Why would anyone feel like hunting lions for fun? Have lions suddenly become domestic animals? The people of Maasai find facing lions as a hobby. Hunting a lion was traditional, fun, and dangerous.
The question is, why did the warriors hunt lions? Lion hunt was a tradition and historical practice that played an important role in the Maasai culture. The practice was different from trophy hunting; it was symbolically a rite of passage rather than a hobby.
The Maasai tribe saw lion hunting experience as a sign of bravery and personal achievement. In the past, when the lion population was high, the community encouraged a solo lion hunt.
However, over the last several years, due to the decline of the lion population, mainly because of rabies and canine distemper virus, the community adopted a new rule that encouraged warriors to hunt in groups instead of the solo lion hunt.
Group hunting, known in Maasai as olamayio, gave the lion population a chance to grow. According to Maasai customary laws, the warriors were not allowed to hunt a lion, suffering from drought, snared, or poison.
The Maasai believed that female lions are the bearers of life in every species. As a matter of fact, it was prohibited to hunt a female lion– unless the lioness posed threat to livestock or
human life. The Maasai well understood that lions are important to the savanna’s ecology.
For that reason, the Maasai took extra caution when it comes to the lion hunt. The Maasai warriors did not just go out and hunt lions because they can.
The rules were there and were
followed by every warrior. Lion hunting experience allowed the Maasai warriors to show off their fighting ability on a non-human target.
At the end of each age-set, usually after 10-15 years, the warriors would count all the lions hunted, then compared with those hunted by the previous age-set.
The purpose was to compare the number of lions hunted between previous and current age-set. The lion hunting journey started at dawn when elders and women were still asleep.
The warriors sneaked out of the village in order to avoid discouragement from elders and women. The warriors would meet at a nearby landmark, for example, a tree, hill, or rock.
F
rom here, the warriors departed to a predetermined area, where lions were most likely found. The warriors usually located lions by tracking them using footprints, animal dropping, and/ or vultures.
A few minutes before departure, the warriors must go through a sorting process that separates junior warriors from senior warriors. In the warrior, tradition seniority has the decisio
n making powers.
Ilmorijo (senior warriors) must select a group of qualified comrades with elaborate hunting skills. The selected group was considered mature, strong, and capable to face a lion.
The group was known as Ilmeluaya (fearless warriors) who were ready to die or live. The lions were abundant throughout Maasailand. Their typical hideouts were grassy plains and deep in the forests. The lion search ranges from 20 minutes to 10 hours. The Maas
ai warriors must chase a lion with rattle bells and make him upset.
This chasing game irritated, angered, and forced a lion to face the hunters. Another successful lion hunting method was to force a lion to leave a kill. Any of these methods would provoke a fight with a lion. Fighting a lion inside the woodland savannah ca
n be extremely challenging and dangerous.
The lion is very smart and can maneuver through the bushes faster than a human being. As a result, the Maasai warriors preferred to fight lions in the open plains. By doing so, the warrior gave a lion a chance to fight.
Lion hunting was all about challenging another creature without cheating. Facing a lion in the open savanna was a remarkable challenge. The Maasai do not eat game meat. They strictly depend on cows, sheep, and goats.
Three products are used from a dead lion: the mane, tail, and claws. The mane is beautifully beaded by village women and given back to the hunter.
The mane is worn over the head, only during special ceremonies. The mane helped the warrior from far area
s to identify the toughest warrior.
After the meet ceremony, when a warrior became a junior elder, he was obliged to throw away the lion mane. The warrior was required to sacrifice a lamb, oil the mane with sheep oil and dispose of it in the wilderness.
This sacrificial event was done to avoid bad spirits. The mane has a special spiritual attachment to the warrior.
It was a must for a warrior to honor the mane. The lion tail was stretched and soften by the warriors, then hand it over to the village women for beading.
The warriors would receive the tailback when the beading was done. The warriors would keep
and guide the lion’s tail in their manyatta (warriors’ camp), until the end of warriorhood.
The lion tail was the most valuable product in the practice of lion hunting. After graduation, a group of warriors would come together and pay their last special respect to all the lion tails collected during the moran hood. The lion tails were thrown away after the eunoto ceremony.
