso ciatedwith the southand a
vengefulattitudeand behavior.
Acc ording to Massaimythicalnarratives,in the
beginning, the sky and the Earthwereone. All the
cattl e of the worldbelongedto Ngai.However,it
hap penedthat the sky and the Earthseparated,
and Ngaiand its cattlewereno longerlivingon
Earth.Ho wever,give n that the cattle’s subsistence
depended on the availabilityof gra ss, Ng ai
deci ded to sendall the cattledownto the Maasai,
askingthemto lookafterthe animals.The cattle
descendedby meansof a longropemadeof the
wild fig tree ’s roots,thu s makingthat tree a sacred
pl ant amongthe Maasai.That tree , knownas
oreti (or or eteti) in the Maalanguage, conse-
qu entl y playsan importantrole in Maasairitu al
ceremoniesbecauseit connectsthe livingto God.
Th at con nectionwas dis ruptedwhena hunterof
Torrobo(a neighboring people)descent,jealousof
God ’s gi ft of cattl e to the Maasai,tookit upon
hi msel f to cut the rope,thus crea tinga gap
betweenthe sky and the Earthan d interrupting
the flo w of cattlefromGod to the living.
Grass has also acqu ired a greatdeal of religious
significanceand prestige,as God ’s gif t, amongthe
Maasai. Grassheld in the fist is a si gn of peace,
and it is alsous ed for blessingsduring rituals.
Anotherquite importantand commonagentof
bl essingis spitting.To spit on som eo ne, especially
children, is a signof reverencean d approval.
Newb orn childrenare generouslyspatuponby
adu lts as a way of wis hing thema goodlife.
However,cat tle , as the ul tim at e gift of Godto
humanbeings,are mos t sa cr ed. The cattlepossess
the qualities of God an d attest to Go d’s greatnessand397