The History of the Maasai People

As supporters of responsible tourism and deep, meaningful travel experiences, we believe it’s important to learn about the people we meet during our expeditions. So join us on a journey of discovery into the culture and history of the Maasai!


The Maasai People

The Maasai people originated in South Sudan. Their language, known as Maa, is the southernmost of the Nilotic group, including idioms spoken in Ethiopia and Sudan.

They migrated to their current homeland between Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. They displaced some of the other tribes that had previously settled in the region, while others were assimilated into their culture. Their main activity was raising cattle, but the Maasai have also been known for centuries as fearsome hunters and warriors.

By the mid-19th century Maasai territory was at its largest, extending over pretty much the entirety of modern-day Kenya and half of Tanzania. The period between 1883 and 1902 is the darkest time in Maasai history. It’s known in the Maa language as emutai, meaning to wipe out. It is estimated that up to 60% of the Maasai people lost their lives during this period as a result of smallpox, drought, and starvation, after an animal disease known as rinderpest killed almost all of their cattle.

In the early 20th century, vast sections of the Maasai land were turned into national parks and wildlife reserves. The Maasai, understandably, were not pleased. Around the same time, the government started pressuring the Maasai to give up their traditional semi-nomadic herder lifestyle in favor of farming and a more sedentary lifestyle.

To this day, a large percentage of the Maasai people have resisted government pressure to settle in permanent homes, distancing themselves from urban areas and continuing to practice a lifestyle that has remained unchanged for centuries.

However, some Maasai have opted to pursue mainstream education and moved into the city, becoming lawyers, doctors and politicians (such as Edward Sokoine, a two-time Prime Minister of Tanzania who was killed in 1984 in a dramatic car accident). 

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