Maasai Myths and Religious Folklore

Background

The Maasai are a semi-nomadic people of about one million persons who live scattered throughout Kenya and Tanzania. The traditional religion of the Maasai is of great interest theologically and missiologically because it is characterized by a strict monotheism and a variety of elements which are very similar to Judaism. Already in 1904, the German colonial administrator Moritz Merker noted some of these parallels and particularly religious narratives in his book Die Masai. In addition, there are several other collections of stories and traditions of the Maasai. Some of them have not yet been translated into English, and many are no longer available in print. A comprehensive collection is yet to be published.

Goals

1. A collection of religious stories and traditions of the Maasai. The researcher Lemareka Kibasisi has collected both published materials and oral traditions for several years. The corpus currently includes more than 200 religious stories which have not been compiled elsewhere.

2. A translation of these materials into English. Many of the materials only exist in Maa, the language of the Maasai. They will be translated into English, thus making them available to a larger public.

Publication

Publication is expected in two ways: 1. As a free online resource, which includes the whole collection. 2. As a scholarly publication of the key texts.

Publishers interested in the project are invited to contact the project supervisor. E-mail

 

Project Staff

Stefan Höschele, PhD. Co-editor, Supervision and Management. E-mail
Lemareka Kibasisi, B.A. cand. M.T.S. Co-editor. Research and Translation. E-mail

 

Contributions Welcome

If you have access to religious narratives of the Maasai of any kind which are not included in the bibliography below, please contact one of the staff members.

Bibliography

The following titles represent a selection from the literature that is used for this research project.

Beidelman, T. O. “Some Hypotheses Regarding Nilo-Hamitic Symbolism and Social Structure: Baraguyu Folklore.” Anthropological Quarterly 41 (1968), 78–89.
Fuchs, Hanns. Sagen, Mythen und Sitten der Masai. Jena: Costenoble, 1910.
Hauge, Hans-Egil. Maasai Religion and Folklore. Nairobi: City Print Works, 1979.
Hinde, Sidney Langford; Hinde, Hildegarde Beatrice. The Last of the Masai. London: Heinemann, 1901.
Hollis, Alfred Claude. The Masai: Their Language and Folklore. Oxford: Clarendon, 1905.
Krapf, Johann Ludwig. Vocabulary of the Engutuk Eloikob or of the Wakuafi-Nation in the Interior of Equatorial East Africa. Tübingen: Lud. Fried. Fues., 1854.
Kipury, Naomi. Oral Literature of the Maasai. Nairobi: Heinemann, 1983.
Mbugua, Kioi wa. Inkishu: Myths and Legends of the Maasai. Nairobi: Jacaranda Designs, 1994.
Merker, Moritz. Die Masai: Ethnographische Monographie eines ostafrikanischen Semitenvolkes. Berlin: Reimer, 1904; 2nd ed. 1910.
Merker, Moritz. The Masai (Die Masai by Merker Translated into English by Frieda Schütze). Microfiche. N.p.: Human Relations Area Files, 1971.
Mol, Frans. Maa: A Dictionary of the Maasai Language and Folklore. Nairobi: Marketing & Publishing, 1978.
Mol, Frans Fr. Maasai Language and Culture Dictionary. Limuru: Diocese of Meru/Kolbe Press, 1996.
Ole Mpaayei, John Tompo. Inkuti Pukunot oo Lmaasai (ed. by A.N. Tucker). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954.
Ole Saibull, Solomon; Carr, Rachel E. Herd and Spear: The Maasai of East Africa. London: Collins and Harvill Press, 1981.
Ole Saitoti, Tepilit, and Carol Beckwith. Maasai. New York: Abrams, 1980.
Ole Sankan, S.S. Intepen e Maasai. Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau, 1979.
Ole Sankan, S. S. The Maasai. East African Literature Bureau: Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kampala 1973.
Ol’Oloisolo, Massek, A. and J. O. Sidai. Eng’eno oo lMaasai – Wisdom of Maasai. Nairobi: Transafrica, 1974.
Ole Toimasi, Paul T. Anyor Enkutuk ang [Masai language publications, 1. Inosu Enkatini, 1979; 2. Mainosa Inkatinin, 1980; 3. Enkukuu oo Lumbua o kulie Atinin]. Nairobi: East African Publ. House, 1979–1981.
Voshaar, Jan. Tracing God’s Walking Stick in Maa. Ph.D. Dissertation, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, 1979.
Wincza, Ada. Masai the Magnificent, Nairobi: Hunters & Guides, 1970.