The Maasai make up 1.5% of the population of Kenya. Traditionally they were a nomadic pastoralist tribe. They relied on cattle for all their material needs. Their food was primarily milk, yogurt and blood. They wore leather clothing. They lived in semi-permanent homes constructed of saplings, mud, and cow dung. The women traded with other Nilodic speaking tribes using milk to barter for necessary goods. The highly organized Maasai society was built around men’s age sets of young boys, warriors, junior elders, senior elders, with each group having specific responsibilities in the cattle centered communal life.

The Maasai migrated to Kenya from Sudan in the late 15th century. After rapidly expanding their territory, they became the ascendant tribal force in the plains of Eastern Africa reaching their pinnacle of territorial dominance in the mid- 19th century. Then, the combination of drought, disease, and internecine warfare in the late 19th century weakened their power to such an extent that they were forced to sign unfavorable treaties with the encroaching British colonial authorities. Much of their most productive grazing lands were appropriated for British colonists. The Maasai were placed on reserves in the semi-arid plains of southwestern Kenya and northern Tanzania. During the decades of the 1930-70s, several national parks and game reserves were carved out of the Maasai territories further reducing pasturelands.

Today, in spite of many adaptations necessitated by changing times, Maasai culture, especially in the rural areas, remains remarkably intact. The Maasai still consider themselves the ‘cattle people’. Now, even though many men work at wage-earning jobs, there are always male family members at home managing the cattle. Whenever a Maasai man begins to earn wages, inevitably the first thing he buys are cattle. Cattle to the Maasai are what saving accounts and 401-Ks are to Americans.

Modern times are, however, causing dislocations in Maasai culture. Rural living, although conducive to cattle raising, makes it difficult to access medical care, clean water, adequate housing. The Maasai, belatedly compared to other tribes, are now trying to educate their children but the long distances, which need to be traveled to schools, make boarding schools a necessity. For the last twenty years the Kenyan government has been in the process of privatizing the lands of the communally held group ranches. This fragmentation of the group ranches will change the way cattle are grazed making the keeping of large herds difficult. Now Maasai, in spite of long held cultural disdain for agriculture, have diversified into farming wherever the seasonal rainfall allows. How the Maasai communities meet the daunting challenges of the 21st century will determine the future of their cultural heritage.

The MAO by supporting projects, which foster the education of girl children, the improvement of community health and economic empowerment of women, hopes to be a force for change that will preserve Maasai heritage while promoting cultural adaptations that will better the lives of the Maasai people living in the Siana Group Ranch.