African Folktales at Internet Archive: Myths and Legends of the Maasai

Continuing on with the theme of stories from eastern Africa this week (see all this week's posts on one page), here is a collection of stories from the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania: Inkishu: Myths and Legends of the Maasai by Kioi wa Mbugua, a book published in 1994 in Nairobi, Kenya, and now just a click away at Internet Archive.

With funding from OXFAM International, the author visited Maasailand (specifically the Narok district of Kenya) to collect these stories from a traditional Maasai storyteller named Ole Parkisua. Although the author worked with a traditional storyteller, the text of the book is in conventional English; it doesn't try to convey the sense of oral tradition but instead retells the stories in literary English.

The word "Inkishu" in the Maa language means "cattle," and the stories in the book feature what the author calls the three essentials of Maasai life: their God, their land, and their cattle. The Maasai call themselves "Iltung 'ana loo Nkishu," People of the Cattle.

The book includes poems by Goro wa Kamau, and photographs taken by Adrian Arbib, along with art by different artists for each of the stories (the artists are credited in the table of contents). This is the artwork by Samwel Ngoje for the story called "Forest of the Lost Child."

This is artwork by Kahare Miamo for the story of "The Sacred Mountain."

It's not a long book, just 84 pages, so if you are looking for an introduction to some Maasai cultural traditions and stories, this is a fine book to read!

Inkishu: Myths and Legends of the Maasai

by Kioi wa Mbugua