Maasai Visitor: Regina Nakola Speaks History to Save Tribe
By MAX HART
Tucked in along one edge of the Chilmark Flea Market, between a
stone wall and a sea of fabrics, fine art and assorted kitsch, Naisiae
Regina Nakola's jewelry stand is hard to miss.
And not just because it is the first tent you pass when you drive
in, or even because of the tables full of elaborate and colorful
necklaces.
It's the eye-catching outfit Ms. Nakola herself wears: a
bright red full-length dress with ornate shawl. It's the accents
of red, yellow, blue and green in her matching beaded bracelets,
necklace and belt. And, or course, it is the headdress.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/29/content/regina_smile_sm.jpg" "I think I really stand out," Ms. Nakola concedes
quietly with a soft laugh. "People come and look, and then look
again. I think they wonder what I am doing here."
Ms. Nakola is indeed an unexpected sight within the woods of
Chilmark. Visiting from Kenya for the summer, she is selling traditional
handmade beaded jewelry at the market Saturday and Wednesday mornings.
And as she has for the past several weeks, Ms. Nakola wears a special
outfit from home for the occasion: a traditional ceremonial dress of the
Maasai, her tribe in Kenya. Against the background of muted gray walls
and brown oak leaves, she is an explosion of color, a vibrant glimpse
into another world.
"People come to talk and ask me many questions," she
says, smiling. "And take pictures with me. They have many
questions."
But Ms. Nakola did not travel more than 7,000 miles from her small
village in the Narok District of Kenya just to sell jewelry on
Martha's Vineyard for two months. She is here in part as an
ambassador for the Maasai Oral Histories Project, a new endeavor aimed
at preserving her heritage.
"I am here because of Bob," she says with her trademark
smile. "He is the real reason I am here."
Bob is Island resident Robert Pearlman, one of the founders of the
project. Mr. Pearlman, who lives in Oak Bluffs with his wife, Karol
Rose, has traveled to Africa and been involved with the Maasai for more
than 30 years, documenting various cultural aspects of the tribe. He
created the Maasai Oral Histories Project after learning that much of
the tribe's traditions and customs are being lost with the
departing generations.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/29/content/regina_herself_sm.jpg" "The government's emphasis is on pressing the Maasai
into modern society," Mr. Pearlman says. "Globalization is
often a double-edged sword, and can be fatal for tribes like the Maasai.
The elders around Maasai lands have finally said ‘It's over,
we can't resist any longer.'"
In recent trips to Africa, Mr. Pearlman says he has seen a
disturbing trend. After years of shunning an ever modernizing world, the
Maasai are now bowing under the increasing pressure to move into the
21st century.
The Maasai, a tribe of about 300,000 who live in southern Kenya and
northern Tanzania, are mostly herders and have a long tradition of
pastoralism, or nomadic grazing of their herds. But now their land is
being threatened by overgrazing and soil erosion. The younger
generations are being forced to leave the savannas for a new life.
Another clear threat, he says, can be found in the evaporation of
Maa, the Maasai's tribal language. The Kenyan government has
dropped Maa from the curriculum in Maasai school districts, instead
focusing on Swahili, the national language, and English. No longer do
the Maasai have textbooks to learn their own language, traditions and
history.
"They have to learn English and Swahili if they want
jobs," he says. "That only fuels the extinction of an
ancient culture. Unwritten languages such as Maa disappear faster than
languages that are disseminated through the written word. The whole
story of the tribe's beginnings, its rituals, customs - its
entire history - is also lost."
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/29/content/reginal_robert_sm.jpg" That is where Ms. Nakola enters the picture. She met Mr. Pearlman in
Kenya six years ago while working for a Catholic health organization in
Nairobi. He was researching various types of elephant diseases at the
Maasai Mara, the wildlife-rich grasslands of the northern Serengeti. The
two exchanged contact information, and when he began the project several
years ago he gave her a call.
Now, her primary role with the project is to record the stories of
Maasai women and children in interviews that will be archived and
preserved for future generations. The recordings will be translated from
Maa into Swahili and English.
Another goal of the project is to provide educational tools and
facilities to the Maasai. Mr. Pearlman says that Kenya, like much of
Africa, is fertile ground for a new generation of leaders, and there is
an abundance of children who want to learn.
"Fifty per cent of Africa is under 15 years old," Mr.
Pearlman says. "A lot of aid is going toward refugee camps and is
funding rescue efforts for famine and genocide. And while that is
extremely important, we are forgetting the other kids, the ones from
good homes, good families, who are starving for an education. How can we
deny them? These are the kids that are going to be leading the
country."
Ms. Nakola was one of the lucky ones. Her mother is a school teacher
and insisted she get an education. She studied in Narok before going to
a Catholic high school and then to college for two more years. She is
even considering going back for more schooling.
SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/07/29/content/regina_jewelry_sm.jpg" For now, though, she is enjoying her stay on the Vineyard, a trip
made possible by Mr. Pearlman. Her journey to the Island is her first
trip outside of Kenya, and while it's a long way from the savannas
of the Maasai Mara, she does not seem to suffer too much culture shock.
While she still hasn't mastered swimming, she enjoys the slow pace
of the Island.
"America is really, really different," she says.
"The Maasai are pastoralists, the culture is very different. I
live in Nairobi, too, but it isn't the same. Here people are very
busy all the time.
"But everyone tells me I haven't been to America
yet," she continues, grinning. "They say I have to take the
boat to see the real America."
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