…we the undersigned, being the Laibons of clans of Maasai, have
of our own free will, decided that it is for our best interests to
remove our people, flocks, and herds into definite reservations
away from the Railway line and away from European settlements…
(and)…In conclusion, we wish to state that we are quite satisfied
with the foregoing arrangement, and we bind ourselves and our
successors as well as our people, to observe them for as long as the
Maasai as a race shall exist.
source:
Agreement dated 10 August 1904 between His Majesty’s Commissioner for the East Africa
Protectorate and the Chiefs of the Maasai Tribe, reprinted from East Africa Protectorate,
Correspondence Relating to the Maasai, Command Paper No. 20360, House of Commons
Parliamentary Papers, Vol. L11, 1911, pp. 730-731.
just imagine entering in such kind of an agrement with someone who does not even know what a pen and paper is and then you claim it is out of free well!heck even at this age some kenyans don’t comprehend a simple agreement ya kuuziana nduthi ,so imagine 1900’s!!!yenyewe white man is a disaster for real.
Before mzungu came in the maasai were feared all over this part of Africa. They were hugely responsible for blocking Arab kidnappers from accessing the interior of “present day Kenya” for slavery purposes.
But mzungu was their kryptonite. Since they signed this trickery document they have been losing. It’s like this document has been a curse to them. It opened up evilness that subdued them. They got so dominated that their population is not even top 5 in an area their ancestors dominated for probably centuries. They have had a string of leaders who have done nothing but mislead them.
Maybe because they controlled so much land they never thought land scarcity would be an issue.
Maybe the Phoenix shall rise again. Maybe.
Actually they were quite smart to make that deal, last yrs I did a long post on historical injustices where I explained why the maasai collaborated. will find and share it.
If they had refused to sign the document and move, they would have been wiped off the face of the earth. You were killed or you joined the killers, grim choices.
