Representation of the Maasai by the Maasai:

Information Sharing between Scholars and Local People

KYOKO NAKAMURA

Kyoto University

Providers and recipients of Maasai representations continue to rely on stereotypes, such as "wild," "primitive," "traditional," "brave," "beautiful," "tall and slender," "physically powerful," and "excellent jumpers." The Maasai are aware of these stereotypes and sometimes perform accord­ingly. This paper addresses the ways in which scholars and local people can share in the fruits of academic endeavors with respect not only to the accessibility of the work but also to the significance of the information. I argue that the significance of information shared by scholars and local people always differs according to the context of each recipient. Thus, careful attention must be paid to the context in which shared information is interpreted and to the nature of the interpretations. I clarify the experience of Maasai representations by the Maasai people and examine the significance that these representations hold for this group.

Keywords: Maasai representation, Samburu, anthropological output, local interpretation, decontextualization of information

1. INTRODUCTION

Recent progress in information technology has transformed information into a substantive object of academic attention. Information in the form of characters, pictures, sounds, and movies is readily digitalized, widely circulated on the internet, and very easily reused. Accessibility is the first issue of concern in debates about information sharing. Scholars are also expected to render their academic output accessible to the public. As information becomes widely disseminated, the interpretation or significance attached to it changes as a function of the context in which it is received. Although the improvement of accessibility remains a primary goal of information sharing, we must also consider the next step in this process: sharing the significance of the information.

Toward this end, it may be necessary to answer a very basic question: what is information? Scholars have drawn on the perspective of fundamental informatics in attempting to define this term (e.g., Nishigaki 2004, 2008; Tanaka 1994). According to Nishigaki (2004), information is not a substantial object existing outside of a living being, but is rather something created inside of living beings as they react to stimuli. Information is a thing that has significance for a living being, and that significance generally differs for different interpreters (i.e., living beings creating information internally). That is, information is not a substantial object that is transmitted from one person to another. When two persons share certain information by communicating with each other, the information has different meanings for the sender and the recipient. Different living beings with different experiences and knowledge bases cannot attribute an identical meaning to information. This paper discusses the

Nilo-Ethiopian Studies 15: 11-21 (2011) Copyright© 2011.Japan Association for Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

11

12 Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

sharing of information with local people in terms of accessibility and shared meaning. I have been conducting anthropological research among the Samburu, a pastoral people living in

north-central Kenya. The Samburu share their language, Maa, and many other cultural characteristics with the better-known Maasai. The Samburu and Maasai both wear elaborate beaded adornments all over their bodies, which constitute symbols of typical "traditional" people. Many books, postcards, and pamphlets promoting tourism feature members of this group. My research has focused on social changes among the Samburu related to· their body adornments.

I will consider "Maasai representation" as an example of information shared with local people. Many types of Maasai representations are available, including illustrations and photographs, books, picture books, movies, television advertisements, narratives of the Maasai by tourists and by other ethnic groups, documents related to development projects, and scholarly theses. Recipients of this information perpetuate stereotypes, such as "wild," "primitive," "traditional," "brave," "beautiful," "tall and slender," "physically powerful," and "excellent jumpers." Kasfir (2007: 29-58) examined 20th_ century descriptions of the Maasai and Samburu and demonstrated that these representations have been repeated with only slight variations in form.

Using my 2005 book on Samburu adornments as an example ofMaasai representation, in the first half of this paper, I will show the diversity that characterizes the accessibility and interpretation of this information among the Samburu people. Although some individuals have used my book in posi­tive ways, the reactions of most people have failed to meet my expectations. I will also enumerate my expectations and discuss how these were disappointed. I would like to emphasize the importance of maintaining awareness of the limitations of information sharing, especially with respect to the sig­nificance of the information. Humility and awareness of these limitations should caution senders of information to consider potential and particular ways in which it will be interpreted by local people. In the second half of the paper, I will discuss how Maasai representations gain significance for local people by analyzing their reactions to and interpretations of these representations. I am sure that demonstrating the diversity of such significance will contribute to the recognition that the informa­tion we send may be interpreted, used, and become powerful in unexpected contexts.

2. SAMBURU PEOPLE AND SOCIETY

Like many East Mrican pastoral societies, Samburu society is characterized by an age system that divides people into categories corresponding to distinct social roles. The Samburu age system, identi­cal to that of the Maasai, divides men in the society into three categories: boys, warriors, and elders (Spencer 1965). Boyhood begins immediately after birth and ends at about 15-25 years of age with an initiation ritual that includes circumcision. Circumcision inducts boys (sing.laieni, pl.laiok) into warrior status, which they maintain until they are married and attain elder status at about 30-40 years of age. The lives of women are divided into two status categories by ceremonies and by simultaneous marriage and circumcision. Unmarried (uncircumcised) girls are called ntito (pl. ntoiye), and mar­ried (circumcised) women are called ngoroyioni (pl. ngoroyiok).<l) Girls who are circumcised before marriage are known as surumelei (pl. surumelen).<2> Each category is associated with very different behavioral norms. Warriors, usually called moran (sing.lmurani, pl.lmuran), lead a unique existence in which marriage is prohibited until a certain time, but decoration with showy beaded adornments, dancing, and devotion to romantic relationships with unmarried girls are encouraged.

Moran have traditionally fulfilled their roles as warriors by guarding their cattle against attacks from neighboring ethnic groups, but this role has recendy become anachronistic due to the expansion of the power of the Kenyan state legislature and judiciary. In addition to the decline in the role of warriors, other social changes have led many moran to earn cash by working outside of their home district. This change in livelihood is one of the most important recent social changes to affect this society. It has become increasingly difficult for the Samburu people to depend exclusively on a live­stock economy because the reduced infant mortality rate (caused by the spread ofWestern medicine

marriage

NAKAMURA: Representation of the Maasai by the Maasai

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around 30 years old

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Fig. 2. Social categories of the Samburu (Spencer (1965) modified)

13

that has accompanied development projects) has resulted in population expansion at the same time that the number of livestock has decreased substantially due to recent sporadic droughts. School enrollment rates have also increased. School attendance was very rare in 1960, but more than one in three moran was enrolled in school in 1990. These complex factors have also affected the value sys­tems of individuals; some people have begun to believe that moran spend their lives dancing, singing, and philandering with unmarried girls and that their activities represent a "waste of time." Since the 1980s, the number of moran working outside of Samburu District has increased rapidly.

14 Ni/o-Ethiopian Studies

At present, more than half of young Samburu men have worked as immigrants, primarily in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, and in Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya and a popular beach resort located near the Indian Ocean. In general, men working in Nairobi and Mombasa hold two kinds of jobs, gate guards and "traditional dancers," that require no special training.

3. THE SAMBURU AND "MAASAI REPRESENTATION"

3.1. Many FormJ oJMaasai Representations The Samburu often call themselves "Maasai" in the presence of members of other ethnic groups and foreign tourists because they share a common origin with the Maasai, whom they recognize as their brothers. Because some beaded adornments and dances of the Samburu and Maasai moran are identical or very similar, Kenyans and tourists have difficulty differentiating between these two ethnic groups on the basis of their appearance. As tourism is a major source of foreign money in Kenya, large cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa contain many restaurants, hotels, tour companies, and souvenir shops that cater to tourists. These places display many objects related to the Maasai to attract the attention of tourists, including posters or pictures ofMaasai warriors, books ofMaasai photographs, Maasai wooden crafts and beaded accessories, and Maasai red blankets. Along with wildlife, such as lions, giraffes, and elephants, the Maasai play a very important role in the tourism industry of Kenya. Samburu moran arriving in these cities to work are constantly exposed to these Maasai representations.

Many photographic books on the Maasai and Samburu are sold in hotels, bookstores, and souvenir shops. Because these books cost as much as one month's salary for a moran worker, the moran have few opportunities to acquire them, but almost all have many opportunities to see their front covers displayed in shop windows. Some moran working in tourist-oriented hotels or souvenir shops are able to glance inside these books. In addition to their exposure to these visual and textual representations, moran also have many opportunities to talk with tourists and members of other ethnic groups. Those who sell beaded adornments to tourists are particularly likely to have such conversational opportuni­ties. When responding to questions about prices, they are frequently asked questions about Maasai

Picture 1. Examples of the "Maasai Representations" Left: A Samburu man featured on the front cover of the tourist guide "Lonely Planet, Kenya"; Right: A picture book of the Samburu, titled "Samburu" (by Nigel Pavitt)

NAKAMURA: Representation of the Maasai by the Maasai 15

culture and life or about their individual backgrounds, including "Why can you speak English?", "Have you ever killed a lion?", and "What do you usually eat?"

3.2. Encountering Maasai Representations How do people encounter Maasai representations when they visit cities and what do they feel in reac­tion to such encounters? Case 1, a narrative offered by LSM, provides one answer to this question. LSM is a Samburu man in the Lmooli age group (wihich was in moran age grade from 1990 to 2005). He attended 7 years of primary school and thus has some knowledge of the English and K.iswahili languages. He was circumcised and became a moran in 1990, and he worked in Nairobi from 1994 to 1997 as a salesman in a souvenir shop.

Case 1. LSM's first impression of Nairobi "When I arrived in Nairobi for the first time, I was surprised by everything. I was especially surprised that there were so many pictures and photographs ofMaasai and Samburu everywhere in town. I did not know that people loved us that much. The place I worked for was a souvenir shop for foreign tourists. Its manager was an American woman. I was assigned to one shop booth dealing with Maasai and Samburu things. There were many kinds of beaded adornments, Maasai blankets, spears, calabashes, wooden stools, and so on. There were also several photogra­phy books related to the Maasai and the Samburu. I liked to read them, especially the Samburu ones. I was moved when I saw pictures of the landscape of familiar places and familiar people from my hometown. They were very familiar to me, but the beauty of the pictures surprised me very much. I realized we are much more beautiful than I thought. I also read the text of the explanations written below the pictures. I knew much more about the things written there than the author did, and I wanted to correct his mistakes, but I did not know that those things were worthwhile enough to be written in English and to have white people like to read them. The books are also sold in many other countries at very high prices. I realized the importance of our culture.

The management of the shop supplied uniforms to the salespeople, but I was told not to wear the uniform but to wear Samburu red cloth and beaded adornments just as if I were in my hometown. Because of my attire, many tourists came to me and asked for pictures, and if I agreed, they purchased things from my booth in return. I came to know that my Maasai-like appearance helped me in my work."

LSM noted that he gained a new understanding of the "beauty" of the Samburu landscapes and people through photographs taken by white photographers. Photographs are extracted from other "noise" and express simple things; in this case, they expressed the "beauty" intended by the photographers. In these photographs, LSM saw the fragmented landscapes of his hometown removed from their context, and thus provided with a new context. LSM saw familiar things from the photographers' perspectives and could feel the beauty objectively. He also realized the importance of his culture in the world because English was used to explain the photographs, which were organized into the form of a book. LSM also discovered that being a "typical Maasai"was financially rewarding.

4. DIVERSITY IN THE ACCESSIBILITY OF MAASAI REPRESENTATIONS ACCORDING TO SOCIAL CATEGORIES AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

This section demonstrates the difficulties involved in sharing information with local people by ana­lyzing the accessibility of such information. The frequency with which Samburu encounter Maasai representations differs markedly according to age group and sex. The Samburu District has limited access to information media, whereas large cities, such as Nairobi and Mombasa, offer many Maasai representations; as noted in the previous section, moran have many opportunities to go to such cities.

16 Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

Table 1. People's living arrangements and the accessibility to the Maasai representations

Living Arrangements

Types of Representations Samburu District Cities (Nairobi, Mombasa)

Villages Town Non-educated Educated Highly Educated

commercial posters 6 © © ©

photographs/paintings photography books 6 © © ©

art paintings

books © ©

text on photo books 6 © © textual representations

development documents ~ ©

academic theses ~ 0

audio-vidual movies ~ 0 0 ©

representations TV programs 0 0 0 0 conversation and

verbal interaction with tourists/ 6 6 0 © © other ethnic group

©:high, 0: fare, 6: low, blank: very low or none

Although some elders in the older generation had worked in towns when they were moran, this was rather unusual, and such opportunities to work in cities as moran are more common for younger elders. Most women, married and unmarried, do not work outside of Samburu District, although some, usually wives of elders working in towns, go to the cities with their husbands. Additionally, some women with more education are employed in towns and have the opportunity to access Maasai representations.

Table 1 presents data on living arrangements and the accessibility of Maasai representations. I divided the representations into four categories: the photographs and paintings category includes commercial posters, photography books, and paintings; the textual representations category includes books, explanations accompanying photographs in books, documents written by development agen­cies, and theses written by scholars; the audio-visual category includes movies and television pro­grams; and the verbal representations category includes conversations and interactions with members of other ethnic groups and foreigners. Few people living in the Samburu village have access to Maasai representations because such representations are scarce in this venue. Large towns, such as Nairobi and Mombasa, contain many representations, but the quality and quantity of the information that is actually received differ according to the educational level of the recipient. Uneducated people cannot read the textual information and have difficulty conversing with tourists and members of other ethnic groups. Of course, even uneducated people can integrate a certain amount of information via edu­cated friends and relatives and can also gradually learn to speak Kiswahili and English. Many people, especially those with more education who are employed by the government or by development agen­cies, can access documents written by development agencies and scholars.

5. DIVERSITY OF INTERPRETATIONS

This section uses an example drawn from my book to demonstrate the diversity of interpretations of information and the gap between my expectations about these interpretations and the actual reac­tions of real people. In 2005, I published the book Adornments of the Samburu in Northern Kenya: A Comprehensive List. This monograph was based on field research conducted from 1999 to 2003 and

NAKAMURA: Representation of the Maasai by the Maasai 17

provided a complete account of the body adornments worn by the Samburu. Using photographs and illustrations, it describes the following features of 172 types of body adornments: local name; etymology of the name; shape, size, color, material, and method of manufacture; mode of acquisition; gender and age of users; body part on wruch it is worn; style in wruch it is worn; and social and ritual significance. I conducted interviews with 249 Samburu people, including 108 moran, 35 elders, 39 unmarried girls, and 67 married women for tills book; these individuals wore 6,520 adornments in total. I distributed copies of the volume to people in all social categories and living arrangements.

5.1. Typical R eactions of Local People to the Book The reactions oflocal people to the book varied according to their social status and background. For this analysis, I thus divided the population into three groups: (1) those who had neither attended school nor worked away from home; (2) those who had attended at least a few years of primary school and has stayed in Nairobi or Mombasa as migrant workers; and (3) those who were highly educated (college or university graduates).

The first group consisted primarily of women and uncircumcised boys living in Samburu villages. Due to their illiteracy, they held the book carefully, turned the pages one by one, and stopped when they viewed pictures. They demonstrated great delight upon encountering pictures of familiar persons. 1l1is group also found pleasure in seeing the regional differences in adornment design. These reac­tions resembled those in response to viewing their personal photo albums. Many Samburu people, especially moran, enjoy seeing pictures of themselves. Only a few Samburu own their own cameras, and others occasionally visit a photo studio in the district capital of Maralal to have their pictures taken. The studio in Maralal is a very small booth consisting of stools surrounded by walls painted with vivid colors, usually light blue, yellow, or red, and sometimes decorated with paper flowers. In this setting, photos of about two to six well-dressed people, usually age mates or girlfriends, are taken. Such pictures are kept in albums and shown to visitors. These pictures provide information about the faces and adornments of others to people without the experience of attending school or working outside of the district.

Most people in the second group were moran. People in this g roup glanced over the pages with text and showed interest in pictures of themselves or familiar faces. Although they had knowledge of English, few read the text carefully, and many were not very interested in the content. They seemed to consider the book to be a member of the genre of books on the Maasai and Samburu, primarily picture books or tourist guide booklets, that they had encountered frequently in Nairobi or Mombasa. Members of this group had probably experienced an event similar to that described in LSM's narra­tive in Case 1, and they had already become fully accustomed to Maasai representations. 1l1Us, my

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Comprehensive List" Left: Illustrations and literal explanation; Right: Picrures

18 Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

volume seemed to offer nothing new. The third group consisted of elders, moran, and women, including teachers, aid agency workers,

bankers, and civil servants. Their reactions were typically characterized by praise and gratitude. For example, a banker who had lived in the United States for more than 5 years noted,

"Our culture is forced to change, and many things are disappearing very rapidly. Those who are very knowledgeable about our culture do not know how to use pen and paper, and those who know how to write, like me, are spending a lot of time outside of Samburu culture and do not know it very well. We need a person like you who can do both, so that we can pass our culture to the next generation."

The book was also used positively in some instances. It was used to compile a dictionary of the Samburu language and by a women's community group that created and sold adornments to tourists. The former used the book as a reference, and the latter used it to promote sales by showing the book to tourists. I was happy when my book was used by local people, but I refrained from adopting an attitude of total optimism.

5.2. 'lbe Gap between My Expectations of Interpretations and Actual Reactions As mentioned above, those who produce and reproduce Maasai representations perpetuate stereo­types without intending to search for the truth. I had been confident that my volume, a compilation of empirical data gathered during many years of field research, would be clearly distinguished from other Maasai representations that merely reproduced stereotypes. Moreover, unlike most other pub­lications, my book focused specifically on the Samburu.

Despite these substantive differences between my book and other publications, I did not observe any marked differences between popular reactions to my volume and those to other Maasai represen­tations. All three of the aforementioned groups reacted in almost the same way to my book and to the representations that I criticize as lacking "truth."

I finally realized that the "empirical truth" in which I had blindly believed does not hold equal value for local people. Although identification of the type ofinformation that local people would consider epistemologically equivalent to empirical data would be difficult and beyond the scope of this paper, analysis of the process by which information becomes meaningful to the local people may be valuable. In the next section, I address the process by which Maasai representations attain significance and discuss the kind of significance they hold for the people called "Maasai," including the Samburu.

6. MAASAI REPRESENTATIONS BYTHE "MAASAI"

6.1. Performing "Maasai" for Tourists Almost all Samburu people who participate in the tourism business "utilize" Maasai representa­tions when they work. For example, those who dance in a "Maasai dance show" are asked by the show manager to portray a "typical Maasai." In the show, they wear red clothes and many colorful beaded adornments, enter the stage shouting like animals, and jump as high as possible while dancing. Tourists seem to appreciate the show when the performers jump very high. Mter the show, audience members usually ask the dancers to pose for pictures in exchange for tips. Many Samburu people earn more by posing for pictures than by dancing. Samburu people are also aware that they earn more when they include beaded adornments on their costumes. Knowledge of Maasai representations and the ability to perform "Maasai" accordingly are direcdy connected to financial profit in the context of the tourism industry.

At times, people perform "Maasai" even when it is not financially profitable. Case 2 presents a typical example of such performance. In 2009, SPL was a 37-year-old married man with one wife and two children. He had attended 7 years of primary school and had some knowledge of Kiswahili

NAKAMURA: Representation of the Maasai by the Maasai 19

Picture 2. Samburu dancers being taken pictures with tourists in Mombasa

and English. SPL was circumcised and became a moran in 1990. In 1992, he began to work in Nairobi. He worked for years as a guard for a security company, and in 1997, he joined a dance group managed by a Kenyan couple who were members of the Maragori ethnic group. Through this job, he had the opportunity to visit to the United States in 2000, an experience he described in response to my questions.

Case 2. SPL's experience in the United States " .... We went to a certain school in the outskirts of New York and danced in front of the students and teachers at the school. Mter the show, there was time to be asked questions by the audi­ence. One of the most impressive questions for me was asked by a girl. She asked, 'Is it true that Maasai have to kill a lion when they become grownups? If that is true, how do you kill a lion?'

There were four other Samburu men and two women besides me, but I was the only one who could speak English well. I knew I had to answer. I was very nervous because there were many people in front of me waiting for my answer, and there were also some crews from a television station and a radio station recording us. I answered, 'There are two types of wild animals. One is the type that rushes recklessly without stopping and treads on everything. A typical example of this type is the buffalo. The other is the type that comes toward me very slowly, looking at my face and movements very carefully. Elephants and lions are examples of this type. We Maasai and the lion have developed a strong relationship regarding our cattle and goats. We do not talk to each other, but we can understand each other to a certain extent without words. Ftrst, the lion threatens me a bit and sees my reaction. I do not react and just keep quiet. I carefully watch the lion's reaction. Then he threatens me again. But I still keep quiet. Keeping quiet, I prepare for both attacking and defending. It is this shield that is used for defending. I hold my shield tight with my left hand like this. It is this spear that is used for attacking. I have my spear at the ready with my right hand. He still watches me attentively. Then, next moment! It's the third time! Now he comes to me at last; before it happens, the spear in my right hand has already been plunged into him! But he still tries to attack me with his huge claws. I try to stop him with my shield. The weakened lion gives up attacking me. This is the way we kill a lion. We have only two options. Becoming warriors or being killed by a lion.'

In answering like this, I sweated and felt my blood become very hot. It was like taking a very difficult examination. But I think I did well, and I passed it. It was not my boss's decision to create a story like that. I myself made up the story because I thought that if people think the Maasai kill lions, it is my job to make them happy by giving an affirmative answer. I was very satisfied with my answer because people looked very satisfied with it."

20 Nilo-Ethiopian Studies

SPL's narrative suggests that he welcomed the popular belief in the widespread stereotypes of the Maasai. He was very aware of the nature of their expectations and tried to meet them as much as possible. Mter hearing this story, I asked SPL whether he had ever actually seen a lion; he answered, "I have never seen lions in Samburu, but I have seen them in Nairobi. When I was working in Nairobi, I went to the wild animal orphanage, where a friend of mine was working as a gate guard, and I saw many wild animals there. I observed very carefully to learn the lion's movements and habits. In Samburu, I have also heard the stories about lions told by people who came across them. That is why I could create that story." The feeling described by SPL may be understood in terms of a wish to entertain rather than any intention to deceive. He may have been entertaining others and himself at the same time, as if engaging in a game of"reproducing Maasai representations." Three parties are engaged in this game of reproducing Maasai representations without seeking the truth: the providers of the information, the recipients of the information, and the Maasai. Importantly, the example of SPL shows that many "Maasai" are voluntarily joining this game.

6.2. Maasai Representation by the "Maasai"for the "Maasai" For many "Maasai," awareness of Maasai representations and the ability to perform accordingly appears to result not only in financial profit but also in a kind of fun. This observation is related closely to the issue of identity. Many "Maasai" recognize the "Maasai representations" they perform as important components of their identity, and this sometimes makes such performances more than mere performances. That is to say, sometimes the audience for these "performances" consists not of "others," i.e., tourists or members of other ethnic groups, but of the "Maasai" themselves.

For example, "beautiful warriors" is one of the most popular descriptions of the Maasai, and both Maasai and Samburu moran usually wear many beaded adornments. This custom is closely related to their age systems, and only moran and women wear beaded adornments in these societies. However, due to the frequency with which moran have worked outside of their homeland during the past 30 years, this custom has recently become "staged," resulting in body adornments that are extremely flam­boyant and eye-catching. This phenomenon can be interpreted as the positive reaction of "Maasai" moran to the representation of "beautiful warriors" and their willing adoption of this representation by decorating themselves with beads, not only in the context of tourism but also in the context of hometown activities.

7. CONCLUDING REMARKS

In this paper, I discussed the difficulty of sharing information with local people in terms of differ­ences in information accessibility and diversity in the interpretations of such information. I also showed interpretive differences between senders and recipients by discussing my own realization of the limitations of information provision. The information we transmit to others is always extracted from the original context, and its meaning changes according to the context of recipients. Ong (1991: 210-215) noted that spoken words are always affected by situational factors emerging in rich but chaotic life circumstances, but that literal words are isolated from this context. In other words, the literal words can be reused in other contexts at the discretion of the recipients. It is obvious that texts can be interpreted in ways that differ completely from the author's intentions. The meaning that information holds for each person is especially different among the Samburu people because their experiences and worldviews differ markedly according to social category; this significance can differ further among people in the same category based on individual experience. As noted above with respect to Maasai representation, the information we transmit is often interpreted in unexpected ways to produce unexpected meanings among local people.

In conclusion, I summarize and clarify the process by which Maasai representations become mean­ingful to local people and elucidate the great diversity characterizing such meanings. This process is divided into three phases. The first phase involves the initial encounter with Maasai representations.

NAKAMURA: Representation of the Maasai by the Maasai 21

As seen in Case 1, local people are surprised when they begin to work as immigrants in big cities and encounter Maasai representations for the first time. This encounter usually leads to the development of a new perspective on their own culture as a result of experiencing this culture from the perspective of an outsider, as these representations were not intended for a Maasai audience.

The second phase involves the utilization of Maasai representations. Local people are surprised when they first encounter these representations, but this feeling usually gradually dissipates. As Kasfir (1999) noted, people soon become familiar with Maasai representations because they are usually very simple and similar to one another. It is especially important for those engaged in the tourism indus­try to be familiar with Maasai representations so that they can evaluate their resemblance to such representations in the service of pleasing tourists, which results in financial profit. Thus, they learn the "Maasai" performance. This experience is paradoxical because the motivation to work in town has been derived from social changes, such as the spread of formal education and a cash economy; yet, the Samburu people engaged in tourism present the Maasai as a "primitive and uneducated people'' or a "people who persist in their traditional culture."

The third phase involves the "immanentization" of the representation by the "Maasai." People receive and perform the representations and come to accept some of these representations as positive. They subsequently "perform" the representations to other "Maasai" or even to themselves. In this phase, the representations become important components of their own identity.

NOTES

(1) More precisely, several terms are used to refer to married women; these vary according to age or situation: nkaibartani (pl. nkaibartak) refers to a bride or a recently married young woman, ntomononi (pl. ntomonok) refers to a woman who has recently given birth, and entasat (pl. entasati) refers to an older woman who has passed the reproductive stage.

(2) Sulumelei was formerly a rare lifestyle, but nowadays it has become very common to spend time as a sulumelei before marriage.

REFERENCES

Kasfir, Sydney L. 1999 Samburu Souvenirs: Representations of a Land in Amber. In Ruth B. Phillips ( ed), Unpacking Culture,

University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 359-360. 2007 African Art and the Colonial Encounter: Inventing a Global Commodity. Indiana University Press,

Bloomington and Indianapolis. Nakamura, K.

2005 Adornments of the Samburu in Northern Kenya: A Comprehensive List. Center for Mrican Area Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto.

Nishigaki, T. 2004 Fundamental Informatics: From Lift to Society (in Japanese). Tokyo: NTT Publishers, Tokyo. 2008 Fundamental Informatics IL· For Vital Organization (in Japanese). NTT Publishers, Tokyo.

Ong,W.J. 1991 Orality and Literacy: 1he Technologizing of the Word (Japanese translation). Fujiwara Shoten, Tokyo.

Parkinson, T. 2004 Kenya (Country Guide). Lonely Planet, Oakland, CA.

Pavitt, Nigel 1992 Samburu. H. Holt, New York.

Spencer, P. 1965 1he Samburu: A Study ofGerontocracy in a Nomadic Tribe. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

Tanaka, H. 1994 What is Information? (in Japanese). Shinnihon Shuppansha, Tokyo.

KYOKO NAKAMURA: Kyoto University, 46 Shimoadachi-cho, Yoshida, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501,]apan.