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48-453: The Hai District is divided administratively into 10 wards: In the Hai District, 80 percent of inhabitants have clean drinking water, and there are two new water supply schemes under construction to help the rest of the population. These are owned and operated by the people of Hai, and this makes them accountable for their own water. This Kilimanjaro Region location article is

96-645: A Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania , near the African Great Lakes region. Their native language is the Maasai language , a Nilotic language related to Dinka , Kalenjin and Nuer . Except for some elders living in rural areas, most Maasai people speak the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania— Swahili and English . The Maasai population has been reported as numbering 1,189,522 in Kenya in

144-456: A stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kilimanjaro Region Kilimanjaro Region ( Mkoa wa Kilimanjaro in Swahili ) is one of Tanzania 's 31 administrative regions . The regional capital and largest city is the municipality of Moshi . With the 3rd highest HDI of 0.640 in the country, Kilimanjaro is one among the top five most developed regions of Tanzania. According to

192-568: A dance". ) Traditionally, the Maasai diet consisted of raw meat, raw milk, honey and raw blood from cattle —note that the Maasai cattle are of the Zebu variety. Most of the milk is consumed as fermented milk or buttermilk (a by-product of butter making). Milk consumption figures are very high by any standards. The Maasai herd goats and sheep, including the Red Maasai sheep , as well as

240-664: A descending scale, and singers responding to their verses are characteristic of singing by women. When many Maasai women gather together, they sing and dance among themselves. Eunoto, the coming-of-age ceremony of the warrior, can involve ten or more days of singing, dancing and ritual. The warriors of the Il-Oodokilani perform a kind of march-past as well as the Adumu , or aigus, sometimes referred to as "the jumping dance" by non-Maasai. (Both adumu and aigus are Maa verbs meaning "to jump" with adumu meaning "To jump up and down in

288-583: A dual nature, represented by two colours: Engai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Engai Na-nyokie (Red God) is vengeful. There are also two pillars or totems of Maasai society: Oodo Mongi, the Red Cow and Orok Kiteng, the Black Cow with a subdivision of five clans or family trees . The Maasai also have a totemic animal, which is the lion. The killing of a lion is used by the Maasai in the rite of passage ceremony. The "Mountain of God", Ol Doinyo Lengai ,

336-425: A multitude of ways including being boiled in soups and ingested to improve digestion and cleanse the blood. Some of these remedies can also be used in the treatment or prevention of diseases. The Maasai people also add herbs to different foods to avoid stomach upsets and give digestive aid. The use of plant-based medicine remains an important part of Maasai life. Maasai clothing symbolises ethnic group membership,

384-560: A reputation as fearsome warriors and cattle rustlers. The Maasai and other groups in East Africa have adopted customs and practices from neighbouring Cushitic-speaking groups, including the age-set system of social organisation, circumcision , and vocabulary terms. Many ethnic groups that had already formed settlements in the region were forcibly displaced by the incoming Maasai. Other, mainly Southern Cushitic groups, were assimilated into Maasai society. The Nilotic ancestors of

432-506: Is shaved off ; elders must wear their hair short. Warriors who do not have sexual relations with women who have not undergone the "Emuatare" ceremony are especially honoured at the Eunoto gathering. This would symbolise the healing of the woman. Two days before boys are circumcised, their heads are shaved. When warriors go through the Eunoto and become elders, their long plaited hair

480-491: Is divided into one city and six districts , each administered by a council, except Moshi District which has two, one of which serves as the capital of the region. Kilimanjaro Region was officially established in 1963 with two districts: Kilimanjaro and Pare. The region was part of the Northern Province in the pre-independence Tanganyika . Northern Province's districts included Arusha and Mbulu, while Pare District

528-408: Is located in northernmost Tanzania and can be seen from Lake Natron in southernmost Kenya. The central human figure in the Maasai religious system is the laibon whose roles include shamanistic healing , divination and prophecy , and ensuring success in war or adequate rainfall. Today, they have a political role as well due to the elevation of leaders. Whatever power an individual laibon had

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576-400: Is named and the head is shaved clean apart from a tuft of hair, which resembles a cockade , from the nape of the neck to the forehead. Among the men, warriors are the only members of the Maasai community to wear long hair, which they weave in thinly braided strands. Graduation from warrior to junior elder takes place at a large gathering known as Eunoto. The long hair of the former warriors

624-425: Is not uncommon for bodies to be covered in fat and blood from a slaughtered ox . Traditional Maasai lifestyle centres around their cattle , which constitute their primary source of food. In a patriarchal culture that views women as property, a man's wealth is measured in cattle, wives and children. A herd of 50 cattle is respectable, and the more wives and children the better. A man who has plenty of one but not

672-515: Is now Tanzania. Maasai are pastoralists and have resisted the urging of the Tanzanian and Kenyan governments to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle. They have demanded grazing rights to many of the national parks in both countries. The Maasai people stood against slavery and never condoned the traffic of human beings, and outsiders looking for people to enslave avoided the Maasai. Essentially there are twenty-two geographic sectors or sub-tribes of

720-467: Is shaved off. Maasai music traditionally consists of rhythms provided by a chorus of vocalists singing harmonies while a song leader, or olaranyani, sings the melody. Unlike most other African tribes, Maasai widely use drone polyphony . Women chant lullabies, humming songs, and songs praising their sons. Nambas, the call-and-response pattern, repetition of nonsensical phrases, monophonic melodies, repeated phrases following each verse being sung on

768-532: The Arabian Peninsula , and later spread this ancestry component southwards into certain Khoisan groups roughly 2,000 years ago, resulting in ~5% West-Eurasian ancestry among Southern African hunter-gatherers. A 2019 archaeogenetic study sampled ancient remains from Neolithic inhabitants of Tanzania and Kenya, and found them to have strongest affinities with modern Horn of Africa groups. They modelled

816-556: The Swahili already referred to the mountain as " Kilima Ndsharo " (or "Dscharo"), "The Country of Dschagga," near the coast. In 1848 and 1849, Rebmann said the mountain Swahili names mean "Great Mountain" and "the Mountain of the Caravans" in reference to the mountain that could be seen for a long distance and served as a guide for travelers. He and Krapf found that the term was referred to differently by several nearby populations:

864-603: The Taita just shortened the coastal Swahili word to " Ndscharo ." It was known as " Kima ja Jeu ," which is Kamba for "Mountain of Whiteness." It was known as " Ol Donyo Eibor ," which is Maasai for "White Mountain." The Chagga themselves, especially the Kilema and Machame , simply called it " Kibo ". Kilimandscharo , which Rebmann spelled in German between 1848 and 1849, was changed to "Kilimanjaro" by 1860. Kilimanjaro Region

912-453: The ethnogenesis of the Maasai people. Genetic genealogy , a tool that uses the genes of modern populations to trace their ethnic and geographic origins, has also helped clarify the possible background of modern Maasai. The Maasai's autosomal DNA has been examined in a comprehensive study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa. According to

960-455: The 111 children examined exhibited missing mandibular or maxillary deciduous canines. Traditionally, the Maasai conduct elaborate rite of passage rituals which include surgical genital mutilation to initiate children into adulthood. The Maa word for circumcision , "emorata," is applied to this ritual for both males and females. This ritual is typically performed by the elders, who use a sharpened knife and makeshift cattle hide bandages for

1008-548: The 2012 national census, the region had a population of 1,640,087, which was lower than the pre-census projection of 1,702,207. For 2002–2012, the region's 1.8 percent average annual population growth rate was the 24th highest in the country. It was also the eighth most densely populated region with 124 people per square kilometer. The most well-known tribes in the Kilimanjaro region are the Chaga . The region forms part of

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1056-516: The 2019 census, compared to 377,089 in the 1989 census, though many Maasai view the census as government meddling and therefore either refuse to participate or actively provide false information. The Maasai inhabit the African Great Lakes region and arrived via South Sudan . Most Nilotic speakers in the area, including the Maasai, the Turkana and the Kalenjin , are pastoralists and have

1104-840: The Kalenjin likewise absorbed some early Cushitic populations. The Maasai territory reached its largest size in the mid-19th century and covered almost all of the Great Rift Valley and adjacent lands from Mount Marsabit in the north to Dodoma in the south. At this time the Maasai, as well as the larger Nilotic group they were part of, raised cattle as far east as the Tanga coast in Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania). Raiders used spears and shields but were most feared for throwing clubs (orinka) which could be accurately thrown from up to 70 paces (approx. 100 metres). In 1852, there

1152-474: The Maasai as goat leaves). One common misconception about the Maasai is that each young man is supposed to kill a lion before he can be circumcised and enter adulthood. Lion hunting was an activity of the past, but it has been banned in East Africa – yet lions are still hunted when they maul Maasai livestock. Nevertheless, killing a lion gives one great value and celebrity status in the community. The piercing and stretching of earlobes are common among

1200-401: The Maasai as with other tribes, and both men and women wear metal hoops on their stretched earlobes. Various materials have been used to both pierce and stretch the lobes, including thorns for piercing, twigs, bundles of twigs, stones, the cross-section of elephant tusks and empty film canisters. Women wear various forms of beaded ornaments in both the ear lobe and smaller piercings at the top of

1248-440: The Maasai community as having ancestry that is ~47% Pastoral Neolithic Cushitic-related and ~53% Sudanese Dinka-related. A Y chromosome study by Wood et al. (2005) tested various Sub-Saharan populations, including 26 Maasai men from Kenya, for paternal lineages. The authors observed haplogroup E1b1b -M35 (not M78) in 35% of the studied Maasai. E1b1b-M35-M78 in 15%, their ancestor with the more northerly Cushitic men, who possess

1296-585: The Maasai community, each one having its customs, appearance, leadership and dialects. These subdivisions are known as 'nations' or 'iloshon' in the Maa language : the Keekonyokie , Ildamat, Purko, Wuasinkishu, Siria, Laitayiok, Loitai, Ilkisonko, Matapato, Dalalekutuk, Ilooldokilani, Ilkaputiei, Moitanik, Ilkirasha, Samburu , Ilchamus, Laikipiak , Loitokitoki, Larusa, Salei, Sirinket and Parakuyo . Recent advances in genetic analyses have helped shed some light on

1344-942: The Northern Tourism Circuit in Tanzania. It is home to the Kilimanjaro National Park (which contains Mount Kilimanjaro ), the Mkomazi National Park , the Pare Mountains , Lake Jipe , and Lake Chala . The region is bordered to the north and east by Kenya , to the south by the Tanga Region , to the southwest by the Manyara Region , and to the west by the Arusha Region . In the early 19th century,

1392-453: The area. Mount Kilimanjaro lies on a tectonic plate line intersection 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of the tectonically active Rift Valley. The activity that created this stratovolcano dates back less than a million years. Steam and sulphur fumaroles here are indicative of residual activity. At one stage, most of the summit of Kilimanjaro was covered by an ice cap, probably more than 100 metres (330 ft) deep. Glaciers extended well down

1440-544: The ceremony that initiates young Maasai girls into adulthood through ritual mutilation and then into early arranged marriages. The Maasai believe that female genital mutilation is necessary and Maasai men may reject any woman who has not undergone it as either not marriageable or worthy of a much-reduced bride price. In Eastern Africa, uncircumcised women, even highly educated members of parliament like Linah Kilimo , can be accused of not being mature enough to be taken seriously. The Maasai activist Agnes Pareyio campaigns against

1488-480: The ear. Among Maasai males, circumcision is practised as a ritual of transition from boyhood to manhood. Women are also circumcised (as described below in social organisation ). This belief and practice are not unique to the Maasai. In rural Kenya, a group of 95 children aged between six months and two years were examined in 1991/92. 87% were found to have undergone the removal of one or more deciduous canine tooth buds. In an older age group (3–7 years of age), 72% of

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1536-441: The fertile lands between Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro , and most of the fertile highlands near Ngorongoro in the 1940s. More land was taken to create wildlife reserves and national parks: Amboseli National Park , Nairobi National Park , Maasai Mara , Samburu National Reserve , Lake Nakuru National Park and Tsavo in Kenya; and Lake Manyara , Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tarangire and Serengeti National Park in what

1584-570: The haplogroup at high frequencies lived more than 13,000 years ago. The second most frequent paternal lineage among the Maasai was Haplogroup A3b2 , which is commonly found in Nilotic populations, such as the Alur ; it was observed in 27% of Maasai men. The third most frequently observed paternal DNA marker in the Maasai was E1b1a1-M2 (E-P1), which is very common in the Sub-Saharan region; it

1632-442: The more prized cattle. Although consumed as snacks, fruits constitute a major part of the food ingested by children and women looking after cattle as well as morans in the bush. Medicine The Maasai people traditionally used the environment when making their medicines, and many still do, due to the high cost of Western treatments. These medicines are derived from trees, shrubs, stems, roots, etc. These can then be used in

1680-425: The mountain forming moraine ridges, clearly visible now on the southern flanks down to about 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). At present only a small fraction of the glacial cover remains. Maasai people Modern ethnicities Diaspora Performing arts Government agencies Television Radio Newspapers The Maasai ( / ˈ m ɑː s aɪ , m ɑː ˈ s aɪ / ; Swahili : Wamasai ) are

1728-486: The other is considered to be poor. All of the Maasai's needs for food are met by their cattle. They eat their meat, drink their milk daily, and drink their blood on occasion. Bulls, goats, and lambs are slaughtered for meat on special occasions and ceremonies. Though the Maasai's entire way of life has historically depended on their cattle, more recently with their cattle dwindling, the Maasai have grown dependent on food such as sorghum , rice, potatoes and cabbage (known to

1776-564: The past 3000 years and with the high frequency of a shared East African–specific mutation associated with lactose tolerance." Maasai display significant West-Eurasian admixture at roughly ~20%. This type of West-Eurasian ancestry reaches up to 40-50% among specific populations of the Horn of Africa , specifically among Amharas . Genetic data and archeologic evidence suggest that East African pastoralists received West Eurasian ancestry (~25%) through Afroasiatic-speaking groups from Northern Africa or

1824-404: The practice. The female rite of passage ritual has recently seen excision replaced in rare instances with a "cutting with words" ceremony involving singing and dancing in its place. However, despite changes to the law and education drives, the practice remains deeply ingrained, highly valued, and nearly universally practised by members of the culture. Upon reaching the age of 3 "moons", the child

1872-583: The procedure. The male ceremony refers to the excision of the prepuce (foreskin). In the male ceremony, the boy is expected to endure the operation in silence. Expressions of pain bring dishonour upon him, albeit only temporarily. Importantly, any exclamations or unexpected movements on the part of the boy can cause the elder to make a mistake in the delicate and tedious process, which can result in severe lifelong scarring, dysfunction, and pain. Young women also undergo female genital mutilation as part of an elaborate rite of passage ritual called "Emuatare,"

1920-488: The region, such as the Samburu . Most of the tested Maasai belonged to various macro-haplogroup L sub-clades, including L0 , L2 , L3 , L4 and L5 . Some maternal gene flow from North and Northeast Africa was also reported, particularly via the presence of mtDNA haplogroup M lineages in about 12.5% of the Maasai samples. The monotheistic Maasai worship a single deity called Enkai , Nkai , or Engai . Engai has

1968-675: The result of smallpox. This period coincided with drought. Rains failed in 1897 and 1898. The Austrian explorer Oscar Baumann travelled in Maasai lands between 1891 and 1893 and described the old Maasai settlement in the Ngorongoro Crater in the 1894 book Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle ("Through the lands of the Maasai to the source of the Nile"). By one estimate two-thirds of the Maasai died during this period. Maasai in Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania) were displaced from

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2016-521: The study's authors, the Maasai "have maintained their culture in the face of extensive genetic introgression". Tishkoff et al. also indicate that: "Many Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations in East Africa, such as the Maasai, show multiple cluster assignments from the Nilo-Saharan [...] and Cushitic [...] AACs, in accord with linguistic evidence of repeated Nilotic assimilation of Cushites over

2064-469: Was a function of personality rather than position. Many Maasai have also adopted Christianity or Islam . The Maasai produce intricate jewellery and sell these items to tourists. Educating Maasai women to use clinics and hospitals during pregnancy has enabled more infants to survive. The exception is found in extremely remote areas. A corpse rejected by scavengers is seen as having something wrong with it, and liable to cause social disgrace; therefore, it

2112-440: Was a part of Tanga Province. Of the region's six districts, four traditionally had Chagga settlements, which are Hai District, Moshi District, Rombo District, and Siha District. The other two, Mwanga District and Same District, have historically included Pare settlements. However, during colonial rule in the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, the region was divided into two main districts: Moshi district, which

2160-459: Was a report of a concentration of 800 Maasai warriors on the move in what is now Kenya. In 1857, after having depopulated the "Wakuafi wilderness" in what is now southeastern Kenya, Maasai warriors threatened Mombasa on the Kenyan coast. Because of this migration, the Maasai are the southernmost Nilotic speakers. The period of expansion was followed by the Maasai "Emutai" of 1883–1902. This period

2208-612: Was composed of all the areas settled by the Chagga people on the slopes of the mountain, and Pare district, which was a Pare tribe settlement. The region, from earlier times, had been settled by the people collectively called the Chagga, the Maasai , Wakwavi , and Waarusha (in the lower parts of Mount Kilimanjaro), and the Pare on the Pare mountains. These have been intermingling, trading, and even fighting from time to time for various socio-political reasons. Later, other tribes also migrated to

2256-423: Was found in 12% of the Maasai samples. Haplogroup B-M60 was also observed in 8% of the studied Maasai, which is also found in 30% (16/53) of Southern Sudanese Nilotes. According to an mtDNA study by Castri et al. (2008), which tested Maasai individuals in Kenya, the maternal lineages found among the Maasai are quite diverse but similar in overall frequency to that observed in other Nilo-Hamitic populations from

2304-399: Was marked by epidemics of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia , rinderpest (see 1890s African rinderpest epizootic ), and smallpox . The estimate first put forward by a German lieutenant in what was then northwest Tanganyika , was that 90% of cattle and half of wild animals perished from rinderpest. German doctors in the same area claimed that "every second" African had a pock-marked face as

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