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The Kenya Masai: A Nomadic People under Modern Adminstration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2012

L. James
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Extract

Existing accounts of the Masai may be broadly grouped under three heads: (1) The popular impressionist accounts of the tribe by travellers in East Africa; the numerous travel works on this part of Africa nearly all contain some mention of the tribe, but in the main, these descriptions are calculated for their dramatic effect, and thus become largely inaccurate and valueless for the serious student. (2) Studies of the tribe such as those contained in the works of N. Leys and W. M. Ross. These authors approach the subject rather from the political angle, and make a study of the tribe largely for the purpose of criticizing Kenya's native policy. (3) The works dealing with the tribe from the ethnographic and anthropological standpoint; of the older works, the most important are those by A. C. Hollis and M. Merker. Among the more recent contributions the most outstanding are those by L. S. B. Leakey and S. Storrs-Fox. Daryll Forde has also given an account of the tribe from the point of view of the social geographer.

Résumé

LES MASSAĪ: UN PEUPLE NOMADE SOUS L'ADMINISTRATION MODERNE

Avant I'arrivée des Européens, les Massaī constituaient l'un des groupes les plus importants de l'Afrique orientale. Cette tribu de pasteurs nomades s'étendait sur les meilleurs pâturages de cette contrée et des chaînes du Kenya lançait des raids contre les communautés voisines. L'arrivée des Blancs divisa cette tribu dont les deux parties furent placées sous les administrations britannique et allemande. En territoire anglais les Massaī furent confinés dans une Réserve assez aride au sud du chemin de fer de l'Ouganda.

Un problème d'administration moderne est soulevé par la résidence obligatoire et dans des limites déterminées de cette tribu encore nomade il y a peu de temps, car les Massaī entretiennent dans cette réserve un cheptel plus grand que la végétation ne le permet. Cela augmente I'érosion du sol et entraîne d'autres difficultés pour la tribu. La Réserve est incontestablement trop petite pour assurer la nourriture des troupeaux, mais ses possibilités actuelles peuvent être augmentées: 1. en procurant plus d'eau aux indigènes; 2. en réduisant le domaine des mouches; 3. en diminuant le nombre du gibier; 4. en améliorant la qualité du pâturage.

Mais si les idées présentes des Massaï au sujet du bétail ne sont pas orientées différemment, l'application de ces divers remèdes aura pour seule conséquence d'augmenter le nombre des animaux et en conséquence la situation présente ne sera guère modifiée. L'augmentation caractéristique du troupeau dans la Réserve est due surtout au fait que les Massaï ne considèrent pas leur cheptel comme un moyen de commerce. Ils ne comprennent pas que l'on puisse jamais avoir trop de bétail. Leur chef lui-même souhaite que le troupeau augmente toujours sans jamais diminuer. Les animaux ne sont vendus qu'à cause de la pression administrative ou sous l'influence de difficultés économiques. Le problème posé devant l'administration est donc de donner à leurs activités pastorales un sens commercial en changeant leurs idées au sujet de leurs troupeaux.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , January 1939 , pp. 49 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1939

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References

page 49 note 1 Leys, N., Kenya (1925).Google Scholar

page 49 note 2 Ross, W. M., Kenya from Within (1927).Google Scholar

page 49 note 3 Hollis, A. C., The Masai: Their Language and Folklore (1905).Google Scholar

page 49 note 4 Merker, M., Die Masai (1904).Google Scholar

page 49 note 5 Leakey, L. S. B., ‘Some Notes on the Masai of Kenya Colony’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1930.Google Scholar

page 49 note 6 Storrs-Fox, S., ‘Some Further Notes on the Masai of Kenya Colony’, JRAI, 1930.Google Scholar

page 49 note 7 Forde, C. D., Habitat, Economy and Society (1934).Google Scholar

page 49 note 8 Weller, H. O., Kenya Without Prejudice (1931), p. 105.Google Scholar

page 50 note 1 Ogilvie, A. G., ‘Africa as a Field for Geographical Research’, Geographical Teacher (1926).Google Scholar

page 52 note 1 Fischer, a German, was the first European to penetrate effectively into Masai territory. An account of his journey is given in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1884Google Scholar. A Scot, J. Thomson, was the first European to reach the Kenya Highlands, and tobring back information of the tribe. His book, Through Masai hand (1885)Google Scholar, has become a classic of East African travel.

page 52 note 2 Most works on East Africa make reference to the Masai, and the effects of the European impact. In addition to the works of Leys and Ross, the following are useful: Eliot, C., The East African Protectorate (1905)Google Scholar; Hobley, C. W., Kenya from Chartered Company to Crown Colony (1929)Google Scholar. The official history of the tribe is by Sandford, R. G., An Administrative and Political History of the Masai Reserve (1919)Google Scholar. Elspeth Huxley has given a valuable account of early Masai history in White Man's Country. Lord Delamere and the Making of Kenya (1935).Google Scholar

page 54 note 1 This problem is discussed in many of the works by Leakey, L. S. B., e.g. in Kenya: Contrasts and Problems (1935)Google Scholar. C. Gillman also makes a valuable contribution to the subject in ‘A Population Map of Tanganyika Territory’, American Geographical Review, vol. xxvi, 1936, pp. 353–75.Google Scholar

page 54 note 2 The question of soil erosion is usefully discussed in Man-Made Deserts in Africa by Stebbing, E. P., and in Land Usage and Soil Erosion in Africa.Google Scholar Both pamphlets are Supplements to the Journal of the Royal African Society, January 1938.Google Scholar

page 54 note 3 The problem of the adjustment of soil conditions to climate is lucidly discussed in the Memoir: A Provisional Soil Map of East Africa, Milne, G. (1936).Google Scholar

page 59 note 1 The fall in prices may be seen from the fact that the 1928 exports from the Reserve amounted to over £95,000. In 1931, the sum had fallen to £40,000, and by 1934, to just over £41,000. The figure for 1928, incidentally, as the Report of that year points out, refutes the commonly accepted view of the tribe as ‘useless and unproductive’, for the per capita export figure of about £2 is comparatively high.

page 61 note 1 Huxley, Julian, Africa View.Google Scholar

page 64 note 1 Willis, Bailey, Living Africa (1930), p. 289.Google Scholar

page 68 note 1 Church, A. C., East Africa: A New Dominion (1927), p. 224.Google Scholar

page 68 note 2 Orr, J. B. and Gilks, J. L., Studies in Nutrition: The Physique and Health of Two African Tribes.Google Scholar

page 69 note 1 The following figures show the difficulties in connexion with a study of the Masai population in Kenya:

page 73 note 1 My thanks are due to Mr. S. J. K. Baker of Liverpool University for invaluable assistance in the preparation of this paper. L. J.