What Does Marriage mean to the maasai?

 

What Does Marriage  mean to the maasai?

Weddings in Maasai culture are complex occasions that include numerous traditional customs. Girls are traditionally married between the ages of 12 and 20, although this is slowly changing as education becomes more accessible to the fairer sex. The rites, however, remain in place.The groom and best man will deliver the last of the pre-agreed dowry to the girl's family the day before the wedding. Typically, this consists of livestock, cash, blankets, and honey.


The girl's head is shaved on this day as a sign of the new beginning she is about to embark on.The wedding procession begins with an elder's blessing. Outside the girl's mother's house, he/she spits out milk. As a last benediction, grass is tied to the girl's shoes before she leaves the house. Grass represents abundance to the cattle-loving Maasai (of milk).

The women come to jeer the bride as she departs her village and also pledge wedding gifts. The bride ties a knot in one of the long strands on the enkariwa wedding necklace for each present (e.g. sheep, chicks) as a reminder of how many presents she needs to collect after the wedding.At this stage, the girl is frequently crying as she leaves her family's hamlet for the unknown.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78n8IZ2nI2A



After that, the procession proceeds to the husband's village, where the main celebration takes place. When she first comes in this tribe, she is given a newborn or small child to carry as a symbol of the children she will bear.

Each wife has her own house in a Maasai homestead, but when a new wife arrives, there is often no house ready, so the bride shares with a co-wife.

Two visitors at Rekero Camp recently renewed their Maasai vows in a traditional Maasai ceremony.

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