The Maasai
The Maasai are indigenous people who live in the grasslands of Kenya and Tanzania. They live in homes approximately 5 feet tall called bomas. Bomas have no electricity or plumbing materials. They cut a hole in the roof, so when there is a fire of any kind, the smoke can leak out through the hole. Bomas are made out of animal dung, a mixture of stick and mud to make adobe bricks. They put thorn bushes around them to protect them from any wild or dangerous animals at night, because during the day they can protect themselves. Periodically, they leave one home and go to build another. The women construct the building while the men herd cattle and goats. It takes about seven months to build a boma. Maasai become warriors to protect their home.
For food, they gather up lots of cattle and use them for milk and their blood. This is their most important food. They also grow crops like corn and eat fruit. Even though they have a lot cattle, Maasai rarely ever eat meat. The Maasai that don’t have cattle, can’t meet their needs, so they are considered "Ndorobo" which means poor folk. The more cattle you have , the wealthy you are.
They use the hide from cattle for clothing and bird feathers. They like to wear red robes made from one piece of cloth. To make other clothing, like shirts and pants, Maasai grow cotton bushes. They also use dead leaves to make foot wear. They tattoo themselves, wear beaded jewelry and braid their hair. They go from baby, to Moran, to Red Robes, to Fire-Stick Elders.
To this day, the Maasai are not going extinct because their population is over 300,000 people. The Maasai are about 1.5% of the country's population. They have a very difficult life so many are moving to the cities and becoming security guards.