Maasai Marriage: Continuity and Change in Kenya and Tanzania

Ernestina E. Coast, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

This study compares and contrasts recent and contemporary nuptiality among the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania, and represents the first cross-national comparable data set on Maasai marriage. By comparing nuptiality between Kenyan and Tanzanian Maasai, this study examines marriage among the Maasai in particular and rural sub-Saharan African populations undergoing socio-economic change in general. A variety of methodologies are used, including an individual questionnaire, a survey of ethnographic evidence, and participant observation. Continuity is revealed in the relatively high levels of polygyny, the marriage of girls at puberty, very low levels of formal divorce, and maintenance of traditional partner selection norms. Incipient change is shown through the emergence of Maasai-non-Maasai marriages, the influence of formal education, and increasing preference for monogamous marriages. Extended abstract: Marriage is often one of the first indicators of societal change. Conceptualisations of marriage in sub-Saharan Africa as “early and universal” have largely been debunked. Recent large-scale comparative analyses reveal rising age at first marriage for both men and women and a relative decline in the prevalence of de jure polygyny, although much heterogeneity remains between and within countries. This study compares and contrasts recent and contemporary nuptiality among the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania, and represents the first cross-national comparable data set on Maasai marriage. Put simply, Maasai in Tanzania continue to live a far more traditional lifestyle, one that is much less interwoven with the processes of modernisation, compared with their Kenyan neighbours. The study design therefore broadly resembles that of a natural experiment, a valuable framework for analysis. The cross-national study of marriage patterns for one ethnic group is a powerful tool for examining the role of influences at a variety of scales (individual, household, community, nation state) on nuptiality. By comparing nuptiality between Kenyan and Tanzanian Maasai, this study highlights change and continuity in marriage among the Maasai in particular and rural sub-Saharan African populations undergoing socio-economic change in general. Globally, female age at first marriage has risen and continues to rise, due to a combination of factors including rising levels of female education and the enforcement of legislation. Is there any evidence to suggest a change in age at first marriage for Maasai women? Nuptiality patterns reflect demographic characteristics (including population age-sex composition), economic factors (including both direct costs such as bridewealth and indirect opportunity costs), and socio-cultural influences, and each of these factors is unlikely to operate independently of the others. Several authors have predicted a shift towards more western-style marriage patterns in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular emphasis on increasing levels of monogamy. Polygyny is widely reported in ethnographic literature on Maasai, however few substantive data exist. Further, the relationship between subsistence system and polygyny, with specific reference to pastoralist societies, has been a recurrent theme in the study of marriage changes in sub-Saharan Africa. The Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania are arguably the best-known pastoralist population in the world, and the current study represents an opportunity to update and review the body of information linking pastoralism with polygyny. The aim is to provide a detailed overview of contemporary marriage patterns among the Maasai, and to explore patterns of continuity and change across two very different nation states. A variety of methodologies are used, including an individual questionnaire (n=14,928 individuals), a survey of ethnographic evidence, and participant observation, drawing upon prolonjged residence by the author in Kenyan and Tanzanian Maasailand. Both quantitative and qualitative data are presented. The data presented here provide the first assessment of contemporary Maasai marriage patterns, and with some minor exceptions, strongly support the existing ethnographic evidence. Marriage is virtually universal for both men and women, with significant differences in male and female age at entry into marriage. The spousal age differences reported here suggest that, for the majority of marriages, spousal selection is still largely predicated upon the cultural norm of women marrying men from an age set other than that of their father. Given the relatively higher integration of Kenyan Maasai into “non-traditional” occupations and education, the data were analysed for country-level differentials in nuptiality patterns. Entry into marriage is relatively earlier among Kenyan Maasai, suggesting that traditional constraints on entry into marriage, particularly for men as a result of participation in traditional warrior activities, are being eroded. Differentials in female entry into marriage are much less marked at the country level, which is to be expected given the biological (puberty) determinants of eligibility for marriage. Education is a powerful and frequent proxy for socio-economic change. The role of education, particularly female education, is frequently highlighted as a key determinant of reproductive behaviour (both social and biological). Here, the case studies in particular demonstrate that institutions (both cultural and socio-political) can have highly individualised effects on nuptiality behaviour. Analyses by education for the Maasai suggest a complex picture, where participation in education for men appears to be associated with a low propensity to enter a polygynous marriage, particularly for younger men. However, once the marriage has become polygynous, there are negligible differences by education in the rate of new wife acquisition. Analyses by occupation, using broad categories to proxy for most traditional (pastoralism) to less (some pastoralism) to least traditional (no pastoralism), suggest a clearer relationship with prevalence and intensity of polygyny. Continuity is shown in the relatively high levels of polygyny, the marriage of girls at or around the age of puberty, very low levels of formal divorce, and the maintenance of partner selection rules. Incipient change is revealed through the emergence of Maasai-non-Maasai marriages, the influence of formal education (particularly for men), and the increasing reference to monogamous marriages as a preferred form of marriage.