One of the best known of African tribes, the Maasai number only a quarter of a million and live mainly in southern Kenya. Their society, based on cattle rearing and warrior intiation , still struggles on in rural areas despite the encroachment of urbanisation and he natural itch of the government to interfere. The Maasai, who get their name from the Maa language which they speak, have evolved a system of authority based on age-groups. The different age sets are lumped together in a Maasai district and graduate to full warrior status all together in an initiation ceremony every 12 to 15 years.
Every warrior spends years first as an initiate, known as the 'moran' .
During that time they use blunt arrows to hunt small birds, which they then build into a headdress. They are also under restrictions - they are not allowed to drink milk in their parents' huts, or to eat in the manyatta, a special hut constructed for warriors. The full intiation ceremony takes place over four days in a special hut known as the eunoto o sinkira , where one age group of full warriors makes way for a new generation. The new warriors drink blood caught from the neck of a bull, and have their heads shaved by their mothers. They also choose brides.