Maasai Tourist Experiences, The New Colonialism or East African Pastoralist Adaptation

I just finished reading Maasai on the Lawn: Tourist Realism in East Africa - it tells of the Maasai "moran" (junior warrior age-set) who performed at the Mayers Ranch in Kenya where  gives tribalism and colonialism second life bringing them back as representations of themselves in economy of performance

There are a few major themes to the paper on the Mayers Ranch and that Maasai moran that performed there for tourists that gave me the most to think about. The first is that of the colonial undertones of the experience which to some has moral implications - even I have to admit looking at this as an outsider this has a bit the appearance of a zoo. On the other hand, through their relationship with the Mayers, the Maasai that live there gain access to land and water as well as a regular income for food and cattle. This economic and social decision by these particular Maasai was likely only one aspect of their adaptation to the new Kenyan landscape and economy. With access to lands threatened during colonial and post independence rule, this would have threatened their livestock keeping abilities and possibly secure places to build the manyattas for the moran. As an alternative to going to a more urban location to make a living, the Mayers Ranch allowed them to affirm their cultural identity and subsist by their traditional modes which the Maasai have been vocal about wanting to protect. That being said, while this might have been incongruous for some tourists and the modern Kenyan government, I don't know necessarily that this can be simply perceived in terms of unequal distribution of power between the Mayers and the Maasai, at least it would not have been so by the participants. The Maasai were not servants in the home, they performed and sold their handiwork as souvenirs, retaining all profits from the sale of spears and jewellery. 

On the subject of the commodification of these items as tourist souvenirs, it was important first off to note that the spears are a special kind and set apart from the spears the Maasai will use. This being said, Maasai pastoralism does not tend towards with large scale breeding for sale of cattle, but rather the accumulation of cattle, I would guess that the cattle itself and blood is far more sacred than the spears and jewellery, and likely commodification of the latter would have greater impact.

Also, if the performance is a staged event and the live tableaux are designed by the Maasai and the Mayers together, are tourists experiencing the real "authentic" Maasai? I would argue that  the culture of the Maasai is not fixed and it has never existed in a vacuum - tourist would be thus experience the  authentic Maasai at the Mayers Ranch at that point in time and beyond I feel that affirmations of authenticity might be too subjective and mutable to be discoverable in any case. Regardless of my thoughts on authenticity, would a tourist be in a position to identify the difference between the authentic and non-authentic experience, and would a non-staged experience provide them with the full cultural experience they seek. The staged nature of the walk through the Maasai huts with multiple photo ops and stage-worthy dancing, along with easily transportable souvenirs, provides a tourist experience that is easily digestible and complete. A walk through a non-organized Maasai village might not offer the same range of experiences and both the Maasai and tourists might be more at ease in this seemingly neutral milieu.

In a more recent paper, I found out that Bruner had returned to Kenya in 1995 [doc file courtesy of NYU) and found that the Mayers Ranch had been closed in the late 1980s after having come to the attention of Kenyan parliament. Several tour groups had complained to the Mayers about the colonial aspects of the ranch and the Mayers indicated that many Kenyans felt that the performance of the moran on a European homestead signaled an all too paternalistic relationship which was out of place in modern Kenya. The Mayers indicated at that time that some of the Maasai who had worked at Mayers  had gone to urban location to continue their Maasai performances or became involved in the sex industry, catering mainly to European women seeking a sexual experience with a Maasai man. Their and a quick search through Google for tourist experiences with the Maasai abound. Many of them however employ the Maasai as staff rather than as a cultural performance but this is still being offered as cultural tourism.

Everything I have learned about the Maasai makes it appear that they are extremely adaptable and open to peoples and experiences of the world, but they want to so on their own terms as Maasai. Some worry that the sale of their spears and jewellery as well as their performances dilutes the original meaning and symbolic nature of these things, but I would make the guess that the Maasai feel the same pride as any other nation or culture to see it is being celebrated around the world.