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A Maasai Warrior's Dream
Tepilit Ole Saitoti, in his beautiful book, MAASAI, quotes from Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa to illustrate the current situation the Maasai people face in Eastern Africa.
"From the farm, the tragic fate of the disappearing Maasai tribe on the other side of the river could be followed from year to year. They were fighters who had stopped fighting, a dying lion with his claws clipped, a castrated nation. Their spears had been taken from them, their big dashing spears even, and in the Game Reserve the lions followed their herds of cattle."
John Nemarrau Ole Tome is a recently initiated Maasai elder who has dedicated himself to providing the tools necessary for the Maasai people to make a better future for themselves than the dire situation Dinesen describes. John calls himself a "cultural ambassador" and he educates and entertains to raise funds needed to fulfill his dream - a school that teaches not only Maasai heritage, but English and Swahili to the Maasai people. It has been an incredibly slow process for John, and the American Friends of the Maasai Heritage Educational School has been formed to help John fufill his dream.
For the Maasai people, it is difficult to understand the concept that land, which in the Maasai mind belongs to God, can be bought and sold, gained and lost. The Maasai people are losing their land at an alarming rate - land that a pastoral people desperately need for the cattle on which the Maasai base their entire existance.
In America, we are all too familiar with the disappearance of entire cultures and peoples. The Iroquois, Algonquin and Mohican are just a few examples of Native American tribes that were displaced and eventually forced out of existence by the advancing "Manifest Destiny" in this country. The fate of these once proud "nations" is a sad and regrettable chapter in the history of the United States.
However, we know better now how to use education to enable different peoples to deal with the inevitable encroachment on traditional lifestyles by modern, or western culture, while preserving the age old traditions, customs and ways of life that give identity and vitality to individuals and nations.
The Maasai are a cattle herding people and derive their entire sustenance from their precious herds. Their diet consists almost entirely of milk and beef, and during the dry season, cow's blood is mixed with milk to stretch food supplies. The herds are quite literally the life blood of the Maasai. Cattle need range land and that resource is, as mentioned, being taken away at a staggering pace.
Maasai means literally, "Speaker of the language of Maa", and, although that is one of the things that sets the Maasai apart, it has also been one of the things that has been most detrimental to their situation. In Eastern Africa, Swahili is the language spoken by other tribes and English is the language of business. The English and German colonial governments in Kenya and Tanzania never sought to educate the Maasai in these important languages, and things have not changed in that area since independence.
The lack of language ability is the major contributing factor to the shrinking of the Maasai range land. A thumbprint on a piece of paper that a Maasai cannot read or understand transfers hundreds of acres at a time to developers for tourist lodges and agriculturalists for fenced fields. Either way, the land is lost forever to the Maasai. As formidable as their sharp spears and large shields can be in battle, the Maasai are fighting a new war now, and the most powerful weapon available to them is education. English and Swahili can do more to preserve the Maasai range land than an army of the most strong, fierce, red-clad warriors of the Maasai.
John Nemarrau Ole Tome is anxious to help the Maasai solve the problems they are faced with themselves. Renowned throughout Eastern Africa for their courage and trustworthiness, the Maasai have the determination to maintain their cultural identity and deal effectively with the outside world. However, these proud people and John need some assistance arming themselves to face modern times. The Maasai Heritage Preservation Foundation is raising money to construct, furnish, equip and maintain a school where English and Swahili will be taught, as well as courses on the Maasai heritage.
We urge you to contribute what you can to help us help John help the Maasai people help themselves in preserving and maintaining their way of life. What is the destiny of the Maasai children of today? Will they continue to be a part of a vibrant, living culture, or will they be relegated to finding whatever work they can in cities like Nairobi as their cattle, homeland and culture disappear? The future of the Maasai rests not only in their hands but in your hands as well.
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