| The Masai people are well known all over the | | | | women. These are small rooms where all the |
| world predominantly for there well kept cultural | | | | house hold tasks take place. You will find that in |
| practices and rituals. The Masai history is a source | | | | one place the family cooks, eats, sleeps, socializes |
| of tourist attraction in Kenya and Tanzania. Word | | | | and stores food, fuel and other household |
| has it that the Maasai originated from the lower | | | | possessions. Girls help the mothers with cooking |
| Nile valley north of Lake Turkana (North-West | | | | and milking the cows. Boys on the other hand |
| Kenya) and began migrating south around the | | | | look after calves and lambs. They are also beaten |
| fifteenth century, arriving in a long trunk of land | | | | in a ritual to test for courage and endurance. |
| stretching from northern Kenya to central | | | | The age-set is the central unit of Maasai society. |
| Tanzania between the seventeenth and late | | | | Every fifteen years or so, boys between the age |
| eighteenth century. They are nomadic pastoralists. | | | | of 12 and 25 go through a ritual to make them |
| They are found in Kenya and Tanzania. They are | | | | junior warriors. This is a very painful ritual marked |
| Nilotic speakers. | | | | with a lot of courage and endurance by the boys. |
| The Maasai woman is left to do most of the | | | | Anyone who shows signs of fear brings dishonor |
| work while the men are left to protect and deal | | | | to the family. The ritual involves circumcision using |
| with legal issues in the community. The shelters | | | | a sharp knife and no anesthesia. |
| known as enkaji are built and maintained by the | | | | |