A Culture in the Midst of Change

Tanzania has many tribes (72 is the number I have heard, but there may be more).  The most well-known of these by the outside world is the Maasai.  Traditionally, Maasai have been nomadic cattle herders, but that has been changing in recent decades.  Pressures from government and the rest of society have pushed more and more of them to settle down, farm, and even move to cities.  Yet, they value their culture and are proud of it, and some continue to set themselves apart from the increasingly westernized rest of the country through their clothing, language, and occupations.

Most of the students and some of the teachers at our school are Maasai.  Last week we attended the wedding of two Maasai teachers that highlighted the different ways that people have reacted to societal pressures to conform.

Both of the teachers are bright, well-educated, and fluent in at least three languages:  English, Swahili, and Maa, the language of the Maasai.  They wear western-style clothing and are technology-savvy.  The wedding ceremony was in a Lutheran church, and was as conventional as any we have attended.  We noticed that the wedding guests were variously attired in a range of clothing from very western, such as would pass unnoticed in an American church, to the colorful long dresses commonly worn by women in small-town Tanzania, to total Maasai tribal garb with shukas (robes) and layers of beads.  At the reception, it became evident that most of the people in westernized dress belonged to the groom's family and the tribally dressed people belonged to the bride's.  Mid-way during the festivities, the fathers of the bride and groom made short speeches.  The groom's father wore a tweed sports jacket, dress shirt, tie, and trousers, and spoke in Swahili.  The bride's father wore shukas and beads, and spoke in Maa.

Diverse gifts were presented to the couple.  They included a 26" flat-screen computer monitor, from the other teachers, and 10 goats and a cow, from the bride's immediate family.  This last was a very impressive gift:  the average cost of a cow is about 2 months of a teacher's salary.

The future of the newly-wedded couple looks bright in terms of economic and educational success.  They have good, secure jobs in the government school system.  Their children will be educated at least as well as they themselves are. Will the children grow up knowing the Maasai traditions?  Will they speak Maa?  Will they maintain a feeling of belonging to a unique culture?  Will the couple keep the cow and goats, or sell them and buy modern conveniences?  Only time will tell.