Hello, I am attaching instructions for my final project paper. It is about the Maasai Community and how they are hunters and Gatherers. Please read the instructions attached and write the paper by answering all the questions/prompts. I very much appreciate your help. This is due Thursday evening. Thanks
The Maasai Community as Hunters and Gatherers
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The Maasai Community as Hunters and Gatherers
Different societies have unique beliefs and practices that define their cultures. The Maasai community in Kenya is a good example of an ethnic group with special beliefs and practices that are difficult to find in other ethnic groups. Maasais in Kenya are well known to be hunters and gatherers (MRG, 2021). The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the issues that surround the life of female Maasai youth based in Kenya.
“Job” or Similar Responsibilities and Involvement with Child Care
The responsibilities of a female Maasai woman of my age normally revolve around attending to animals, performing domestic duties at home, and looking after children. If I were a member of the Maasai community living in the village, I would be engaged in milking cows, working on the farm cleaning the house, cooking, fetching firewood from the thicket, fetching water from the river, taking care of children, as well as constructing and repairing the manyatta. I would be fully involved with childcare making sure that they eat on time, bather, wear clean clothes, and are in good health (Odour, 2011). A Maasai woman of my age must learn to perform multiple tasks at a time because that is the culture of the community.
Subsistence Activities and Available Technologies
A Maasai woman of my age is actively involved in subsistence activities. As men protect and herd cattle in the field, the woman remains at home to accomplish farm activities. I would be likely to engage in gardening, farming, taking of domestic animals, and milking the cows. These would be part of my daily routine because they are considered to be my responsibilities. No subsistence technology would be available for me to use. Typical Maasai women normally use traditional farming tools such as jembes for farming and gardening (Nkedianye et al., 2020). They use their hands to do manual milking of the cows.
Involvement in Politics
Female political participation is prohibited in the Maasai culture. At my age, I would not engage in politics at all. According to Kipuri and Ridgewell (2008), Maasai women are by tradition excluded from politics. However, the increased involvement of Maasai women in politics today is evidence enough that the Maasai culture is slowly getting eroded.
Home and Dwelling
In the Maasai community of Kenya, families still live in communal dwellings. My home would be that which is headed by the father with the mother and children serving as other members of the family. I would live in a communal manyatta with my family and relatives including the elderly. As Nkedianye et al. (2020) point out, many households of the Maasai community of Kenya own land communally. They have built manyattas on the same piece of land where they live with their families and relatives.
Marriage
According to the culture of the Maasai community in Kenya, young girls are married off to men of their parents’ choice at a very tender age of around 13 years immediately after they have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM). Early marriage is a reality in this community and girls cannot choose the types of men to marry them (Mohamud et al., 2021). After being married off, a woman my age is not allowed to divorce unless it is a very serious case of physical abuse.
Socio-economic Activity
I would be engaged in some economic activities as a Maasai woman living in Kenya. For example, I would milk cows and sell the milk to neighbors. I would also engage in farming to produce commodities for both home consumption and for selling. Additionally, I would engage in beading to design ornaments for sale (Odour, 2011).
References
Kipuri, N. & Ridgewell, A. (2008). A double bind: The Exclusion of pastoralist women in the East and Horn of Africa. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/494672bc2.pdf
Minority Rights Group (MRG). (2021). Hunter-gatherers. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/hunter-gatherers/
Mohamud, A., Qureshi, Z., de Wildt, G., & Jones, L. (2021). Exploring perceptions of female genital mutilation/cutting abandonment (FGM/C) in Kenyan health care professionals. Qualitative Health Research, 31(11):1976-1989. doi:10.1177/10497323211015967
Nkedianye, D.K., Ogutu, J.O., & Said, M.Y. (2020). Comparative social demography, livelihood diversification and land tenure among the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania. Pastoralism, 10, 17 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-020-00165-2
Odour, V. (2011). The Maasai woman- a social-economic engine of Maasai life. https://www.intracen.org/layouts/2coltemplate.aspx?pageid=47244640256&id=10736