In early May
MWCT had the great honor of witnessing a truly rare Maasai celebration, one that occurs only once every 15-18 years -- the graduation of a new age set into warriorhood. The age set is a unique social structure found across East Africa in which Maasai of a similar age are grouped together. They begin their warrior training together, and this year the most recent generation is graduating into
morani.
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| A warrior carries the beautiful ceremonial horn that provided accompaniment to the singing and dancing. |
The cerebration and ceremony last for four days, but we witnessed a special portion near the beginning in which the new warriors leave their previous
boma (collection of households) and construct a new
boma to live in for the duration of the ceremony. There is also a ritual ceremony involving four white female cattle and one black male cow, seen in the photo below.
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| Warriors gather around the ceremonial cattle in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. |
After a short dance at the old
boma the entire group walked around two kilometers to the new site, herding the five ceremonial calves and carrying the warrior group's flagpole. This was followed by much singing and dancing by the warriors, which was quite the amazing spectacle. The final part of the day's celebration involved starting a fire to signify the commencement of building the new
boma.
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| Health Coordinator Lena Koh with Anne, a Maasai woman who does a lot of translating for the Trust. |
In the end it was an amazing day, and one that almost no outsiders have ever been allowed to witness. It is a testament to the partnership MWCT has built with the Maasai community of Kuku Group Ranch that we were allowed to view and record parts of the ceremony; we are very thankful for this. Events like these are exactly the type of cultural heritage we're trying to help preserve, and it was gratifying to see it on such beautiful display.
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| Warriors gather around to start a fire at the new boma site. |
