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Maasai Project: Online Resources

The Maasai Project guide is an aid for students in the Fine and Performing Arts department, or all others who are simply interested in the Maasai culture.

Maasai On the Move (Documentary)

Masai On The Move, 1 hr. documentary from Morten Vest on Vimeo.

At once sharp and poetic, this film explores issues such as globalisation, development, money and love in the Maasai culture. Leaving stereotypes behind, the documentary shows us a people greatly aware of the surrounding world. The film will confront us with our habitual conceptions and pre-justices about indigenous peoples and about the actual meaning of development.
The Ngorongoro district, home to the Maasai people, is one of the world's most popular safari-locations. The Maasai have maintained their traditional way of life for centuries, and still very much under the influence of both global warming and the financial crisis.
Over the course of one year, this documentary film follows three Maasai. They are indigenous peoples with modern problems.

Directors: Robin Schmidt and Morten Vest
Camera: Morten Vest
Producer: Robin Schmidt
Editor: Torben Larsen
Music: Tenderloud

Maasai, the Rain Warriors

Masai Dancing

The Politics of Identity

The Politics of Identity: Emerging Indigeneity / Edited by Michelle Harris, Martin Nakata and Bronwyn Carlson

UTS ePress summary: The issue of Indigenous identity has gained more attention in recent years from social science scholars, yet much of the discussions still centre on the politics of belonging or not belonging. The range of international scholars in this volume have begun an approach to the contemporary identity issues from very different perspectives, although collectively they all push the boundaries of the scholarship that relate to identities of Indigenous people in various contexts from around the world. Their essays provide at times provocative insights as the authors write about their own experiences. The question at the heart of their enquiry about the emerging Indigenous identities is when is it the right time to say me, us, we... them?

This book is provided online through UTS ePRESS, which is the digital, open access scholarly publishing arm of the University of Technology, Sydney. To access the book, click on the link below. From the UTS ePress page, click on the red PDF link underneath the image of the book in the column on the right side of the screen.

A Tanzanian Maasai Tribe's Singing and Jumping Dance

Maasai Song and Traditional Jumping Dance