Masai shield and sword
By: Noah Saari
- The shield is made from animal hide. It is oval in shape and is decorated with red, white, and black paint. The spear is made of wood with a metal tip and has carvings on its handles.
- It comes from the Masai tribe and was probably made somewhere in Tanzania or southern Kenya. The Masai tribe is a big ethnic group that probably used these items to protect their cattle from lions or other wild animals.
- The shield and spear are used today for defense against wild animals but not for hunting. The Masai tribe doesn’t hunt animals but used to hunt lions as an initiation into manhood. When the village kills a cow they all share it and feast with everyone in the village.
- The artifact teaches us that the Masai hunted and killed lions as an initiation into manhood but it’s illegal to kill lions now, because lions are going extinct in Africa and if they kept killing lions in Africa then there would be no more left.
- The main point that I wanted to make is the Masai shield and spear are very important in the lives of the Masai. The artifacts are used for mostly defense because it’s now illegal to hunt lions. If their cattle are attacked they use them to fight off the animal, they don’t use guns. They’ve been using these items for hundreds of years.
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masai