The Maasai have been living here till kingdom come, but their unique culture is in danger of being eradicated. The Maasai are friendly; they want to uphold their culture instead of losing it in the deep, dark mazes of history. The Maasai are semi - nomadic pastoralists, meaning they share a deep love for their animals and crops, and they travel around their territory. Also, the Maasai support one god, the Ngai, which they say is the only god. There are about 10 families in a traditional Maasai village. In total, there are 14 tribal groups and about 1.4 to 2.1 million Maasai across Kenya and Tanzania. The challenges that they faced affected their religion, land, and culture. Their culture is close to being extirpated.

 One of the problems is the spread of the commercial market economy in their land. It pushed away the cattle and their system and made way for a wider, commercial economy. But before we can continue, we must go back to when Kenya and Tanzania were occupied by the British from 1919 - 1961. The British promoted large European settlement and built large-scale agricultural estates in Tanzania and Kenya. Land rich in nutrients was given over (without asking the Maasai) to European settlers, and the settlers grew, harvested, and sold crops such as tea and coffee. Since the land was given over to the European settlers, the Maasai could not move forward with moving their cattle around like they usually did, which forced them to stay in one space, and since the grass needed time to regenerate, the cattle numbers lowered significantly. Some Maasai worked on the new farms under strict conditions. Any movement by the Maasai was controlled by colonial officials. After Kenya and Tanzania gained their independence, they decided to develop themselves using a market economy. To sum it all up, the Maasai were directly affected by colonization, but then had to deal with the aftershocks of colonization.

 More areas that the Maasai were taking care of after colonization fell into the hands of private landowners. The owners subdivided the land and used it for private ranching, modern agriculture, and commercial development. Individuals snatched away land that was used for cattle grazing. The government is trying to evict them from their land. In Serengeti, Loliondo, and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, nearly 170,000 Maasai are already evicted or at risk of being evicted.

In 1956, the government tricked Maasai elders into signing away their land under the pretense of building a leopard zoo, promising tax exemption and free relocation. After moving to restricted land where overcrowding severely threatened their cattle, the Maasai gradually adapted. However, a UAE-based hunting company, Otterlo Business Corporation (OBC), later targeted the same territory. When the Maasai refused to sign over their land a second time, violence was used to force them out—burning their homes, destroying possessions, shooting at residents, and arresting and torturing community members. Throughout this, the Frankfurt Zoological Society quietly observed with hidden motives.

Thankfully, widespread outrage around the world happened because of this cruelty towards the Maasai and their systems. The authorities stopped in 2013. Sadly, in 2015, the authorities went back on their promise and evicted them AGAIN, burning down their houses and taking them off their land. In August 2017, they evicted them AGAIN! Park rangers and police took them out and left them with no food, water, and shelter. After this violence, the Tanzanian authorities made a surprising announcement. They were removing OBC’s lease to operate in Tanzania. The Natural Resources Minister reported OBC’s executive officer because he had bribed him. OBC stayed and continued to work in Loliondo, and evictions continued in 2022, where 1500 kilometres of land were being used for game hunting. Peaceful protests by the Maasai were brought down with tear gas and live ammunition. As a result, many traditions were changed or lost.

We need your help! You, the readers, can help us fight the corrupt people who are destroying their land. I may be 12, but I am doing this to support the Maasai. Please try to share with other people so that we can reach our goal. Thank you, and Support The Maasai!