Boma za Wamaasai

If there is a traditional house name that has been taught in the Kenyan education system, it is that of the Maasai. If you search your memory, you will hear your primary school Geography or Social Studies teacher saying “Maasai live in a manyatta.” From #BomaZetu we have discovered that they aren’t the only Kenyan community that call their homes manyattas. 

The Maasai are one of many pastoralist groups who value their livestock, and this previously influenced the design of their bomas. Heads of households built fences using thorny bushes around their homesteads, and with the same bushes, fenced a livestock enclosure at the centre of the boma.  

The cows were a symbol of wealth and were also essential to the construction of the manyattas. Women acquired sticks, smeared them with mud then cow dung to build their homes – which were designed to be as tall (or short) as the women builders. Ribs of dead livestock came in handy during this process as they were used as the frames of the homes. No house had a door because a door – especially a closed one – signified cowardice in Maa culture. And beside each wife’s hut was a small enclosure for her to milk her cattle. 

The wives of the head of the homestead built their beloved’s house, which was always situated behind the second wife’s hut.  

What more can you share with us about your Geography lessons in relation to Maasai living arrangements?