In his book, Becoming a Maasai Spear writes that, "everyone "knows' the Maasai; men wearing red caps while balancing on one leg and a long spear, gazing out on the semi-arid Savannah plains, stretching endlessly to the horizon; women heavily dressed in beads staring out form countless coffee table books and tourists snapshots." The Maasai people were made known to the outside world by their neighbors, Western explorers and colonial conquest. European explorers of the 19th century told tale of the courage and bravery of the Maasai people. Thomas describes how, in 1883, the Maasai entered through his camp and ordered about the whole caravan, including himself, as if they had been masters and the travelers were slaves. Today the Maasai people stand in proud testimony to the vanishing African cultures.

The Maasai people are clearly distinguished by their language, customs and appearance from the Bantu races. The Maasai people are tied to and are very much dependent on land and livestock for their upkeep and livelihood. Pastoralism, the socio-economic lifestyle of the Maasai, promotes and integrated natural resources protection strategy, peacefully co-existing with the rich East Africa wild flora and fauna. Credit to the Maasai nature-friendly traditions  the re know extensive and biologically diverse animal sanctuaries in the Maasai territories have been classified as "Global Biospheres Reserves" by the U.N. Scientific and Education and Cultural Organization(UNESCO). Click here to read more about the Maasai.

Emanyatta