They marry by paying cattle to their prospective wife's family.
The current number of cattle is twelve, of which only two are allowed to be male. This does not include a juvenile female to be brought along with the traditional brewed 'gongo', a brew of fermented corn, that the elders drink in exchange for giving their blessing.
The groom also provides a bull to be slaughtered at the girl's circumcision ceremony.
A girl is considered mature enough for circumcision and henceworth marriage at about 13 years old. She does not have any say in the election of her future spouse.
In our parts of the Masai Steppe, partly due to the influence of Christian missionaries, and partly due to strict law enforcements on this issue, FGM is no longer practised.
Girls have a circumcision ceremony, but are not circumcised in praxis.
The boys however who are 'laioni' before circumcision, have to undergo this procedure to become warriors, or 'moran'.
In the past, Moran were not allowed to marry until they were degraded to Elder status. These days, Moran marry as young as 18 years old.
The commonly spread myth about the killing of a lion being a prerequisite to warriorhood might have been true decades ago, but is certainly no longer.
There simply aren't enough lions left for this.
 |
| Newly circumcised warrior |
 |
| Out and about with bow and arrow |
 |
| Fully healed in full dress |
No comments:
Post a Comment