Decorated in her beaded finery, a young girlfriend of a warrior awaits his return from the sacred chalk bank. She is celebrating his graduation into elderhood. Once he has graduated their relationship will have to end, as, by tradition, he can only marry a circumcised woman.
As the ceremony reaches its peak, the warriors enter the manyatta carrying colorful ceremonial kanga flags. Once
gathered in the center of the manyatta, they raise their red flags aloft. For the Maasai, the color red is a symbol of life force and the hot firey temperment of warriors.
The mothers of the warriors gather to admire their sons and honor their passage to the next stage of life.
Once gathered in the center of the manyatta, the warriors raise their red flags and wave them from side to side, expressing their force and power as a generation of warriors.
For a Maasai warrior, long hair signifies beauty and symbolizes courage and status. At his graduation ceremony into elderhood, a warrior’s hair will be ritually
shaved by his mother, marking the passing of warriorhood. Using a sharp razor blade and balm of milk and water, a Maasai mother shaves off the long locks of hair that have identified her son as a warrior. This is one of the most poignant moments of his life. The warrior’s young girlfriend collects the fallen locks and keeps them as a memory of their special relationship.
Using a sharp blade and a balm of milk and water, each mother shaves off the long locks of hair that have identified her son as a warrior for the past ten or more
years. A warrior’s young girlfriend caresses his fallen locks knowing that her special relationship with him will soon end. Following his graduation, he will leave her to marry a circumcised woman.
In preparation for the climax of the Eunoto Ceremony, warriors paint each other’s faces with ocher pigment, using a small twig as a brush.
In preparation for the climax of the Eunoto Ceremony, warriors paint each other’s faces with ocher pigment,
using a small twig as a brush. At the close of the ceremony, the warriors ocher one another’s shaved heads. Their long hair has been shaved by their mothers,
symbolizing the release of the son by his mother, and his entry into elderhood.
After the heads of the newly shaven initiates have been rubbed with glistening red ocher,the young men gather
to receive the final blessings of the elders. The initiates sit in quiet reflection as the elders walkamong them, chanting prayers and spraying them with mouthfuls of
milk and honey beer. The warriors have now entered their next stage of life as elders.
The three leaders of the warrior generation are singled out and honored. Following this, the entire generation is
blessed by the elders: “May Enkai give you a long and healthy life, may Enkai give you many children and cattle, and may you enjoy true arkasis (wealth).”.
