Why do the Maasai drink cattle blood? The Masai are a group of people that live on the northern border of Tanzania and Southern border of Kenya. This group of people is pastoralist and they their lives entirely depend on cattle until of recent. The dressing of the Masai is the very unique. They use a lot of beads that make their attire very colorful. The Masai leave on the North southern side of the foothills of the Kilimanjaro and in the Ngorongoro conservation area.
The cultural experience is really interesting. The roles in the community are basically distributed with consideration of age. Men are usually in charge of grazing the cattle as they play a vital role in the lives of the community. Usually wealth in the Masai is measured in the amount of cattle. The more the man is wealthy, the more wives he can have. The plains of the Ngorongoro conservation area are very fertile and facilitate growth of grass fields that the Masai graze their cattle in. Why do the Maasai drink cattle blood?
The Masai use both Milk and blood of the cattle for most of their functions. It could be a ritual function or wedding ceremony. They also believe a mixture of the two is very nutritious and good for the immune system that’s why they make sure the children feed on this to avoid falling sick. They also give the mixture to those that have just given birth. The men use the mixture to cure hangovers. Some describe it as sweet and thick, with a film that forms over the surface just seconds after collection.
The Masai will not kill a whole cow just to get its blood. They will wound it and draw the blood using a pot or calabash. They will do this once a month on different cows.
The Masai don’t just do this process just because they don’t want to kill the cow. But also they can afford to keep reducing the number of cattle in the herd. They pride in big herds of cattle as it’s a symbol of wealth.
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