Burial In Rural East Africa- Maasai Tribe Leave Remains To Predators

The Maasai people have their own ideas about burial rights. Their funerals are entirely without ceremony…..

The Maasai people have their own ideas about burial rights. Their funerals are entirely without ceremony, so the dead are left out for scavengers to feed on. Any dead body not picked up by scavengers is considered a bad omen so the families often coat the body in blood or fat to make it more enticing.

Actual burial is reserved for chiefs as a sign of respect, while the commoners are simply left outdoors for predators. The Maasai believe that dead bodies are harmful to the earth and that when you are dead, you are simply gone. There is no after life.

                                            Vultures scavenging on a dead corpse

The Maasai people believe that immortality is achieved when leaving behind a family whose very existence stems from a life that has been dedicated to care and attention. To leave no successors is to face oblivion in the fullest sense, and it may be taken as a sign of having been cursed.

The Maasai are a nomadic tribe located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are one of the better known African tribes, numbering over a million in population. They live close to many East African game parks and offer visits to tourists.

Though there is an increasing number of Christians and Muslims in the Maasai population, it is feared that the practice will continue for as long as traditionalists dominate the Maasai population.