Keyna

Jewelry and beadwork are indicators of a person’s social position. When it comes to earrings, for example, unmarried women wear smaller earrings while married women wear larger earrings, some the size of bookmarks. Male warriors also wear elaborate earrings as a demonstration of wealth or power, with warriors wearing circular gauges in their earlobes made from the cross-section of elephants’ tusks. The wearers often mismatch the colors of earrings or bracelets to represent dualities such as male and female or heaven and earth.

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Horn

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Jewelry and beadwork are indicators of a person’s social position. When it comes to earrings, for example, unmarried women wear smaller earrings while married women wear larger earrings, some the size of bookmarks. Male warriors also wear elaborate earrings as a demonstration of wealth or power, with warriors wearing circular gauges in their earlobes made from the cross-section of elephants’ tusks. The wearers often mismatch the colors of earrings or bracelets to represent dualities such as male and female or heaven and earth.

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Beading, tin, and wire

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Jewelry and beadwork are indicators of a person’s social position. When it comes to earrings, for example, unmarried women wear smaller earrings while married women wear larger earrings, some the size of bookmarks. Male warriors also wear elaborate earrings as a demonstration of wealth or power, with warriors wearing circular gauges in their earlobes made from the cross-section of elephants’ tusks. The wearers often mismatch the colors of earrings or bracelets to represent dualities such as male and female or heaven and earth.

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Beading, tin, and wire

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

The women and men of the Maasai wear much jewelry made from beads, animal horns, and bone. The bracelets are made from giraffe femurs, while the earrings are of animal horn. These were gifts from Rico to Linda during their courtship, collected while he was working in Kenya.

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Giraffe bone

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

The sharing of snuff, which the Maasai make from a combination of tobacco and magadi (soda), is viewed as a sign of friendship and familiarity. This tobacco holder is made from leather and the femur of a giraffe, likely predating modern versions made of bamboo or synthetic materials.

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Bone, leather, and beading

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Beading and wire

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Beading, wire, and hide

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Beading, leather, and tin

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Masai people, Kenya, 20th century

Sticks or straw

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Beading, buttons, leather, and fiber

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

To the Maasai, illnesses are attributed either to a natural or supernatural cause. To treat the latter, patients rely traditionally upon a “medicine man” for healing. In the case of natural illnesses, the Maasai use remedies derived from plants and herbs to treat specific symptoms. Although the Maasai accumulate their knowledge of the healing possibilities of nature throughout their lives, much of their general understanding of biodiversity passes down orally from generation to generation. Traditional remedies — or “ethnomedicine” — are the most prevalent forms of medical care in developing regions, stemming largely from local belief systems and inaccessibility to modern care. Despite its dismissal in modern medical practice, several agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) have studied and even promoted the study of ethnomedicine for its potential benefits of self-reliance and quick treatment. The Shaman to whom this mask belonged was especially interested in Western clothing, trading Rico for a pair of blue jeans and polo shirt in exchange for the mask.

Maasai people (Kenya), 20th century

Fiber

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Wood

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Wood, fiber, beading, and hide

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Among the most prominent and important symbols of the Maasai people is the warrior shield. The shield is a perfect example of the multifold functions of much Maasai art; shields are at once works of art, bearing the exquisite design motifs called sirata so familiar in the art of the region, and functional utilitarian and ritual objects at the same time. A shield like the one displayed here may be used for hunting and fighting (and training to learn how to hunt and fight), in ceremonial rites, or to display an individual or family’s prestige and honor.

Maasai shields, used in daily life, are made from wooden frames covered with the hide of cow or buffalo. The appearance of red and blue paint in this shield’s design indicates that it belonged to an accomplished warrior and herder, as inexperienced warriors were limited to using black, white, or gray on their shields. Despite the fact that the shields of the Maasai remain among the most widely known symbols of their culture — so much so that the shield is even featured on the Kenyan flag — the original meanings of many specific designs and symbols borne on the shields have been lost among the Maasai.

Maasai people, Kenya

Wood and hide

c. 20th century

Masai people, Kenya, 20th century

Elephant hair

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

Masai people, Kenya, 20th century

Fiber and beads

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection

This statue depicts a warrior herder and his shield. The statues demonstrate the rite of earlobe stretching, a common practice among both men and women in Maasai culture.

Masai people (Kenya), 20th century

Wood

Gift of the Dr. Alan & Linda Rich Collection