Saturday am. We awake at 4.30 am, picked up a friend and drive south. We were attending a Maasai ceremony. It had rained the night before so once we turned off the main road it was a mud bath—thank goodness for 4 wheel drive. We made it to a remote, lovely spot—to a Maasai boma and there was a sea of red—the Maasai. The ceremony was the graduation of Maasai Warriors to the junior elder class, this only happens every 12 years. Maasai have various age classes that they move through in their life—and today they move from one to the next. We were very fortunate to be able to witness the ceremony.
The event was rich with tradition and there is so much attention to details and symbolism. In the morning a sacred cow is selected—one without any blemishes or scars. The cow is led into the centre of the boma. The warriors surround the cow and sing, their guttural song, which puts the cow in a trance. The cow is then slaughtered and the blood drank. The warriors can only eat the right side, so they are cooked separately. The skin of the cow is stretched out do dry by the women. Each woman has a sacred stick they use to peg the skin to the ground. If a woman is not faithful, they are not allowed to peg their stick on the skin. If they are found unfaithful, they go back to their father and get nine cows to present to their husband to seek forgiveness. As the skin is pegged and the meat cooking on the fire, there are hours of dancing and singing. The warriors are covered in red ochre (the red paint) which shines in the sunlight and they are all elaborately dressed with beads and red shukas. Senior guests are welcome with song and dance. Once the meat is ready, the group of warriors gather, they kneel and 9 elders give them a blessing. Then they are led into a hut where they are fed by the women meat. The meat has been carried into the hut by the women on leaves, the women are not to touch the meat—this is the first time the men will eat with the women—ever. The men hold their heads high with great pride.
The ceremony was four hours from Nairobi. It is astonishing that so close to Nairobi this culture endures, against all odds. The mixing of tradition with contemporary life is evident in the white USA socks and NIKE sneakers that some of the women wear, or the safari boots that the men wear and the mobile phones everyone carries, but despite the blending of new and old, they maintain the tradition. A true privilege to witness the graduation.
