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Spanning from Kenya to the northern parts of Tanzania, the Maasai people are a nomadic tribe known to have lived and built their lives around their distinctive culture. Their practical adherence to their distinctive cultural heritage has attracted the attention of the media, Africa, and the world. One of those unique qualities is the traditional Maasai diet, which consists predominantly of milk, meat, and cattle blood, a rarity that came about due to the deep devotion the Maasai people have for their cattle.
The Maasai believe that their cattle were given to them by their deity, Enkai, to watch over, which gave them a deep sense of responsibility and influenced the way they cared about them[4]. In the long run, the cattle became an integral part of their community and formed a sort of currency that the Maasai needed to function in their daily lives. In this article, we will talk about the culture surrounding the consumption of cattle milk, meat, and blood, their symbolic meaning, and which is consumed during a rite of passage ceremony.
The Centrality of Cattle
There’s a story passed down for generations in the Maasai community, and this story revolves around why the Maasai were given a lifelong duty of staying dedicated to their cattle. The story describes Enkai as a god who gifted the Maasai their cattle with an order to take care of all of them, and ever since then, the Maasai people have adhered to that order, also often trying to absorb any stray cattle they find outside their community. The cattle became an integral part of the community, often serving as the primary measurement of the wealth and social status of a Maasai, used in facilitating marriage transactions, and also used in songs and proverbs by the women in their community. Therefore, it wouldn’t be strange if their cattle were their main
source of sustenance.
However, in the Maasai culture, food is not merely consumed for sustenance. There is always a spiritual connotation as regards to how they consume each meal, and consuming them as a cattle-derived product is seen as consuming a direct blessing from their deity. Although within this blessing are rules that govern the consumption of each meal, particularly pertaining to different rites and ceremonies within the Maasai community.
The Symbolic Foods and Their Meaning
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Milk
In the Maasai culture, milk is one of the most accessible sources of food, which makes it one of the most fundamental sources of food in the traditional Maasai diet. It could be taken in the form of Enkirowua (fresh milk), which is often mixed with blood or herbs for added flavour/medicinal benefits, or Mokore (fermented milk), which is the popular variation. For the Maasai, milk is not just seen as a source of food. With varying differences, depending on the age group, sex, or social position, drinking milk is seen as a ritual. For example, young children, between the ages of 0 and 2 years, are fed cream ( Engorno ), a product that is produced from cow’s milk after it is extracted from boiled milk that is left to settle, while sour milk mixed with blood is usually consumed by newly initiated and circumcised morans (Maasai warriors) to enhance healing and replenish the blood that was lost during circumcision12. Milk is known to have healing qualities and serve as a source of nourishment, which strengthens its symbolic meaning of purity, sustenance, and fertility.
Blood
Drinking blood is uniquely known as part of the Maasai traditional diet. It is usually obtained by shooting a blunt arrowhead called ‘orngoret’ —at a close range—to puncture the jugular vein of the cattle and letting the blood drip into a skin gourd while the animal is still alive. It can be served hot, mixed with fresh milk to produce nailanga, or used to prepare a strong, concentrated soup that is made from traditional herbs and animal fat. It is consumed by those who are ill, by mothers who are recovering after childbirth, et cetera. The act of drawing blood from their cattle while it is still alive is not only seen as a form of sustaining the cattle but also reinvigorates the meaning behind consuming blood, which includes vitality, healing, and revitalizing the life force of a person.
Meat
Due to the special relevance attributed to their cattle, meat is often consumed during special occasions and ceremonies, for example, initiation ceremonies, elderhood celebrations, etc. There’s always a ritual accompanying every ceremony, and in the Maasai culture, every part of the animal is used, which serves as a big reflection on how the Maasai respect their cattle. The significance behind consuming cattle meat fortifies its symbolic meaning, which includes strength, abundance, and the community’s collective prosperity.
Major Rites of Passage and Cuisines Associated with Them
In the Maasai culture, rites of passage are seen as pivotal moments that mark an individual’s life. It is a standard cultural and social practice that significantly marks every transition from one stage of life to another. The Maasai use it to identify which age group is which, especially amongst the males, and in a lot of these ceremonies, there are symbolic foods that are taken as a sort of ritual to punctuate the activities done in the ceremonies.
Enkipaata and Ekipolon
Enkipaata is the transition of males from boyhood to junior warriors, while Ekipolon is the transition of females from girlhood to womanhood. Both mark
a coming-of-age ritual in which an initiation ceremony is carried out to
punctuate a pivotal moment in their lives. A ritual known as circumcision (emuratare) is carried out within these initiation ceremonies, and immediately after each ceremony, the boys and girls are provided with special foods to replenish the blood lost during the process. For the boys, they are encouraged to drink a mixture of sour milk and blood.
Olng’esherr
Olng’esherr is known as a meat-eating ceremony that lasts for five days. It marks the significant end of the Moran stage of life (senior Maasai warriors) and transitions into senior eldership. Meat and roasted meat eaten in large quantities are the central event of the ceremony, alongside the transmission of values that prepare young men for their roles as elders in the Maasai community. It is also known as Enkang oo-nkiri (meat-eating ceremony).
Eokoto e kule
This milk-drinking ceremony marks the end of Eunoto (senior Maasai warrior), in which warriors are specifically given milk to drink. The eunoto ceremony marks the transition into senior warrior status, and at the end of the ceremony, the warriors form a small camp for eokoto e kule. Before the start of the ceremony, warriors are forbidden to eat alone, but during the milk ceremony, they are flanked by two elders who provide curdled milk mixed with a little water in a small calabash for the warrior.
Conclusion
The Maasai traditional diet provides compelling evidence that cuisines can be fundamentally integrated into the lifestyle of a people. The rules that govern the consumption of each symbolic food, especially the solemnity surrounding meat consumption, ensure the long-term continuation and sustainment of the core identity that defines the Maasai people. In the long run, their food is not just consumed as an act of self-sustenance, but it is used to demonstrate the protection and preservation of life’s most significant transitions.
