Maasai Tribe Research Paper

The Maasai tribe is located in East Africa and live in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They cover around 160,000 square kilometers of land along the Great Rift Valley. They have a population of roughly a half million people (The Maasai People). The tribe is considered as pastoralists because their existence is dependent upon the care of domesticated animals (Scupin 176). They are a nomadic group and travel between seasonal grazing areas and watering points. During the wet seasons, they travel to drier low lands, and during the drier times, they travel to higher wet grounds (Anderson 25). It is crucial to not me in a dry area during the time of a drought because it could result in a loss of many cattle (Anderson 26). Due to the increase of private ownership of lands, the Maasai now have to demand rights to graze
One of the reasons being deadly diseases (The Maasai of Kenya). Thee cattle and people have been exposed to the diseases because of western colonization such as HIV, malaria, trachoma, and cholera (Maasai). The deaths caused by diseases has left the Maasai weakened. This has allowed the government to take away the land for settlers, parks, and wildlife reserves (The Maasai of Kenya). This has caused the Maasai to lose grazing land that once was free of flies to become unsuitable for the cattle to graze (Maasai). With the change in the society, the Maasai are still fixed in their cultural practices. They have had to somewhat modernize their lifestyle (Anderson 57). The Maasai tribe can no longer maintain the life centered around cattle like they used to. (Maasai). They now have to do some farming. Some areas of the tribe have also had to adjust to tourism (Anderson 57). They also have started making dairy products, cheese, butter, yogurt, and ghee, by processing milk (Tribal Elder Modernizing the Maasai to Avoid