Masai

views updated May 29 2018

Masai African people of Kenya and Tanzania, consisting of several subgroups who speak a Nilotic language. They are characteristically tall and slender. Their patrilineal, egalitarian society is based on nomadic pastoralism, cattle being equated with wealth. The traditional Masai kraal is a group of mud houses surrounded by a thorn fence. Today, there are c.250,000 Masai.