The Decade Maasai Tradition Ceremony (Video & Photos)
African Tradition: Kenya’s Maasai gather for a once-in-a-decade ceremony to turn warriors into elders: Thousands of #Maasai men clad in red and purple shawls and with their heads coated in red ochre gathered this week for a ceremony that transforms them from Moran (warriors) to Mzee (elders).
Around 15,000 men from all over #Kenya and neighboring #Tanzania congregated in Maparasha Hills in Kajiado County, 128 km from #Nairobi, to feast on an estimated 3,000 #bulls and 30,000 #goats and #sheep.
The ceremony occurs once every decade at the site, which is surrounded by hills and dotted with acacia trees. Today is the day of the Ol Ng’esher, an ancient ceremony that’s only performed four or five times a century.
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On Wednesday, the men roasted the #meat on beds of #coal from acacia trees, holding staffs and swords. As the men stream in, they are anointed with red ochre and animal fat.
“I used to be a Moran, But after this ceremony, I now graduate to be a Mzee (elder),” Stephen Seriamu Sarbabi, a 34-year-old #livestock #trader, said.
The event is marked by song and dance, where both men and women dance together – rare, in Maasai culture.
Article by Mark-Anthony Johnson
Photos Of the Initiation Ceremony in Kenya and Tanzania
