for National Geographic News
Peter ole Mankura, a Masai pastor from Kenya, took one look at the Amish farmer milking his cow and exclaimed, "They are our brothers!"
Ole Mankura is one of 15 Masai tribespeople from Kenya who recently visited the United States. During three weeks of shuttle diplomacy, the Masai cattle herders squeezed in a trip to an Amish farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where they found their brethren.
"I never thought there were people like that in America," said ole Mankura. "They didn't have electricity or automobiles, only horses and buggies. And they have a lot of cows, just like the Masai."
Later, the group represented the Masai tribe at the United Nations Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. There, they found that most indigenous groups face similar challenges as the Masai: poor education, inadequate health services, shrinking land, and a lack of water.
Late rains and a lack of access to water are taxing the Masai's well-being and livelihood in a number of lowland Kenyan districts.
"We are livestock keepers who live a seminomadic way of life, always moving in search of water," said Francis Nkitoria, a group member who runs a Masai advocacy group called Simba Maasai Outreach Organization. "But we have been losing a lot of land. Soon, we will have nowhere to go."
Indigenous Rights
Distinctive in their red robes and jewelry, the Masai are renowned for their courage and endurance. The men can walk for days across the savannas, herding their cattle. Traditional initiation rites dictate that a boy must kill a lion with a spear, but the ritual is no longer enforced.
Most of the Masai have never been outside the windswept savannas of Kenya and Tanzania. For most of the group who visited the United States, it was their first time in an airplane.
"When we took off from Nairobi, it felt like my feet lost sense," said Margaret Koileken, one of the group members.
The Masai were the original settlers in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. According to Kenyan government policy, however, none of the 42 tribes in the country are recognized as indigenous.
That's something the Masai want to change. Gaining recognition as an indigenous people would entitle them to certain rights, like protection of their lands, which they don't have today.
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