Here is
a rare opportunity to see life among the Maasai as filmed by one of their
own warriors. The filmmaker and narrator is a Maasai who is studying at a
United States college. He returned to Kenya to film the lifestyles and colorful
ceremonies of his people before their culture becomes extinct. We learn that
the traditional pastoral and nomadic life is under attack by outside forces
who want to impose a money economy and privatize of land. The traditional
way of ruling by a council of elders is being supplanted by elected officials
(and even in Maasai land there are complaints on the accuracy of the voting
cards!) The community is divided among those who voice their intense displeasure
at the erosion of traditions and those who feel that the Maasai must change
if they are to survive in today’s world. The Maasai speak frankly to the filmmaker
since he is one of their own.
32 min. Video or DVD. Sale $250. Video rental $55.
