When the dawn breaks over Kisokon village in Kenya’s Narok county, Maasai herders leave their bomas, tend to their cattle and follow them around as they graze in nearby pastures. But this is rarely the morning routine of Mokompo Ole Simel, one of Africa’s oldest oloiboni, a traditional spiritual leader. Simel, in his 90s, wakes up by the sun, offers daily prayers to his ancestors and the Maasai’s traditional supreme deity, Enkai. He then spends the rest of his morning sauntering around his land, covered in old sacred oreteti fig trees (Ficus thonningii), which his ancestors have owned for generations. “Land is everything to a Maasai. It is our identity, wealth and culture that defines our spirituality and existence as people,” says Simel, an oloiboni who also holds authority and respect in communities across the southern border in Tanzania. “But it is under threat as our people are evicted from their ancestral lands in Tanzania.” In the last decades, the Maasai in Tanzania have faced a series of evictions. Starting in 1959, and continuing in 2009, 2013 and 2017, communities were evicted to expand parks and promote protected areas, luxury tourism and safaris that boost the country’s economy. Now, Simel’s worries are on this year’s eviction plans. Rite of passage ceremony performed to introduce a new age set group (ILMEGOLIKI) of young Maasai men in Simajiro District. Image courtesy of PINGO’s Forum. In March, the Tanzanian government issued two eviction notices. The first one was issued to the Maasai community…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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