For those of us that despise the taking of an animal’s life for whatever reason we must understand that to the Maasai his wealth and stature is contained in his herds of cattle.

When wild animals make depredations on those cattle it is well understood that the warrior will defend his property as you or I would defend our home from robbers or our children from anything that might threaten their well being.

Try to understand, if not the act, the principle behind the act and thus you will be able to see my friends, the WILD MAASAI

An interview given to me by Koyei Lesiles, a Maasai warrior.

“As Masai at age of 15 after circumcision we go to the bush for two or three years to be trained in the use and the balance of the spear and the sword, the shield and the rungu, (the rungu is the traditional Masai head knocker.)

While in the bush we are also taught how to face Simba kali. (Simba kali is the savage lion.)

We left the village at 5 a.m. I woke my mum and she asked me, “Where are you going this early?” Instead of answering her question I replied, “Woman, give me a gourd of milk.” She knew where I was going and she wept because I was a favorite son and she knew that she would perhaps not see me again if I am slain by Simba kali.

My mum wept but as a warrior I could care less.

While laying on the circumcision cow hide they tell us that we are being born again and that circumcision is likened to the cutting of the umbilical cord at birth. They say that all of the troubles of the home are over, now a man and a warrior is in this place.

While getting up from the circumcision cow hide they say, “Stand up, you are now a man.”

Before I left our village my father called me aside and said to me, “My son, a man can never die twice. Never allow the sons of other men to look down upon you. Death is much better.

He handed me a spear and a sword and he said, “Do not bring them back unstained.” What he meant was, do not bring them back unstained with blood and that meant I had to kill the lion to get blood on the spear and the sword.

Then my father uprooted some green grass and tucked it into my sandals and finally he said, “Off you go.” He clicked his tongue and I clicked mine and I walked away and joined the waiting battalion of my colleagues.

(The pulling of grass from the ground and placing the grass into the sandals is to signify a safe return.)

As I left my father I told myself, ‘I swear never to run away’ and we told each other that we would never run away from Simba.

We trailed the lion for two days across the savannah, following his footprints. For two days we did this.

Finally we tracked Simba until we knew he was in a thick clump of oldupai thorn bushes next to the Oloorgaissalie pre-historic site where Dr. Leakie found the fossils.

We went in to him.

(That is the understatement of the year.)

I speared him and he immediately jumped on Simel, the warrior next to me biting, clawing and mauling him severely so that his intestines were visible protruding through a hole in his stomach.

I seized the lion’s tail and wrestled with him and he gave me many scars on my shoulders and my legs. We finally managed to kill Simba Kali and skin him and we bought back his mane, claws and teeth.

We celebrated our victory from the scene of our victory all the way back to the waiting crowds in our village.

We used our red cloud shuka’s (The red cloud shuka is the traditional warrior’s robe) to carry our injured friend Simel and as he fought for his life all the warriors except me and one other were totally exhausted and those others left us.

It took several hours carrying him, resting in the shade of acacia trees until we finally approached our village. We were near our home, we could hear the people singing when Simel roared and I looked into his eyes and his eyes turned completely white and he died.

I wept like a child and I was ashamed of my tears but Simel was my close friend.

The warrior’s tears are very uncommon.

When a warrior dies in this kind of war he will be honored by the warriors who were with him when he died for each will contribute a cow to his father in his memory.

The wounds that Simba inflicted to me were treated by chewing the leaves of the Olkilorito. This is one of the medicinal trees that grow on the savannah. This is mixed with the fat of the lion and it makes the wounds heal faster.

(Koyei will carry the scars that he received that day for the rest of his life but he carries them with great pride.)

We celebrated our victory with dancing and you could hear the blowing of the kudu horns miles away.

Masai means ‘beauty’, we are known for our beauty and our pride.

One of the songs goes this way:

“Great are the warriors that can break the spears of the enemy, who can touch the king of the jungle… our men never retreat from the enemy…they stand for their families and their communities…we have raided the homes of uncircumcised men and bought back our tokens…” and it goes on and on.

The people jump high and spin in circles and sing.

The kinship I have for Simba Kali is based on his availability for me to face him and kill him. This made me famous among my people.

I am Maasai.”

(If you notice the above song is almost biblical in its intensity and meter.)

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