Changes In The Ways That Maasai Wear Their Hair (And Other Changes To Some Maasai Customs Related To Physical Adornment)

 dited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents an excerpt from a 2013 University Of Wisconsin-Mikwaukee dissertation written by Allison Marie Kotowicz entitled "Maasai Identity in the 21st Century" and other information and comments about how contemporary Maasai wear their hair and other changes in physical adornment customs.

An excerpt about Maasai men who work as hair braiders in Kenyan cities is presented as an n Addendum to this post.

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to  the Maasai people and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. 
-snip-
This pancocojams post is part of an ongoing series on this subject. 

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/12/youtube-videos-that-showcase-multiple.html  for a 2017 pancocojams post entitled "YouTube Videos That Showcase Multiple Hairstyles Worn By Contemporary Maasai Women". 

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/12/judging-from-contemporary-youtube.html for a 2020 pancocojams post entitled "Judging From Contemporary YouTube Videos, Shaven Heads Are No Longer A Norm For Many (Most?) Maasai Women"

And click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/12/youtube-videos-that-showcase-multiple_5.html for a closely related 2017 post entitled "YouTube Videos That Showcase Multiple Hairstyles Worn By Contemporary Samburu Women".

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EXCERPT : MAASAI IDENTITY IN THE 21st CENTURY
from https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1720&context=etd

UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations, August 2013

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of 
Master of Science in Anthropology at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
August 2013

Kotowicz, Allison Marie, "Maasai Identity in the 21st Century" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 715. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/715

[...] 

"[page 85]

…. Typically, Morani and younger women, unmarried and recently married, are the most elaborately decorated, with clothing ornamentation diminishing as an individual ages. All Maasai have their ear lobes stretched starting at a young age and have their lower two middle incisors extracted. All Maasai males and females, both adults and young children including toddlers, also have their heads shaven. There is one exception, for males, when they are Morani, typically between the ages of 16-30, this group keeps their hair long, braided and painted with red ochre.

[…]

[page 88]

With the transition from hides to cloth clothing, women still remain the primary decorators of the beaded adornments for men and women. Often times instead of using skin or hide from their own animals, women will buy belts in the markets and pieces of plastics which are then decorated with different types of beads and metal bangles using sewing thread purchased in the marketplace. Young men and women continue to wear the most decoration or ornaments in contrast to elders and children who will typically wear fewer ornaments on their clothing.

In addition to the material culture of dress there are also changes in the physical appearance that signify who is Maasai. In the past, older men and women have had their ear lobes stretched and their two lower middle incisors removed however, today many  

[page 89]

younger men, women and children do not. Whereas most Maasai still shave their heads younger women, especially those who have gone to school, will sometimes grow their hair longer and wear their hair in styles similar to non-Maasai young women living in cities.

[…]

[page 90]

In the past, all Maasai men, women, and children would shave their heads. The Morani were the only ones with long hair. They would spend hours grooming. These activities included braiding each other’s hair and dying it with red ocher, and adding oil and fat. Nowadays, the majority of the Morani keep their heads shaved, only a few are continuing with braids with one alteration, they now refrain from dyeing with red ocher.

This decline may be in part due to the number of children attending school. Maasai children must travel to cities to receive formal education, away from their pastoral home.

For older children entering secondary school, that they have a boarding school experience, this results in the young Maasai spending significant periods of time outside of the influence of adult Maasai.

[…]

[page 100]

Maasai often wear different clothing based on situation and environment. When asked where and when they wear each type of clothing, the most common response was a demarcation by context. They wore Maasai clothing at home and the western or Swahili clothing when they go to town, work, or school. The reasons given for wearing Maasai clothes at home was that the western and Swahili clothing felt uncomfortable and was ill suited for the village lifestyle of the Maasai. The reasons given for wearing western or Swahili clothing was context. Outside of the Maasai community they wanted to fit in or be seen like other individuals in town. When they go to town it was easier to wear this type of clothing. This opinion was primarily expressed by the younger generation of Maasai. The following quotation is an illustration of how one young man negotiates the use of western clothing and Maasai traditional clothing

[page 101] 

Because I have many friends which I study with them at university, at secondary school, at town there so when I wear this Maasai clothes they see me differ from them so I just like to see myself the same as them so I just wear the same clothes as they. 
Excerpt from Interview- Erevu, Male, Age 32

From this data we can draw a number of conclusions. One, men seem to be more flexible in the types of clothing worn. Older men and women do not feel the need to wear western or Swahili clothing even when they go to town, whereas younger men and women are more inclined to wear western or Swahili clothing in the city. Two, education is an indicator that characterizes those individuals who responded that they wore clothing other than the traditional Maasai clothing. The educational levels reported were up to the level of college or university. Three, there is an age difference in those who did not wear western or Swahili clothing. We can see that the Maasai’s use of clothing as a symbolic marker of identity is fluid. They are making conscious choices of what to wear and when to wear Maasai traditional clothing or western or Swahili clothing.”…
-snip-
I believe that the statements that "the Maasai’s use of clothing as a symbolic marker of identity is fluid. They are making conscious choices of what to wear and when to wear Maasai traditional clothing or western or Swahili clothing” also applies to the way that Maasai females and males wear their hair and no longer practice physical adornment customs such as elongating their ears and removing certain teeth.

**
Here's a summary for a 2017 YouTube video entitled "Watch Why Africa's Maasai Tribe Faces Threat of Extinction in 360° published by FUSION, March 31, 2017( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAcOZvupjhc&ab_channel=FUSION )
"The Maasai are one of the most culturally distinct tribes in Africa. They can be found in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania but their nomadic way of life is under threat. Will the changes that come with land rights, education, religion and modernization change this tribe forever?" -snip- The changes in the traditional Maasai customs regarding hair is one result of modernization. Here's a comment from that video's discussion thread that refers to Maasai people and modernization:

tree fiddy, 2020
"I hope they figure out a way to adapt to modernity while maintaining their identity."
-snip-
I hope so too. 

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OTHER ONLINE COMMENTS ON THIS SUBJECT
These comments are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Excerpt #1
From https://www.quora.com/Africa-Why-do-in-many-countries-African-girls-shave-their-heads "In Africa: Why do, in many countries, African girls shave their heads?"

1. Tawani Anyangwe, Born in Africa

Answered Jan 7, 2015
Back in the late 80s and early 90s when I was in boarding school (PSS Bamenda, Cameroon), the idea was that your hair was a distraction from your education and sense of time
- that women spent too much time taking care of their hair.
- also that you shouldn't be concerned about your beauty at such a young age (you not allowed to date until maybe university)."

**
2. Biche Shuke, East African Lifestyle Blogger,
Answered Jan 21, 2015
"I believe Tawani's answer is the reason it is most common but from personal experience, even though I never went to boarding so was never required to cut off my hair, my mother did it because it was the easiest way to handle my very tough hair, I.e., keep it low so there's little of it to comb through.

I did this through most of University too by choice, and when I get so busy that I have no time to fuss with my natural hair, it's still an easy alternative."

**
3. Cherrie Kandie, Student at Dartmouth, Kenyan
Updated Sep 22, 2015
"I understand where this question is coming from. It is from the mindset that the length of a person's hair is gendered in such a way that you expect a man to have short hair and a woman to have long hair.

Pre-colonially, for many African, at least Kenyan, ethnic communities, the length of hair was not gendered at all in the way that you expect it to have been. For the Maasai and Samburu, the moran (young warrior) grew his hair and kept it in very long, thin braids that fell down across his back-- braids dyed red with red ochre soil. The women simply just shaved their heads. I like to think of it as the lion and his lioness.

Kikuyu women shaved their heads too, and in Out of Africa, Dr. Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), writes of Maasai and of Kikuyu women, "Native women shave their heads, and it is a curious thing how quickly you come to feel that these little round neat skulls, which look like some kind of dusky nuts, are the sign of true womanliness, and that a crop of hair on the head of a woman is as unladylike as a beard."

**
4. Zorgoon Trollstones, I have African hair & peruse anthropology as a hobby.
Answered April 2, 2018
"I believe, and this is just my assumption based on my casual research, that after colonialism, the cultural significance of hairstyling was abolished and labeled as “pagan”. Most imagery and footage of Africans before 1900 and during the early 1800s and even earlier, men and women both had hair either braided, loose, locked, sculpted or elaborately coiffed.

 [...]

Cultures that practice head shaving for femininity seem to be abundant in Eastern Africa outside of the horn, where braids and long hair seem to be the norm.

[...]

Colonialism and slavery required a uniformity and rejection of cultural identity in order to thrive. This meant adopting Catholic ideas of modesty and Eurocentric standards of dress and presentation (the Bible mentions braids as immodest). With African hair being unable to mimic straight hair, shaving was easier to approximate a “down-playing” of the appearance.

In the end it’s simply an easy maintenance style for the uniquely homo sapien hair texture of most Africans, Africoid peoples/Melanesians. Observing the Woman of Willendorf figurine, short, tightly curled/coiled hair may have been the norm around most of the world before the drastic adaptive changes to humans caused by the Ice Age."

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.quora.com/Why-do-schoolgirls-in-Africa-almost-always-have-shaved-heads
Why do schoolgirls in Africa almost always have shaved heads?

John Efekodo, Design Engineer, Answered October 3, 2018
"Depends what part of Africa and what type of school.

Where I'm at the public schools do make girls shave their hair. The thinking is that for you to be in a public school, means that you don't have much money anyway. Cut the hair and save your money and time on expensive hair treatment.

Black hair is kinky and naturally would grow into an afro shape without any chemical treatment.

But black women don't seem to want this shape. They want to straighten out the hair and make it fall down the sides of their head like white women hair.

Also, plaiting of hair into different styles, does take a while. Most girls love this but it is difficult to maintain when sweat, rain or sand gets into the hair and begins to itch if not attended to. Many a girl seen tapping their weaves. Cut the hair and go to school.

When you're an adult and have time and money, maintain any hair style you want.

For girls in Private schools there, the policy seems more flexible and with more money, her parents might be more willing to maintain various hair styles.

In the ’80s my mum was a teacher in a government school where the principal brought a girl up the stage during assembly and cut her hair. There was an outrage by her parents. But every other person had mixed feelings. The school policy though, as I stated, was to have short hair, free or plaited. But SHORT.

Where I'm at, all the nursery rhymes and childrens literature usually have white girls and boys as role models. TV and cable show white girls. Or black girls copying white girls. There's no show or stories about black girls just being traditionally black without any foreign influence."

**
2.  Senyonga Brian. Answered November 14, 2019
"The logic behind is not to let young girls get obsessed with their looks but rather focus on studies.Young girls with long hair need more time to look after their hair bofore classes, keeping it short helps them to be panctual."

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Excerpt #3
From https://www.zegrahm.com/blog/maasai-culture-history-understanding-soul-east-africa
"Maasai Culture & History: Understanding the Soul of East Africa" by Guest Contributor, January 29, 2018
...."Most Maasai men and women shave their head during rites of passage such as marriage and circumcision. Maasai warriors are the only ones allowed to let their hair grow, and usually wear it in thin braids.

The Maasai also stretch their earlobes using stone, wood, and bones. They usually wear beaded earrings on the stretched earlobe and smaller piercings on the top of the ear. Traditionally, both men and women stretched their earlobes, because long, stretched lobes were seen as a symbol of wisdom and respect. But now this custom is disappearing, especially among young men.

Another type of body modification sometimes carried out by the Maasai people is tooth removal. The canine teeth are removed in early childhood as a remedy against diarrhea and vomiting, especially when they “stick out” on the upper jaw. In other cases, the two central lower teeth are removed to allow feeding in the event of tetanus or other diseases locking the jaw."...
-snip-
Judging from contemporary YouTube videos, all of these Maasai customs are no longer followed, particularly among younger Maasai.  

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ADDENDUM: MAASAI MEN EARNING MONEY AS HAIRDRESSERS IN KENYAN CITIES
From https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-maasai-odd/maasai-warrior-hairdressers-break-taboos-idUSL444960320080908 "Maasai warrior hairdressers break taboos" By Guled Mohamed, September 8, 2008
..."Maasai warriors, or moran, are a familiar sight on Kenya’s beaches and in its renowned safari parks -- dressed in distinctive red robes and wearing beaded jewellery, they often act as guides or work in security.

But sometimes, the eager young men who flock to the coast hoping to make their fortunes -- some with dreams of marrying a white tourist -- have to go against their traditions.

[...]

Lalasho’s status as a moran means he is charged with protecting and providing for his people, and it makes his transgression all the more serious.

Maasai warriors are not allowed to touch a woman’s head: it is regarded as demeaning in the patriarchal culture. Moran who become hairdressers risk a curse from the elders, or could even be expelled from the community.

“If my father finds out what I am doing he will be very mad at me or even chase me from home,” said Lalasho, who comes from Loitoktok, near Mount Kilimanjaro on the border with Tanzania.

“But I have to eat, that’s why I broke my taboo since city life is very expensive,” he said.

An estimated 500,000 to one million Maasai live in scattered and remote villages across northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, eking out a semi-nomadic existence with herds of precious cows.

As drought and hunger bite harder in their rural homes due to climate change and increased competition for resources, hundreds of Maasai men are heading to towns and cities.

SPINNING HAIR

In tourist resorts like Mombasa, these men end up as hotel workers, night guards, herbalists and hairdressers.

[...]

Morans learn to weave hair into thin, rasta-like dreadlocks during the initiation, which takes place when boys are aged between 17 and 20. The warriors’ hair is often dyed red as well, and the red style is popular among women in cities.

For Maasai elder Michael Ole Tiampati, the fate of men like Lalasho threatens the wider Maasai culture.

“It’s an abomination and demeaning for a moran or Maasai man to touch a woman’s head,” said Tiampati, media officer for the Maa Civil Society Forum, which protects Maasai traditions."...
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