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December 1997 The Future of the Maasai People and Wildlife By Meitamei Olol-Dapash

 

So goes one of the Maasai myths: In the beginning there was the Maasai God called Enkai. Enkai created Naiteru-Kop, the first man, and a woman partner. The two were sent to earth with a hundred heads of cattle, goats and sheep to begin a new life. Naiteru-Kop and his partner found earth beautiful and abounding in natural resources--rivers, lakes, oceans, minerals, forests, plains and wildlife. They were given control over all these resources on condition that they be good custodians and hold all creation in trust for coming generations. If they failed to keep this promise, they would bear the full consequences of their irresponsible actions. Over time Naiteru-Kop and his partner bore three sons and three daughters--the first son grew up and was given Bow and Arrow so he could derive his livelihood from hunting--he became a hunter. The second son received a Hoe and became a gardener/farmer and the third son (who was his father's favorite) was given a Rod with which he would herd his father's cattle once he inherited them.

Naiteru-Kop's last son is thus believed to be the immediate descendent of the Maasai people, the great warrior people who roam the endless plains of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania in Eastern Africa. This story is taught and passed on by Maasai from generation to generation. The story also explains the Maasai's reverence for nature and their spiritual attachment to livestock as a source of food and wealth.

Impact of Colonialism
Some Maasai believe that this myth reveals their real origin, while others believe that the Maasai are one of the lost tribes of Israel who, many centuries ago, followed the great Rift Valley and settled in present-day Kenya and Tanzania. Anthropological studies strongly suggest that the Maasai have inhabited East Africa for more than 6,500 years.

Up to the 18th century, Maasai territory stretched from the northern part of Kenya to central Tanzania, 700 miles from north to south and 500 miles east to west. The arrival of the British colonizers and the subsequent displacement of the Maasai people from their traditional lands followed the discovery of Maasailand by Joseph Thompson of the National Geographic Society in 1883. This resulted in a full scale war between the British and the Maasai people. Through a combination of political maneuvering, introduction of peculiar human and livestock diseases, and superior firepower, the Maasai population was reduced from 500,000 to a mere 40,000 by the early 1900s.

Too weak and few to defend their land, the Maasai conceded defeat. It was then that the British began the long process of dispossessing the Maasai of their lands. This led to the creation of two Maasai reservations in the northern part of Kenya and along and across the border with Tanzania. By 1904, the Maasai had lost two-thirds of their prime seasonal grazing lands that were later dubbed "Kenya White Highlands."

The Legacy of "Conservation"
The legacy of British rule in East Africa has continued to haunt many Maasai generations. The British were attracted to Maasailand because of its excellent and varied climate, the beauty of the landscape, and the extraordinarily rich wildlife--both flora and fauna. Commercial trophy hunting of large game was an added attraction which popularized East Africa and Maasailand. By 1930, hunting already threatened many wildlife species with extinction, leading to a conference in London in 1933 to determine the status and future of East Africa's wildlife. Following the resolutions of this conference, national parks and game preserves were created across Maasailand in an attempt to ensure the survival of wildlife in the region.

Today, wildlife preserves in Kenya and Tanzania form 14 percent and 16 percent of the total land surface respectively. Wildlife preserves in Maasailand and remaining communal Maasai lands are sanctuaries for 80 percent of the region's wildlife. Some of the well-known wildlife preserves in Kenya's Maasailand include: Maasai Mara National Reserve, Amboseli National Park, Samburu Game Reserve, Losai National Park, Shaba National Reserve, Buffalo Springs, Maralal Sanctuary and Tsavo West in Kenya. In Tanzania they include Serengeti National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Maswa Game Reserve, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Mkomazi Game Reserve and Loliondo Concession Area (currently an exclusive hunting area for wealthy Arabs and Westerners).

Coexistence with Wildlife
The Maasai have lived in harmony within rich ecosystems of East Africa for years. The concentration of wildlife conservation areas in Maasai territories, and the sheer abundance of wildlife in the communal Maasai lands, have been attributed to Maasai reverence for and custodial attitude toward nature. Maasai culture promotes wise use of non-renewable natural resources; present generations are only holding them in trust for future generations. Maasai tradition prohibits killing of wildlife for commercial use, or destruction of forests or any part of natural ecosystems. Wildlife still thrives in Maasailand, unlike in many other parts of the region where wild animals have been eliminated either for food or to give way to commercial agriculture.

Commercial agriculture, insensitive tourism practices and continued loss of traditional Maasai lands to modern economic development all threaten the survival of the Maasai people, wildlife and their shared habitat. Destruction of forests, commercial hunting and loss to development of traditional wildlife migratory routes and breeding grounds are responsible for the rapid extinction of biodiversity in Maasailand. Tourism has become environmentally insensitive. Tourism earns the two governments of our two countries millions of dollars each year, but the Maasai now view it as an unethical practice and a means of exploitation that violates their culture and undermines their relationship with nature. This reality calls for a new approach to tourism that benefits the local people, is in harmony with the environment and respects the culture of the Maasai people.

Shape of the Future
Presently, the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania, and their rich and unique culture, are threatened with extinction. There is need to consider the implications of such a tragedy, not only for East Africa but for all civilization. This crisis goes far beyond present political and economic interests. Recent research confirms the historical trends leading to the current situation and pinpoints the existing economic and political forces that are intensifying the threat. The policies of Kenya and Tanzania must be altered and radical changes made in tourism and development practices if the loss the Maasai people, wildlife--their shared habitat--are to be avoided.

There is an urgent need to restore the Maasai peoples' traditionalqually important is true political representation of the Maasai in the central governments. The Maasai lack representation in almost all sectors of national government. Often their representatives are either people from elsewhere, or those appointed to serve the economic and political interests of powerful people in government. Finally, in order to ensure that the Maasai benefit from tourism and the environment, the industry ought to shift its operations from regular tourism to ecotourism. Ecotourism will benefit the Maasai people economically while safeguarding the environment and the culture of the Maasai people.

Meitamei Olol-Dapash is a native Maasai and director of the Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition (MERC), the only grassroots, Maasai-run organization working for the protection of the Maasai people's traditional lands through conservation and sustainable use of wildlife and resources in Kenya and Tanzania. He is an environmentalist by profession with a specialty in natural resource management and an advocate of his people's traditional land rights. Before founding MERC, he was a director with the East African Wildlife Society in Kenya. For more details, contact MERC at 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 136, Washington, DC 20006. Tel.: 202-879-4289. E-mail: Maasaime@aol.com

 

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