MASAI – LONGONOT KENYA

This is a close-up look at two young warriors of the Masai, one of Africa’s most fascinating tribal groups.

The youths portrayed are probably in their late teens and they are bachelors because married Masai men have shaven heads. The warrior nearest the viewer wears a headdress of cowhide and ostrich plumes. The leaves under his arm are from the leleshwa bush, an aromatic shrub that produces a pleasant scent. The spears that they carry are purely ornamental, but for centuries the Masai were mighty warriors who ruled Central East Africa. Their power came to an end in the late 1880s when their numbers were greatly reduced by smallpox.

Today, the Masai are nomads who wander the plains with their cattle and are entirely dependent upon their herds for sustenance. They have resisted Western influences and still wear their traditional cowhide clothing and decorate their bodies with red ochre dye mixed with sheep fat.