text:
Talk:Maasai people

Mixing Nomiclatures
"A Y chromosome study by Wood et al. (2005) tested various Sub-Saharan populations, including 26 Maasai males from Kenya, for paternal lineages. The authors observed haplogroup E1b1b in 50% of the studied Maasai,[27] which is indicative of substantial gene flow from more northerly Cushitic males, who possess the haplogroup at high frequencies.[28] The second most frequent paternal lineage among the Maasai was Haplogroup A3b2, which is commonly found in Nilotic populations, such as the Alur;[27][29] it was observed in 27% of Maasai males. The third most frequently observed paternal DNA marker in the Maasai was haplogroup E-V38 (E-P1), which is very common in the Sub-Saharan region; it was found in 12% of the Maasai samples. Haplogroup B-M60 was also observed in 8% of the studied Maasai,[27] which is also found in 30% (16/53) of Southern Sudanese Nilotes.[29]". So there is mention of haplogroups: E1b1b, A3b2, E-V38/E-P1, B-M60. So is this E-V38/E-P1 the same as E1b1a? It isn't clear from the text at all. 83.84.100.133 (talk) 23:12, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Point, Counterpoint?
These statements appear in the "Culture" section in the order shown here: "The Maasai people stood against slavery and lived alongside most wild animals with an aversion to eating game and birds. Maasai land now has East Africa's finest game areas. Maasai society never condoned traffic of human beings, and outsiders looking for people to enslave avoided the Maasai.[21]"

"Though the Maasai people stood against slavery and the traffic of humans beings, they were able to conquer such large areas of land by displacing the people who had previously lived in the area. And those who were looking for people to enslave avoided the Maasai because the Maasai weren't too friendly."

It seems to me that the the first is a little bit too utopian, while the second one is a slightly snarky response to the first. Consider merging or re-phrasing the whole thing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.142.165.24 (talk) 12:24, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Maa vs Maasai
I removed the following:  Contrary to popular belief, the language is Maasai and the people are Maa, not the other way round. I'm not sure what is meant by this, but the people are certainly referred to as "Maasai". — Matt 17:43, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)

We need a clean up, and a possible block.

According to my information the words Maasai means speakes of the language Maa207.99.90.253 15:29, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

I know Masaai is the people, but don't know anything about the language. Bluepaladin 02:40, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Here are some references to the Maa language, which is sometimes refered to as Maasai. The prodominant term for this language is Maa, not Maasai. The Maasai speak Maa, a Nilotic language that originates from the Nile region. Nilotic simply means ‘of the Nile’. Maasai translates as ‘one who speaks the Maa language.’ Few other peoples speak or incorporate Maa in their own tongue including the Ndorobo, Njemps, Mukugodo, Rendille, Samburu, Arusha, Baraguyu, Parakuyu, Sonjo and those Elmolo who live on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana. However it is the Maasai who originally spoke Maa.   The languge of the MAASAI, SAMBURU, and CAMUS peoples is often referred to as Maa.    Maa, A Dictionary of the Maasai Language and Folklore. Title Maa, A Dictionary of the Maasai Language and Folklore. Type Dictionaries Author Mol, Frans Year of Publication 1978 Variety Maasai Info Nairobi: Marketing and Publishing. Pp. 190. Steve Pastor (talk) 20:38, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Pulled out pending verification
The following paragraph was appended to the bottom of the article. I've pulled it out because it seems inherently confused and therefore can only cause confusion in the article.
 * According to Fr. Frans Mol, author "Maasai: Language & Culture Dictionary (Diocese of Meru, Kolbe Press Kenya) the spelling for the Maa (The language of the Maasai) word for warrior in the singular would be "ol - murrani" and in the plural would be "il - murran". The "ol" and "il" are Maa prefixes corresponding to the articles "a" or " the". Moron seems to be a phonetic spelling of the plural, and an unfortunate one. The common spelling is "moran" as it appears in writing in Kenya. Mol admits in his preface that the spelling of the language has not been officially determined.

I don't have the time to check this statements, but 'Maasai/Masai' is the most common term anyway. — mark ✎ 18:42, 16 May 2005 (UTC)
 * Yeah, it's pretty confusing. I think it was discussing the Maasai term for "warrior" (moran(i)) rather than a term for the Maasai themselves, but regardless, I don't really think the problems of transliteration for a single Maasai word is of sufficient importance to earn a paragraph in the article. — Matt Crypto  20:00, 16 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I concur. — mark ✎ 20:15, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

Maasai vs. Masai
Why is this article at "Maasai"? The spelling "Masai" is far more common, and the other usage of it - for a suburb of some Malaysian city we don't have an article on, is sufficiently more obscure that that should not be a problem. john k 16:19, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * A quick Google test gives about 1,500,000 million for "Masai", and 850,000 for "Maasai". I don't know if it really matters much, though? — Matt Crypto  18:15, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * A google search probably overstates the prevalance of "Maasai," I suspect. In terms of how much it matters, it's obviously not a matter of life and death, but that's true of most questions like this. At any rate, I tend to find it irritating when people try to replace a familiar older spelling with a new spelling which has no apparent advantage over it. What advantage of comprehension does the extra "a" give? It certainly gives most English-speakers no additional guide to pronunciation. And, given that the Masai were not a people with a written language, I can't see how this could possibly be a "more accurate transliteration" issue. So on what basis do we have it at this location, besides the fact that this is where Ethnologue puts it? john k 06:08, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Sure, well I've also Googled and found the Encarta encyclopedia article. They say (and they sometimes get it wrong) that, "The word Maasai is the preferred spelling by the people" . There's also a Ma?sai website that says, "Maasai is the correct spelling not Masai. Masai with one 'A' is incorect. In the future please spell Maasai with two AAs. We prefer Maasai, not Masai. The title Maasai derives from the word Maa. Maa-sai means my people" . Now, normally I think we should go with whatever spelling is most prevalent, but the Google search gives some evidence that there is no clearly dominant spelling in usage, so I would suggest we go with the spelling that the people prefer and leave this page at Maasai — unless there's some compelling reason to do otherwise. — Matt Crypto  09:07, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

 * To Kenyans, the proper spelling is Masaai. I think google wouldn't help in this case. See, most of the on line content is generated by the west (Rich countries), who also tend to favour masai. Of course google is then going to generate more result for the later name. But insisting that is the proper spelling would be like telling someone called Jane, 'Hey, Your name is Mary and I don't want to hear about that Jane crap again, understand?

 * Well, the general rule on the English Wikipedia is to use the predominant form used when writing English. If there's no predominant form, it's probably best at "Maasai", in-line with the wishes of the people themselves (I presume you meant that the proper spelling is "Maasai", not "Masaai"?). — Matt Crypto  16:34, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

 * On the Official Maasai website, it says the correct spelling is "Maasai", and that the people don't like it spelled any other way, so I think the title "Maasai" for this article should be kept. Rhino131 00:18, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Feeding on cow blood is not considered a ritual. They do it like the way most western do with crappy Bugger King. A day to day thing that have no meaning

Female "Circumcision"
Does anyone know the details of what sort of "circumcision" the Maasai practice on girls? There are an awful lot of different practices that are often described as "female circumcision." 68.226.239.73

I know the Maasaias remove the clitoris during circumcision. Pyramide 10:22, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

Don't click on circumsision....You WILL regret it!

I know how. The citoris is removed by tying the girls legs to seperate posts, and... jabbing it out with anything from a piece of glass to a knife... Today, some people are against it, but very few refuse, as far as I've heard. The reason is that if she doesn't feel pleasure, she'd have no need to cheat on a husband.

Also, the lips are sowed together, leaving only a tiny hole for secretion and periods. This is to prevent wetlocks. At marriage, the husband rips it open. I truly feel sorry for these women. Bluepaladin 02:44, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

 * I feel sorry for their boys, too. I doubt having a piece of glass taken to one's penis feels good.

 * What Bluepaladin describes is female infibulation, but no evidence is offered that infibulation is a Maasai practice. Malangali 12:44, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, what's with this article's bias? Only female circumcision is refered to as "mutilation," while male circumcision is praised as a "rite of passage." So it's a "right of passage" for boys, but it's "mutilation" for girls? Absolute poppycock. Mutilation is mutilation. Don't try to defend it based on "sex" or "severity." And do not edit what I have to say. I hereby sign my comment and own it on this "discussion." Kogejoe 01:08, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

The article goes into great detail outlining the severity of "female mutilation," while it just grazes over "circumcision" when it refers to males. So they spread a girl's legs and jab her clitoris out with a glass shard? So what do they do to males? I'm sure it entails much more than just a quick jab. I'm sure the foreskin of an adolecent male is much greater in size than that of the clitoral hood, and/or the clitoris combined. As stated in an earlier comment, mutilation is varies in severity in both males and females. For females, in the simplest form it involves the pricking of the clitoral hood and/or the clitoris itself. More advanced circumcision involves the cutting out of the clitoral hood, and sometimes the minor labia. Even further than that is the actual removal of the clitoris, and even further than that is infibulation, in which the wounds of the labium are held shut to heal together to leave just a hole for the passage of menstruation. In some cultures, this serves to insure a bloody first night, which is held in high importance. For men, the most minor form of circumcision involves just the removal of the tip of the foreskin, in earlier biblical times done with a sharpened stone. Actual foreskin removal varies from culture to culture and through time. Jews, for example did not remove all of the foreskin until Rabbis of the 6th century saw it necessary to remove any trace of it to prevent foreskin restoration performed by renegade Jews. The procedure performed on infants, preferably with sharpened nails is refered to as "peri-ah," and this ensures that there is absolutely no fold of skin left on the shaft of the penis. People go to great pains to minimize male circumcision, while comparing it to the worst possible case of female mutilation which is infibulation. If you were to compare just circumcision, or the removal of the foreskin of either sex, it would be quite objectively obvious that foreskin removal is much more severe in males than it is in females. It is a disservice to humanity to condemn the genital mutilation of one sex, while marginally minimizing the genital mutilation of another. Both sexes are human and are therefore deprived of their rights to their own bodies when forcefully mutilated for traditional, or "prophylactic" reasons. Even in female circumcision, the same rationale used to endorse male circumcision is used; it's "cleaner," conformity (to look like all of us)," and disease prevention. (see: http://www.ias-2005.org/planner/Abstracts.aspx?AID=3138 ) Yes, I'm quite biased myself, but so is this article, and thus far, so is any information regarding the subject. There can't be a "fair and balanced" discussion about it because the facts are against the practice of forceful genital mutilation of either sex. For good reading of the history of the medicalization of male circumcision in America, and in most of the English-speaking industrialized world, read the book "Marked in Your Flesh" by Leonard Glick. Yes I am against the practice of male genital mutilation, as I am against the practice of female genital mutilation, whatever the reasons "prophylactic" or "cultural" as they may be. Sue me for standing up for human rights. Kogejoe 01:30, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

God, get a life. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.23.105.146 (talk) 08:23, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

why does this article have links to circumcision when referring to boys but links to female circumcision and female genital mutilation when discussing girls? there's some gender disparity here — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.103.255.42 (talk) 09:22, 24 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Did you know that biological males and biological females have different sets of genitalia? Ian.thomson (talk) 13:33, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

Maasai
Aren't the Maasai known to be very large people? There is no information having to do with their stature.

 * No, they are not ! Omoo 23:42, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

 * See below, under height tobuscus

Ngai
I was oce told that Ngai was the only Maasai god but have been unable to verify the statement. 207.99.90.253 15:32, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
 * This essay agrees with what you were told: "To the Maasai there is only one God (Ngai)." — Matt Crypto  15:35, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Height?
I read somewhere that the average Masai male is something around 6ft tall as an average. I know they are very much famed for their height but nothing of this is mentioned in the article.

 * I lived in Nairobi for two years, in the 1980s. I was led to believe that the Masaii were a slightly different racial stock than the predominant Bantu in the region, possibly originating in northern africa (Egypt?) and migrating southward. The Masaii I saw tended to average about 6 feet, were thin (not much body fat), and had closely spaced nostrils. The Bantu living in Nairobi proper tended to be shorter, stockier, and have widely spaced nostrils.

 * It would be best to cite a published source before adding this to the article. — Matt Crypto  07:03, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

 * From personal experience in the Arusha region in Tanzania, I can safely say that the Maasai I spoke to attributed their height to a combination of genetics and their diet, which is heavy in calcium and dairy products. The Maasai are taller than agrarian peoples in the region because milk is consumed on a less freuqent basis, resulting in a stunted growth among many. -Wy

Colonial terminology?
Please consider...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tribe#Usage_of_the_term_varies.2C_sometimes_unfairly.3F — The preceding unsigned comment was added by 137.158.128.106 (talk • contribs) 19:39, 26 May 2006 UTC.

Maasai flag
A Maasai flag might look more like the logo here that the current FOTW pic. -- Himasaram 22:14, 17 August 2006 (UTC) No such flag exists. if so please cite source as the flag looks more logoish — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shadychiri (talk • contribs) 00:04, 2 November 2016 (UTC)
 * Removed Maasai Flag until proper citation of its source is offered. Shadychiri (talk) 20:31, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Maasai are a bit more complicated than this article leads you to believe.

--DJay 15:11, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) They are traditionally pastoralists, but I visited Maasai farmers just last month. The current Tanzanian Prime Minister is a Maasi. But I'm sure that he isn't a pastoralist either.
 * 2) Female Circumcision is illegal in both Kenya and Tanzania. It may still be practiced in isolated traditionalist groups, but mostly has been abandoned by the Maasai.
 * 3) The Maasai are integrated into the larger economy. They sell livestock for cash to buy foodstuffs and cloth. You'll see them walking to town or riding bicycles.
 * 4) They are of normal height and of slight build.
 * 5) Bantu is a tribal language group, not a racial group. The Maasai are not Bantu. Their history and origins are obscure.
 * I'm largely ignorant about the above, but this article currently has very few references. If you can correct the article citing reliable sources, that would be ideal. One thought is that we should distinguish between traditional Maasai culture, and the lives of a typical modern Maasai. — Matt Crypto  16:45, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

The Masai have always been predominantly resistive to any type of change. They are extremely more complicated than this article begins to describe. There is absolutely nothing about "oporor," the core value of their culture. They are believed to be Hamitic in origin but I couldn't begin to source that. It needs much more before it can be anything but start class. btw, if you visited the Masai recently, then you should know that the Masai are not "farmers"--their word for farmer ("olmeg") is an opprobrium to them! --131.238.92.62 11:39, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
 * A google search for "oporor maasai" yields very few hits. Oporor is not listed in the darkwing.uoregon.edu Maa dictionary. If oporor is "the core value of their culture", it appears to be a very well kept secret. Steve Pastor 16:47, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

What about the jumping dance?
Aren't the Maasai warriors famous for their extraordinary jumping dance ceremonies? — The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.62.212.69 (talk) 11:02, 19 December 2006 (UTC).

Recently added content
Recently, a paragraph on 'the commercial aspect' was added:
 * Unlike many other tribes, the Maasai are very warm and welcoming to travellers and visitors. For a fee of approximately $15 per person, you will get a guided tour of the Boma, which will nearly always be given by the camp leader. The camp leader will almost certainly speak very good English. There will be traditional dancing to start with, and after the tour of the buildings and school etc, you will be invited to buy some of the products they make themselves, including bracelets, jewellery, shields, clubs, pendants etc.
 * If you do purchase, you must bargain; it is expected and would be met with surprise if you offer the asking price. A good rule of thumb when bargaining, not necessarily with Maasai but with anyone in the country is to offer half of what they are asking, and work towards a happy medium. Again you must not feel bad about bargaining; it is simply part of their culture, and most importantly, they expect you to bargain, and adjust their prices accordingly, so that there is a margin that can be haggled away.

This is more in place at WikiTravel. And the 'unlike many other tribes' is quite a platitude. — mark ✎ 12:02, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

religion?
the infobox says their religion is "Christianity", but the text states "The laibon or spiritual leader acts as the liason between the Maasai and their one god, "Enkai" ". Additionally the page Masai mythology is written in the present tense, suggesting the native religion is still practiced. So are the Maasai still Pagan/Animist, or are they Christian? Maybe a mixture? --Krsont 14:15, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
 * after some digging in the history, I've discovered it originally read "Animist", then "Monotheist", then was changed to "Christianity". Presumably whoever changed it to "Monotheist" wanted to make clear that the Maasai worship a one God rather than the polytheism that is implied by "animist", and then another editor mistakenly thought this referred to Christianity. I'm going to change it to "monotheist animist" as this seems to be the most correct. --Krsont 14:24, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

 * Don't presume--the Masai have converted to Christianity in communities, not as individuals. One of the leading experts on the Masai was Father Vincent Donovan (see Christianity Rediscovered) who is the 1970s and 1980s converted many whole communities based on Masai culture and values, not on remaking them in a western image or "Western church." They also weren't animists--God to them was distant, remote, and not a part of this earth, but a sky dweller who looked with favor only on the Masai--enabling them to keep their culture.--131.238.92.62 11:46, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Boma
As best as I can determine, boma is a swahili word meaning variously: stable (for cattle), fort, fortress, mound, pile of earth, pile of stones, government administrative office, castle, framework (of a house) [] Much of what is covered in this section is covered under the culture section. I have edited appropriately. Steve Pastor 21:36, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

 * It is definitively nonsese to call Maasai houses "boma". This is tourist Swahili, maybe from colonial British Swahili usage. Maasai have their own language. Boma in Swahili is a fortified place, can be used for a cattle fencing (to protect against theft and lions, hyenas at night), and has been used for administrative buildings because in the early times of conquest colonial staff built themselves fortified buildings. Kipala (talk) 21:22, 24 February 2019 (UTC)

Romans?
What's this tidbit about the Maasai being descended from Roman soldiers? That sounds like complete garbage. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Special:Contributions/ (talk)
 * I agree.Shadychiri (talk) 20:32, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Merge proposal
I am tagging Maasai with a proposal to Mergefrom Maasai Music and Culture because: Maasai Music and Culture was written by just one editor and has an empty talk page and so moving the content in accordance with the GFDL should be straightforward. However, while it has sources and external links, none of the sentences are referenced and this needs to be done during any merge. Responses? -Wikianon 14:52, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
 * it partly duplicates the sections Culture, Body modification and Clothing
 * it contains more information on the various tribes
 * it contains section Music that is mising from this Maasai article
 * Looks like a fair amount of work would be required. It seems well written, but some material is bascially the same as in Maasai, and, as you point out, there are no internal references. I've seen a list of regional groups, but haven't found it again. The list in Culture may be correct, but there is no ref. So, merge, but give the referenced material in Maasai preference, I'd say. If you are up to it, I'd say go ahead. Hope you don't mind someone looking over your shoulder. Steve Pastor 22:03, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Nevertheless, I just found a reference for the "12 sectors" bit, and have added it to Maasai. So you could say that the merge has started. Steve Pastor 19:37, 30 August 2007 (UTC)
 * The Zulu article looks like a good model to follow. Steve Pastor (talk) 23:06, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

I am continuing to add referenced material to the Maasai article. This one will become redundant. Steve Pastor 20:50, 4 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I have now moved all text that hasn't been properly referenced from the Culture article, along with external links and sources. I will be nominating the culture article for deletion. Steve Pastor (talk) 19:48, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

unga wa manhindi
See this site for further justification of the undo of recent edit. I would put it int the article itself, but it seems like a Maasai site should be a good enough reference as it is. This one is from an Kiswahili lexicon site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steve Pastor (talk • contribs) 15:47, 13 September 2007 (UTC) "When used without a modifier, en-kurmá is understood to mean 'maize flour', particularly with reference to the cooked form, i.e. ugali. enkurmá ɛ́ nkánò wheat flour." So, ugali is the Maa word for cooked maize meal. But unga wa mahindi is Kiswahili. Let's stick to English. Steve Pastor 18:56, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

regarding The Maasai in Ruvu, Tanzania undo
There was no stated reason for this edit, and it wasn't mine, but I agree with it and would have done it eventually. This is based on several things that Wikipedia is not: a blog, a news site, etc etc. Events, people, etc, most also be "notable". Steve Pastor 18:45, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

lingustically most related to
The language spoken by the Turkana is "Turkana." It is similar to the Maasai language and is considered to be Nilotic in origin (from the Nile region). http://www.ejoka.com/culture The language of the Turkana, an Eastern Nilotic language - Wikipedia

Turkana language    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Turkana Language family: Nilo-Saharan - Eastern Sudanic -  Eastern Nilotic -   Lotuxo-Teso - Teso-Turkana -      Turkana -       Turkana

It is one of the Eastern Nilotic languages, and is closely related to Karamojong, Jie and Teso of Uganda, to Toposa spoken in the extreme southeast of Sudan, and to Nyangatom in the Sudan/Ethiopia Omo valley borderland; these languages together form the cluster of Teso-Turkana languages.  Language: Turkana (Nilo-Saharan, Eastern Sudanic, Nilotic, Eastern, Teso-Turkana). Similar to Karamajong and Teso. Related to Toposa.  See Figure 2 and discussion at this url.  There is nothing in the Kalenjin article to indicate that Maa is most closely related to Kalenjin. For all of the above reasons, I am deleting this phrase.Steve Pastor 19:39, 21 September 2007 (UTC) Maasai are related to the samburu and the turkana. they are classified as plain nilotes. they are distant relatives of the kalenjin who have abandoned the pastoral way of lifeShadychiri (talk) 18:31, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

Finnish?
Since very few of use speak or read Finnish, how is that supposed to work? Steve Pastor (talk) 21:56, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Material from Maasai Music and Culture not yet in this one, sort of

 * This is begin copied here so it won't be lost. I will be nominating the other article for deletion.

The Maasai diet comprises primarily of meat and milk, however it is forbidden to mix the two. The Maasai create a drink made from milk and blood which is created by puncturing the loose flesh on the cow's neck with an arrow. The wound is closed after the correct amount of blood is obtained. This monthly operation does not have hazardous effects on the cow. A variety of corn, sorghum, and other grains are also incorporated into the Maasai lifestyle. The Maasai will not eat wild animals because it is seen as barbaric, and they also choose not to farm.
 * red is a special color to them because the tribe traditionally created the color for their shields by mixing the clay with the red sap of the solanum campylae fruit or cattle blood.

The men color their hair red with clay and red ochre which is a pigment found in natural form in volcanic regions. Morani. They are not allowed to travel or eat alone in hope to teach them to work as a group. These warriors are recognized by their painted faces as well as their headdresses which are made out of feathers and wood. In order to increase their braveness the warriors drink a special narcotic made from the bark of the thorny olkiloriti tree. Within the Morani are two groups, seniors and juniors. Junior warriors are called Ilkiliyani. They are recognized by the handles on their wooden handled spears and by their short hair. Their hair is short because warriors will have their heads ceremoniously shaved following the circumcision ceremony into manhood. Following the ceremony the warriors let their hair grow long. Many hours are spent by warriors braiding each others’ hair. The long hair style is designated only for warriors in the tribe. Senior warriors are called Ilingeetiani. They are recognized by their ebony handled spears and long braided hair.Warriors that spear a lion early in their training are the most respected. They then wear the lion’s mane as a head piece in some ceremonies to exhibit their bravery.
 * Everyone involved has a part that has allowance for ornamentation. Members of the group may raise the pitch of their voices based on the height of the jump.

Young men cover their bodies in ocher to enhance their appearance. Also warriors spend ample time completing ornate hairstyles. Young men can also be seen scaring their bodies with heated spears in order to show bravery. Beadwork is often important in Maasai body ornamentation. Complex bead patterns cover discs that hang around their necks. The patterns may be used to determine an age set or hierarchy in the tribe. Typically woman and young girls partake in the beadwork.
 * External links

1. BlueGecko.org 2. Laleyio.com 3. Art and Life in Africa Online
 * Sources

1. Craats, Rennay, Maasai. New York: Weigl Publishers, 2005. 2. Diary of a Maasai Village. Director, Melissa Llewelyn-Davies; series producers, Chris Curling, Melissa Llewelyn-Davies. Videocassette. British Broadcasting Company, 1984. 3. Finke, Jens. Maasai – Music and Dance. Tradition Music and Cultures of Kenya, 2003. BlueGecko.org. 23 Jan 2007 4. Galaty, John. Being "Maasai"; Being "People-of-Cattle": Ethnic Shifters in East Africa. American Ethnologist. Feb 1982: pp 1-20. 23 abstract and page 1 only, January 2007 5. Groom, Debra. Maasai Make Tully School Aid Effort Come Alive; Kenyans Highlight Their Culture and Problems Their Community Face. The Post Standard. Nov 2, 2006: Pg. 13. 23 January 2007 6. Hodgson, Dorothy. Once Intrepid Warriors: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Cultural Politics of Maasai development. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. 7. Johnson, Hans. Culture. Copyright 2004. Laleylio.com. 23 January 2007 8. “Maasai Informantion.”  Art and Life in Africa Online. November 3, 1998. March 27, 2007 9. Spencer, Paul. The Maasai of Matapato: a study of rituals of rebellion. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988. Steve Pastor (talk) 19:34, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

to be merged when sources found?
I have checked the Maasai music and culture article for information that could be merged into Maasai or put here. See this revision in case anyone wants to merge more text to the main article as I am too lazy to do it all now. I have just changed it to a redirect to Maasai's culture section.

Most of it was already in the main article in one form or another, except for the following: This is incorrect/correct. See refs in article. But still no direct mention of krall as being for livstock currently in article. Steve Pastor (talk) 22:08, 26 December 2007 (UTC)
 * dwellings called krall - but sources define it as the inner enclosure for the livestock
 * Kraal, krall, does not appear to be a Maa word. It shows up repeatedly in the definitions of other words in the animal husbandry section at this Maa dictionary site Steve Pastor (talk) 19:40, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

See also, the word is not Maa, nor derived from it. Nor is it Swahili. Steve Pastor (talk) 19:51, 27 December 2007 (UTC) currently in article "The mixing of cattle blood, obtained by nicking the jugular vein, and milk is done to prepare a ritual drink for special celebrations and as nourishment for the sick" There's a reference, too Steve Pastor (talk) 21:59, 26 December 2007 (UTC) See text and reference in Serengeti. Steve Pastor (talk) 22:29, 26 December 2007 (UTC) Current article doesn't give percents, which is good. Steve Pastor (talk) 22:20, 26 December 2007 (UTC) Now in article Laibons..."central human figure in the Maasai religious system is the laibon who may be involved in: shamanistic healing, divination and phophecy, insuring success in war or adequate rainfall. Whatever power an individual laibon had was a function of personality rather than position." reference, too Pretty good source Steve Pastor (talk) 19:31, 27 December 2007 (UTC) There is an excellent national Geographic article (use Google Earth at Ngorongoro Crater to find it) that I can use to flesh this out. Steve Pastor (talk) 22:15, 26 December 2007 (UTC) This is a bit of hyperbole, but morani, meaning both young man and warrior is covered, I believe. Steve Pastor (talk) 22:06, 26 December 2007 (UTC) See Diet paragraph in article. Steve Pastor (talk) 22:12, 26 December 2007 (UTC) Try this source, first sentence. Steve Pastor (talk) 22:15, 26 December 2007 (UTC) Can also be found at the English Maa dictionary. Steve Pastor (talk) 19:27, 27 December 2007 (UTC)
 * "a drink made from milk and blood" - there are several web sources for this
 * "corn sorghum" - a source is here
 * "Maasai will not eat wild animals" - no sources found
 * claims without cite percentages for religious belief
 * "Laibons are the religious leaders" - uncited and not quite matching what this says
 * chiefs hold political power, elders resolve disputes
 * uncited: "red is a special color to them... solanum campylae fruit"
 * "Maasai have had trouble maintaining their pastoral lifestyle"
 * "Morani are the great protectors of the Maasai" - Maasai word meaning warrior
 * "warriors are recognized by their painted faces as well as their headdresses..."
 * "drink a special narcotic made from the bark of the thorny olkiloriti tree" - uncited, and olkiloriti is Acacia nilotica, the opposite of a narcotic
 * "Junior warriors are called Ilkiliyani" - no sources found, only as name of camp
 * how junior warriors are recognised: spear handles, hair; "Senior warriors are called Ilingeetiani" - almost word for word copy from this source, hard to tell which is the original source
 * Music section partly sourced from http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/eunoto.htm
 * Music structure section looks already merged in the main article
 * Body art is not in the main so I include it below for later inclusion.-Wikianon (talk) 06:40, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Body art section
Young men cover their bodies in ocher to enhance their appearance. Also warriors spend ample time completing ornate hairstyles. Young men can also be seen scaring their bodies with heated spears in order to show bravery. Beadwork is often important in Maasai body ornamentation. Complex bead patterns cover discs that hang around their necks. The patterns may be used to determine an age set or hierarchy in the tribe. Typically woman and young girls partake in the beadwork.
 * Most of this is similar to what I saw in "Maasai", which is now back in the library and a very popular book, I might add. I think the basic concepts can be merged into current article without further references. See for instance photo of ruffs/collars. Steve Pastor (talk) 22:19, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Burial rites in music and dance section
This paragraph is found in the music and dance section and seems quite out of place: "A high infant mortality rate among the Maasai has led to babies not truly being recognized until they reach an age of 3 moons.[33] The end of life is virtually without ceremony, and the dead are left out for scavengers. [34] Burial has been reserved for great chiefs, since it is believed to be harmful to the soil.[35]" Maybe it's a leftover from when this was a Music and Culture section? Should this be moved to the Social Organization or the Culture section? Rsdoss (talk) 04:06, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

I moved it to the culture section following a paragraph on religion. Rsdoss (talk) 04:09, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Typo?
The first paragraph of the Social organization section speaks of "Morons." That seems like either a very unfortunate typo or a prank, but before I change the second o to a, I'd like to double-check. Troiscoins (talk) 03:47, 12 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for pointing this out. I'd label it "undetected vandalism". Don't know if we get more than average rate, but it can be difficult to keep up. One tactic is to check previous versions of the article. Course, I've worked on this one a lot, and trust my own work. Thanks again.Steve Pastor (talk) 15:11, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

interwiki
Please ad interwiki link to Turkish:

tr:Masailer (drag an drop)

or

tr:Masailer (source text)

Thanks

91.86.251.174 (talk) 04:08, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Music and Dance (Advertisement)
The final line in the Music and Dance section appears to be nothing more than an advertisement:

Contemporary Hip Hop musicians X Plastaz from northern Tanzania are incorporating traditional Maasai rhythms, beats and chants into their music.

The X Plasatz article is cited for not being neutral, and this comment may be an extension of that problem. It appears to add nothing to the "Maasai" article and is simply confusing at best. ETomeny (talk) 16:21, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Seeing no disagreement, I am removing the line. I don't believe it reveals anything about the Maasai, and serves no purpose other than to be an advertisement for a musical group; not something that belongs in an Encyclopedia article. ETomeny (talk) 13:54, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

EDIT: Nevermind, the page appears to be locked. Could someone with editing rights please remove this advertisement? ETomeny (talk) 13:56, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

I wrote something a while ago, but for some technical reason it wasn't posted and I was too busy to retype. That sentence is a very shortened version of a previous paragraph. I pretty much agree with you, but left it there because at least one of their videos highlights local culture in Tanzania, and I try not to be too dogmatic in my edits. Still, I will remove that material as requested. Steve Pastor (talk) 15:36, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Uoali vs Ugali
I believe "uoali" in the diet section should be spelt "ugali" —Preceding unsigned comment added by Liam walls (talk • contribs) 06:40, 15 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Perhaps. Im' pretty sure I've been down this road before, and I'm trying to pin this down. Meanwhile, the text in the article can be be found here. Steve Pastor (talk) 17:08, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

I found an on line article that has the text as quoted from Nestel. Also, I HAD gone through this before. see History 14:51, 29 September 2008 Steve Pastor (talk | contribs) (40,562 bytes) (uoali appears to be a name, rather than the spelling previously in the artcle and is dictionary of Maa words). There IS in fact another Maa word for porridge, that isn't either of the ones we are discussing. Although it's possible that the quote was mistyped, given the number of alternate pronunciations and spellings, and the fact that this is a verifiable source for the current word, I would like to leave it as is. Also added link to on line resource in the article. Steve Pastor (talk) 17:35, 15 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Am considering adding (aka ugali? sic), but, without something to definitively link the two words, I'm reluctant to do that. Steve Pastor (talk) 17:40, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

porridge ol-oshoró. Maa (Maasai) Dictionary. Doris L. Payne & Leonard Ole-Kotikash. And there you have the Maa word for porridge. Steve Pastor (talk) 18:06, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Warriors? Please!
There are only about 2000 lions left in Kenya and at the rate the Maasai warriors kill them, the lions in Kenya will be gone within two years.

Replacing 'warriors' with 'hunters'. Maasai are not professional 'warriors', nor are they at war with any other people. Those Maasai finding and killing lions, are hunters. Centrepull (talk) 06:20, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Before you make any such edits, you might want to consult the Maa/English dictionary. Steve Pastor (talk) 20:14, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

 * i watched the source for the "two years" info, it relates that the Maasai/lion animosity is mostly due to recent drought-related scarcity. I don't believe the maasai regularly kill lions at this rate, but the entry seems to suggest that.  thoughts? Theinterior (talk) 05:30, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

From my experience in rural Kenya, including lengthy talks with some Maasai warriors, the practice of killing a lion by oneself is a traditional and essential part of the process to become an official warrior. The sentence in question does come across as extremely subjective though, perhaps it could be reworded? Aidanpaige (talk) 13:51, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Recently returned from living & filming with Maasai community in the Olepolos (Ngong) region. Lions are vary rarely hunted by Maasai today - they are very aware of their falling numbers.- However lions were rarely hunted by an individual. The hunter (warrior) accredited with killing the lion is the warrior who first spears the creature (and ritualistically then touches it's tail whilst still alive). This Moran then earns the right to wear the lions maine around his neck at ceremonies.Alexgater (talk) 15:55, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Religion (part2)
Surely there should be a section in the main article entitled "Maasai Religion" (as there is on many of the pages devoted to other ethnic groups)? There is a great need here for much more factual information (eg what proportion practice Christianity and of what kinds? What proportion are Muslims and of what kinds?). There are also glaring omissions (eg the Loonkidongi, 'Nenaunir). Who says that because Enkai (a sky god/creator) is the chief god, the Maasai are therefore "monotheist" (what about Olapa, 'Nenaunir and Neiterkob in that case?) The Lesser Merlin (talk) 12:47, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
 * If you have good sources for such information, and are willing to do the work (including making the citations), I'd say go ahead and put it in the article. As the amount of material devoted to the subject grows, it will justify it being in a section. Sound like a plan? Steve Pastor (talk) 16:25, 20 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I only wish I could - willing to do the work. There are plenty of mentions elsewhere of the Loonkidongi, 'Nenaunir, Olapa, and Neiterkob - but I am too much of a generalist to have good sources or to recognise one when I see it! The Lesser Merlin (talk) 10:15, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

I'm planning another trip to the Serengeti, maybe I'll get motivated. Steve Pastor (talk) 17:19, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Mark Anthony's Lost Legion
I was intrigued to read about this theory on page 98 of Charles Miller's book 'the Lunatic Express'. Quote: "Even today a small but respectable body of opinion holds that the Masai are directly descended from Mark Anthony's lost legion, citing not only physical similarities but Masai battle formations and the striking resemblence of the spears and simis to the weapons of centurions."

Does anyone else have further data on this theory? All that detailed stuff about chromosones is a little baffling to the average reader - could it be an answer to this theory? Thanks ixo (talk) 15:31, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Does Charles Miller list any references for his assertion about who this "small but respectable body of opinion" belongs to? I'm only a biologist, but my reading of the genetic information reveals no links to whatever genetic make up (which is wholely undefined!) the "lost legion" might have had. Steve Pastor (talk) 19:01, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

 * I'd be curious to know what "battle formations" the Maasai might be famous for using? Kortoso (talk) 18:17, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
One or more portions of this article duplicated other source(s). The material was copied from:. Infringing material has been rewritten or removed and must not be restored, unless it is duly released under a compatible license. (For more information, please see "using copyrighted works from others" if you are not the copyright holder of this material, or "donating copyrighted materials" if you are.) For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or published material; such additions will be deleted. Contributors may use copyrighted publications as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences or phrases. Accordingly, the material may be rewritten, but only if it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Please see our guideline on non-free text for how to properly implement limited quotations of copyrighted text. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. While we appreciate contributions, we must require all contributors to understand and comply with these policies. Thank you. Moonriddengirl (talk) 21:28, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

A map would be useful. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.129.245.97 (talk) 10:54, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Autosomal DNA
"Many Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations in East Africa, such as the Maasai, show multiple cluster assignments from the Nilo-Saharan (red) and Cushitic (dark purple) AACs..."
 * These colors ("red", "dark purple") are apparently in reference to a graphic that we don't have access to directly. I suggest that this be elided. Kortoso (talk) 17:17, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Genetics for ethnic groups RfC
For editors interested, there's an RfC currently being held: Should sections on genetics be removed from pages on ethnic groups?. As this will almost certainly result in the removal of the "genetics" section from this article, I'd encourage any contributors to voice their opinions there. -- Katan gais (talk) 20:04, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

9/11 Solidarity
Is it noteworthy that they provided several cows to the US in solidarity for the loss of life in the 9/11 attacks? I know it's been some time and I don't know the general regard for Snopes as a WP source, but it's probably one of the top reasons Americans would know about them. 140.186.128.45 (talk) 18:06, 27 April 2021 (UTC)

Possible copyright problem
This article has been revised as part of a large-scale clean-up project of multiple article copyright infringement. (See the investigation subpage) Earlier text must not be restored, unless it can be verified to be free of infringement. For legal reasons, Wikipedia cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or printed material; such additions must be deleted. Contributors may use sources as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences or phrases. Accordingly, the material may be rewritten, but only if it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Please see our guideline on non-free text for how to properly implement limited quotations of copyrighted text. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously. Sennecaster  ( What now? ) 23:11, 27 May 2021 (UTC)

 * this link is a reverse copy of wikipedia, as almost all of it were written pre-2011 and the website doesn't go back farther on archives. I think the close paraphrasing tag is unnecessary. Sennecaster   ( What now? ) 23:26, 27 May 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 08:53, 30 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Lo'o Paa'pai.jpg

Diet and health studies
, I reverted your addition of a 2020 health study as undue, and I think we should also remove the 1972 study which I had previously removed until we can come up with more balanced text summarizing the studies. These studies are inconsistent with other findings: "In spite of a high fat, high cholesterol diet, the Maasai have low rates of diseases typically associated with such diets. They tend to have low blood pressure, their overall cholesterol levels are low, they have low incidences of cholesterol gallstones, as well as low rates of coronary artery diseases such as atherosclerosis." Kolya Butternut (talk) 02:03, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

I now see that the 1972 study was added by you less than a month ago. Per BRD, please revert your bold insertion of the 1972 study. Kolya Butternut (talk) 02:16, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

 * I have now deleted all health related sections. The Weston Price claims are historically relevant because Weston Price had a huge influence. However, his health claims and conjectures are not compliant with WP:MEDRS so they have to be put into context. That's why I added the two studies on arteriosclerosis and CVD health. The article on Wired is just one guy pushing his gene theory, that may or may not be right. I'd rather prefer a text book. CarlFromVienna (talk) 07:01, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

Text for health section
 In the summer of 1935 Dr. Weston A. Price visited the Maasai and reported that according to Dr. Anderson from the local government hospital in Kenya most tribes were disease-free. Many had not a single tooth attacked by dental caries nor a single malformed dental arch. In particular the Maasai had a very low 0.4% of bone caries. He attributed that to their diet consisting of (in order of volume) raw milk, raw blood, raw meat and some vegetables and fruits, although in many villages they do not eat any fruit or vegetables at all. He noted that when available every growing child and every pregnant or lactating woman would receive a daily ration of raw blood.

However after autopsy many Maasai had extensive arteriosclerosis. The coronary arteries showed intimal thickening by atherosclerosis which equaled that of old U.S. men. Larger vessels compensated for this, which may be caused by being physically active.

A study from 2020 found the prevalence of hyperlipidaemia and elevated blood pressure were high among Maasai.

Discussion of health section text
I figure this will be easier to discuss under a separate heading. We can edit the above text as needed, then discuss here.

This whole section is a mess. The first paragraph of this has a single source, which says none of what the paragraph reports. Dr. Price isn't mentioned at all, the reported diets of pastoralist peoples, Maasai included, doesn't at all reflect this list. The citation points to a quote from Nestel (1989). Here's that Nestel quote:

Today, the staple diet of the Maasai consists of cow's milk and maize-meal. The former is largely drunk fresh or in sweet tea and the latter is used to make a liquid or solid porridge. The solid porridge is known as ugali and is eaten with milk; unlike the liquid porridge, ugali is not prepared with milk. Meat, although an important food, is consumed irregularly and cannot be classified as a staple food. Animal fats or butter are used in cooking, primarily of porridge, maize, and beans. Butter is also an important infant food. Blood is rarely drunk.

The article itself, even beyond this quote, is likely a good source for a discussion of Maasai diet (at least, during the 1980s). But it's a vestige from when that Nestel quote was included here nearly in its entirety, and wasn't meant as a paragraph-wide source. None of the material from Dr. Price has a citation; in fact, it was dropped in without one in 2012 [diff].

Not to mention, none of the material under discussion here should fall under a sub-heading "Diet", in my opinion.

Under a proper "Health" section, what material would remain after removing unsourced assertions by Dr. Price seems too narrow to be anything more than additional supporting statements about Maasai health, generally. I suggest we delete most of this and set what's properly sourced remaining aside for the time being. If someone wants to tackle a general "Health" section.

-- Pinchme123 (talk) 08:05, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

 * I've since discovered, the Nestel quote comes from this peer-reviewed article: "Food and Nutrition Policy". It's from 1986, not 1989. The Suttie source cited above is from a non-peer reviewed newsletter put out by the Tropical Agriculture Association, in the December 2001 issue, accessible on that webpage (it's a pdf). I cannot tell if it's peer-reviewed, but that it had incorrect info for the Nestel citation does not reflect too highly on it. I'd say, anything written about diet would benefit from the Nestel piece, but not the Suttie one. --Pinchme123 (talk) 08:53, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

Masai Participation in Slave Trade
As had been recently stated in this article: "The Maasai people stood against slavery and never condoned traffic of human beings; and outsiders looking for people to enslave avoided the Maasai." This was cited from Nigel Pavitt's 2001 Africa's Great Rift Valley.

This statement appears to be dubious, as Thomas Sowell wrote in Black Rednecks and White Liberals that "In East Africa, the Masai were feared slave raiders and other African tribes- either alone or in conjunction with Arabs- enslaved their more vulnerable neighbors"

Given that the practice of slavery was prevalent throughout much of the world until relatively recently, the reference to Nigel Pavitt's claim seems dubious and outright false and this should be corrected. Darwin's Bulldog (talk) 06:13, 27 April 2022 (UTC)
 * So far I've yet to find any support for Sowell's assertion regarding Maasai as "slave raiders" or them enslaving people. I have however found:
 * This source, which discusses how Maasai were often themselves enslaved by neighboring groups, with the only suggestion of ostensible enslavement by Maasai in this correction: A variant of this strategy was the transference of children as sureties or debt pawns in return for food. Although the British later misread this as 'selling into slavery', the status was redeemable and was an adaptation of the established practice of boarding out dependants with richer Maasai or with neighbouring peoples.
 * And this source, which notes that [o]ral accounts of Kenyan communities attribute the violence to the Maasai... these accounts have been uncritically accepted to the point where alternative hypotheses for assessing the causes of regional instability have never fully been addressed. It even describes one case of enslavement, where Maasai were incorrectly blamed: [Arab traders] would come to Kasigau to trade and pretend they just wanted elephant tusks and rhino horns. The Arab traders would ask for porters to help carry it, at least part of the way to the coast. After trekking with ivory to a certain distance, the convoy would be ambushed and the Kasigau shackled in a chain gang and marched to the coast. This happened to all the Kasigau communities. The community initially suspected that a party of Maasai warriors ambushed their people on their way home, so they didn't take any action against the Arabs
 * These sources would instead put lead me to doubt Sowell. Given the above quotes and the original source, I think leaving in the longstanding material that Maasai did not engage in slavery, while we find more sources and discuss, is appropriate.
 * --Pinchme123 (talk) 12:09, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

 * It could be possible that both are correct at separate times... like perhaps the Masai were slave traders at one point then, like most modern cultures, turned against it. I seriously doubt Sowell is incorrect. What you've listed, while interesting, are just misinterpretations, which history is littered with. Darwin's Bulldog (talk) 19:28, 27 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Or, it's possible Sowell was the one to have misinterpreted. So far, I see at least three sources which would call into question a plain statement that the Maasai enslaved others, but only one source that would directly support this. Without further corroborating sources, I just don't fine the Sowell source convincing. --Pinchme123 (talk) 19:50, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

 * I think the statement is just so vague as to be useless and would either encourage it to be expanded, or remove it entirely. What does it actually mean? That no Maasai has ever engaged in slave trading, that they never did it as a common practice or there religion forbids it. Was it never done ever, or just not during the Atlantic slave trade? Were there specific leaders that discouraged or resisted it? Without any of these details it just seems like a useless statement. Ashmoo (talk) 15:52, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Commonwealth English
It seems there's a bit of confusion about which version of English should be used in this article. It's about a people living in eastern Africa, spread over two former British colonies which are both a part of the Commonwealth of Nations: Kenya and Tanzania. Seems like pretty clear-cut reasoning for this article to use Commonwealth English, per MOS:TIES. , you first cited WP:ERA for justification to revert someone trying to standardize Commonwealth English in the article, which is unrelated. Now, you've reverted me by pointing to WP:ENGVAR. Engvar has two sections relevant here: first in Strong national ties to a topic: An article on a topic that has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation should use the (formal, not colloquial) English of that nation. And: For topics with strong ties to Commonwealth of Nations countries and other former British territories, use Commonwealth English orthography, largely indistinguishable from British English in encyclopedic writing. Second, in Retaining existing variety, there is a clear example of the limited exception to retaining: when a topic has strong national ties.

This article is about a people indigenous to two countries which are a part of the Commonwealth of Nations and are both former British colonies. It already contains both Commonwealth and American English terms. Some examples: "metres," "colour," "privatisation," and "centre" of the former; and "color," "organization," and "symbolize" of the latter (leaving aside the other term changed and reverted). There is no established spelling, but even if there were, MOS:TIES is a strong reason for this article to be written with Commonwealth English.

I am going to be bold and adjust the few cases of American English I recognize, but would appreciate help in identifying any others and shifting them to Commonwealth English.

--Pinchme123 (talk) 02:54, 4 November 2022 (UTC)

 * WP:ERA was a brain freeze on my part, I meant ENGVAR. Your argument is convincing, so please change all the spelling accordingly, not just the couple of words that the IP editor I reverted changed (which left the article with inconsistent spelling). ~Anachronist (talk) 03:01, 4 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I've already changed the words I immediately recognized. I personally grew up with American English though, so I'm not the best for spotting American English. If others notice any American English terms remaining in the article, please do change them. --Pinchme123 (talk) 03:05, 4 November 2022 (UTC) An addition: Wikipedia only provides a Talk page banner for British English. Since ENGVAR describes Commonwealth English as largely indistinguishable from British English, this is the banner I am going to place here. --Pinchme123 (talk) 03:12, 4 November 2022 (UTC)

Manyatta
The term manyatta, for 'settlement or compound, often temporary, established by a family or clan, or as an encampment of young warriors', never appears in this article once. That seems like an obvious omission. — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  11:55, 27 May 2023 (UTC)

Shúkà
I've developed a section over at Tartan. I think the majority of it should be merged into Maasai people, and a shorter summary left behind at the tartan article. However, between the two sections there is arguably enough already for a stub article at Shúkà (which I'm presently redirecting to the tartan section because it provides more information). — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  12:17, 27 May 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Maasai people


text:
Anna Muzychuk

Anna Olehivna Muzychuk (Анн́а Оле́гівна Музичу́к; Ana Muzičuk; born 28 February 1990) is a Ukrainian chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (GM). She is the fourth woman in chess history to attain a FIDE rating of at least 2600. She has been ranked as high as No. 197 in the world, and No. 2 among women. Muzychuk is a three-time world champion in fast chess, having won the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship once in 2014 and the Women's World Blitz Chess Championship twice in 2014 and 2016. In classical chess, she was the 2017 Women's World Championship runner-up.

Muzychuk grew up in a chess family where her younger sister Mariya (the 2015 Women's World Champion in classical chess) also became a Grandmaster. Her parents work as chess coaches, having taught her the game from when she was two years old. She soon established herself as a chess prodigy, first winning the European Youth Chess Championships at age six in the under-8 girls' category and later winning the under-10, under-12, and under-14 girls' divisions as well. She also won the World Youth Championship in the under-16 girls' category and the World Junior Championship for under-20 girls. She earned the International Master (IM) title at age 17 and the Grandmaster title at age 21.

From 2004 to 2014, Muzychuk represented Slovenia due to conflicts with the Ukrainian Chess Federation. She won an individual gold medal at the European Women's Team Chess Championship for Slovenia in 2011 and later won an individual gold medal at the Women's Chess Olympiad in 2016 after she switched federations back to Ukraine. At the former event, she had one of the best performances of her career with a score of 8½ out of 9 and a performance rating of 2782, also earning her final GM norm. Along with Susan Polgar and Magnus Carlsen, she is one of three players to win the World Rapid and World Blitz Championships in the same year, which she achieved in 2016.

Muzychuk drew widespread media attention at the end of 2017 for boycotting the World Rapid and Blitz Championships over FIDE's decision to hold the events in Saudi Arabia because of the country's discriminatory policies against women.

Early life and background
Anna Muzychuk was born on 28 February 1990 in Lviv to Nataliya and Oleh Muzychuk. She grew up with her sister Mariya, who is two years younger, in the nearby smaller city of Stryi. Anna and Mariya both learned to play chess at age two from their parents, both of whom are professional chess coaches who studied coaching at the Lviv State Institute of Physical Culture sports school and have since worked and taught at the school. Their father originally taught them how the pieces move at a park where there was a large human-sized chess board on the ground. Anna began competing at chess at age five, finishing in second place at both her school chess tournament and the under-10 girls' division of the Lviv regional championship. By the time she was ten years old, she could defeat both of her parents. When Muzychuk was about 14 years old, she had been coached by Roman Kozelov for two years. She was still attending school at Stryi Gymnasium at the time, but later stopped attending regularly. Around this time, she also briefly worked with Orest Gritsak, a Ukrainian Grandmaster (GM) who had coached top Ukrainian player Vasyl Ivanchuk. She had not had much opportunity to train with Grandmasters at this point because her family could not afford this level of coaching.

At age 14, Muzychuk switched federations from Ukraine to Slovenia due to conflicts she had with the Ukrainian Chess Federation. One of the issues she had was not being put on the Ukrainian national team or given the opportunity to compete at the Women's Chess Olympiad despite winning the Ukrainian Women's Chess Championship at age 13. Around the same time, Boris Kutin, a Slovenian who was the president of the European Chess Union, offered Muzychuk the opportunity to represent Slovenia, which she accepted. Although she played for Slovenia for the next ten years, she remained based in Ukraine.

1996–2004: Six-time European Youth champion
Muzychuk had a long stretch of success at the European Youth Chess Championships, medalling in nine consecutive years from 1996 at age six to 2004 at age fourteen, including six gold medals. She won the under-8 girls' division in 1996, the under-10 girls' division twice in 1998 and 2000, the under-12 girls' division in 2002, and the under-14 girls' division twice in 2003 and 2004. She won three silver medals at the tournament, two in the under-10 girls' division in 1997 and 1999 behind Nana Dzagnidze and Silvia-Raluca Sgîrcea respectively, and one in the under-12 girls' division in 2001 behind Iozefina Păuleţ. At the national level, Muzychuk won the Ukrainian girls' national youth and junior championships three times, once each at the under-10 level in 2000, the under-12 level in 2002, and the under-20 level in 2004. In-between those last two medals, she was the overall national women's champion in 2003. On the global stage, Muzychuk also medalled in the girls' divisions of the World Youth Championships, earning a bronze medal at the under-10 level in 2000 behind Tan Zhongyi and Harika Dronavalli, as well as two silver medals, one at the under-12 level in 2002 behind Tan and another at the under-14 level in 2004 behind Dronavalli.

Muzychuk was awarded the titles of Woman FIDE Master (WFM) in 2001 and Woman International Master (WIM) in 2002. She earned her first FIDE rating of 2197 in July 2001 at age 11. She first participated at the European Individual Women's Championship in 2002 at age 12, and finished with at least an even score in her first three appearances through 2004. Her performance at the 2003 edition as well as a joint first-place finish at the 17-round Lviv's Hopes tournament later in the year helped Muzychuk reach a rating of 2300 by October 2003. She also earned a sufficient number of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) norms at these two tournaments, and was formally awarded the WGM title in 2004. At the end of June 2004, Muzychuk switched federations to Slovenia. Her 2004 European Youth gold and World Youth silver medals were among her earliest triumphs with Slovenia.

2005–2010: World Youth and World Junior champion, International Master

Following her many titles at the European Youth Championships, Muzychuk finally won a gold medal at the World Youth Championships in 2005 in the under-16 girls' division. She finished in clear first with an unbeaten score of 9/11, drawing with Dronavalli in the last round to clinch the title. She then had a significant rise in rating towards the end of the year to reach a rating of 2400 for January 2006. This rise predominantly resulted from good performances at the Instalplast tournament in Lviv where she had a positive score of 5½/8 against higher-rated opposition and the Slovenian Women's League where she had a dominant score of 8/9.

Having already reached a rating of 2400, Muzychuk earned all of her International Master (IM) norms in 2006 and 2007, the first two of which as a double norm at the Women's Chess Olympiad in Turin and the last of which in the Serbian Women's League. She was awarded the IM title in 2007. One of her other best results in classical chess during these years was at the 2006 European Individual Women's Championship, where she scored 7½/11 and finished in equal third place. In fast chess, Muzychuk won the 2007 European Women's Blitz Chess Championship and finished second in the European Women's Rapid Chess Championship.

Muzychuk first participated in the Women's World Chess Championship knockout tournament in 2008. As the 11th seed out of 64 competitors, she won her first round match against Maria Velcheva before being upset by 22nd seed Dronavalli in the second round in rapid tiebreaks. Over the next two years, Muzychuk first reached a rating of 2500 and then earned her first two GM norms. The first was a seven-game norm at the European Club Cup for Women in 2008. The second was a full nine-round norm at the InventiChess round robin tournament in 2009, where she had an even score against opponents with a much higher average rating of 2618, including six Grandmasters rated above 2600. During the latter event, she defeated David Howell, a GM rated 2624. She came close to another GM norm in Group B at the round robin Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee in 2010, but fell just short with a performance rating of 2580 by virtue of scoring 5½/13 against opponents with average rating of 2637. Although she could not complete the norm, she was the only player to defeat the winner of the tournament, Anish Giri. That summer, Muzychuk had her biggest triumph of the year by winning the World Junior Chess Championship for under-20 girls in Chotowa, Poland, finishing in clear first with a score of 11/13. She ended 2010 by reaching the third round of the Women's World Chess Championship, where as the 7th seed she was upset by 10th seed Ju Wenjun.

2011–2012: Grandmaster title at age 21, 2600 rating
Muzychuk completed the requirements for the Grandmaster title in 2011 with her third and fourth GM norms to reach the 27-game norm minimum needed. She earned a nine-game norm in the opening event of the 2011–12 FIDE Women's Grand Prix in Rostov with a score of 5½/9, narrowly missing a norm over the full 11 games that would have been sufficient for reaching the 27-game minimum. She reached that minimum with her fourth GM norm at the European Women's Team Chess Championships, where she scored a near-perfect 8½/9, including 6½/7 against her seven highest-rated opponents to complete the norm and earn the Grandmaster title at age 21. With this performance, her rating also rose to 2580.

Muzychuk continued to excel in 2012, reaching a career-best rating of 2606 in the middle of the year. She produced her career-best result at the European Individual Women's Championship, scoring 8½/11 and earning a bronze medal. She had an opportunity to win the tournament with a last-round draw, but lost to Valentina Gunina. As a result, she only finished in joint first and lost to Gunina and Tatiana Kosintseva on the head-to-head tiebreak criteria. Muzychuk continued to perform well in the Grand Prix, finishing in joint first with Koneru Humpy at the Kazan event. During the event, she became the fourth woman to reach a rating of 2600 after Judit Polgár, Koneru, and Hou Yifan. Following the tournament, she reached a career-best ranking of No. 197 in the world in August and also became the second-highest-rated woman for the first time, only behind Polgár. Nonetheless, in the final standings for the overall Grand Prix, Muzychuk finished in third place behind Koneru and the winner Hou, losing out on the winner's right to challenge for the Women's World Championship. Later in the year, Muzychuk took part in the unrated ACP Golden Classic classical tournament in Amsterdam that followed an unusual format where games were adjourned if not completed in 40 moves. She finished with an even score, and notably defeated Krishnan Sasikiran, a Grandmaster rated 2707 at the time. At the end of the year, Muzychuk was the 3rd seed at the Women's World Chess Championship, but was upset in the second round by the 30th seed and eventual winner Anna Ushenina in rapid tiebreaks.

2013–2016: World Rapid and World Blitz champion
Muzychuk again generally finished towards the top of the standings in the 2013–14 FIDE Women's Grand Prix events, but did not win any of them and ultimately finished fourth in the overall standings. She had a better result at the Tata Steel Challengers tournament in Wijk aan Zee in early 2014, where she came in fourth place with a score of 8/13, corresponding to a performance rating of 2666. With this performance, her rating rose back to 2583. After the tournament, however, her rating fell back into the mid-2500s and would not reach 2570 again until 2017 three years later. Although her performance in classical chess was in the midst of a mild decline, Muzychuk had a major result in fast chess, winning the Women's World Blitz Championship in April. She won the tournament by a wide margin, finishing with 23/30, 2½ points ahead of Dzagnidze in second place. The championship brought her blitz rating to a career-best 2665. She had also finished in joint third place at the preceding Women's World Rapid Championship event. The World Blitz victory was her last major triumph with Slovenia. In May 2014, Muzychuk switched federations again back to her home country of Ukraine. She stated that her sister continuing to play for Ukraine as well as the new federation president Viktor Kapustin as reasons for her return. At the end of the year, she entered the Ukrainian women's national championship for the first time since she was the 2003 champion and again won the tournament.

Muzychuk was less active in 2015. One of her highlights of the year was the Women's World Championship, where she had her best result to date. As the third seed, she reached the quarterfinals. She knocked out 62nd seed Amina Mezioud, 30th seed Aleksandra Goryachkina, and 19th seed Lela Javakhishvili without any tiebreaks before being upset by 11th seed Pia Cramling in the second set of rapid tiebreaks. The tournament was ultimately won by her sister Mariya, whom she stayed to support. Early in 2016, Muzychuk won the women's first prize at the Gibraltar Chess Festival with a score of 7/10, corresponding to a performance rating of 2677. During the tournament, she defeated two Grandmasters rated above 2600, Salem Saleh and Laurent Fressinet, the latter of whom was rated 2700 and is the only player she has defeated in a rated classical game with a rating of at least 2700. At the end of 2016, Muzychuk won both the Women's World Rapid Championship and the Women's World Blitz Championship in Doha, thereby also defending the latter of these two titles from 2014. She became the third player to win both events in the same year after Susan Polgar in 1992 and Magnus Carlsen in 2014. She won the rapid event by a full point over Aleksandra Kosteniuk and the blitz event by a ½ point ahead of Gunina and Kateryna Lagno.

2017–2018: World Championship runner-up
Muzychuk came closest to winning the classical Women's World Chess Championship in 2017 in Tehran, where she finished runner-up to Tan Zhongyi. As the 2nd seed, she reached the final without needing tiebreaks, notably defeating 34th seed Alina Kashlinskaya, 7th seed Antoaneta Stefanova, and 3rd seed Alexandra Kosteniuk. Unlike the other matches which were best-of-two classical games, the final match against the 9th seed Tan was played as a best-of-four classical games. After Muzychuk lost the second game with the black pieces, she won the third game with the white pieces, sending the match to tiebreaks as the other two games ended in draws. Tan won the second game of the rapid tiebreaks to clinch the title.

At the end of 2017, Muzychuk gained widespread media attention for her decision to boycott the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in Saudi Arabia and forgo the opportunity to defend both of her World Championship titles because of the restrictions Saudi Arabia has in place against women, including those related to women's clothing and the prohibition on women going outside without being accompanied by a man. She refused to attend despite the tournament having a prize fund five times higher than the previous edition. She commented: "In a few days I am going to lose two World Champion titles – one by one. Just because I decided not to go to Saudi Arabia. Not to play by someone's rules, not to wear abaya, not to be accompanied getting outside, and altogether not to feel myself a secondary creature. Exactly one year ago I won these two titles and was about the happiest person in the chess world but this time I feel really bad. I am ready to stand for my principles and skip the event, where in five days I was expected to earn more than I do in a dozen of events combined. All that is annoying, but the most upsetting thing is that almost nobody really cares. That is a really bitter feeling, still not the one to change my opinion and my principles. The same goes for my sister Mariya – and I am really happy that we share this point of view." Her announcement of the preceding comments on Facebook was shared over 74,000 times and received over 165,000 reactions predominantly in support of her statement. Her decision was also influenced by her feelings about having already competed at the Women's World Championship in Iran earlier in the year where there were similar restrictions on clothing requiring women to wear headscarves. Having had that experience, she did not want to participate in the tournament in Saudi Arabia because she viewed her participation as supporting a society that has discriminating policies against women. The following year in 2018, Saudi Arabia was scheduled to host the tournament again; however, it was moved to Russia less than a month in advance largely due to a separate issue of Israeli players being denied visas needed to compete. Muzychuk returned to the tournament and fared better in the rapid event than the blitz event, finishing in fourth place.

For the second consecutive Women's World Championship knockout tournament, Muzychuk faced Stefanova and Kosteniuk in back-to-back rounds, this time as the 4th seed in 2018. Although she once again defeated the 13th seed Stefanova, she then lost to the 5th seed Kosteniuk in the quarterfinals in rapid tiebreaks.

2019–present: Two Candidates tournaments

After the 2018 World Championship, the Women's World Championship switched to a match format where the reigning champion would defend their title against the winner of an eight-player double round-robin Candidates tournament, the first of which would take place in 2019. Muzychuk was one of the players who qualified for the Candidates tournament by rating. Although she had a strong finish, she could not overcome a slow start where she lost two of the first three games to Dzagnidze and Tan, and her final score of 8/14 only sufficed for second place. At the end of 2019, Muzychuk won a third medal at the World Blitz Championship in 2019, earning the silver medal a ½ point behind only Lagno.

Muzychuk began 2020 at the Gibraltar Chess Festival. Although she did not win the women's prize, she was awarded the overall tournament brilliancy prize for her last-round game against Ori Kobo, an Israeli Grandmaster. At the 2019–21 FIDE Women's Grand Prix, the format was changed to have the top three players qualify for the next Candidates tournament in 2022 instead of just one player qualifying for a world championship match. Nonetheless, Muzychuk did not win any of the events and was unable to secure one of these spots. She was still able to qualify for the Candidates tournament by reaching the semifinals of the inaugural Women's World Cup in 2021, a tournament that replaced the World Championship knockout events. As the 4th seed, she defeated 20th seed Elisabeth Pähtz and 5th seed Dzagnidze among others before losing to 1st seed Aleksandra Goryachkina in the penultimate round. Although she also lost the third place match to 7th seed Tan, she still earned one of three Candidates spots awarded through the World Cup by virtue of Goryachkina having already qualified as the previous World Championship runner-up. Muzychuk ended the year at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships. She finished in the top 15 at both events but was not in contention to medal by the later rounds.

Slovenia
Muzychuk represented Slovenia on the top board at five consecutive Women's Chess Olympiads from 2004 to 2012. Slovenia's best result came at the 2006 Turin Olympiad, where they finished in 9th place, outperforming their seed of 17th out of 106 teams. The team scored 16 points (+7–4=2), and Muzychuk individually scored 8/11, earning a double IM norm. Ana Srebrnič and Jana Krivec were on the second and third boards respectively, while Ksenija Novak was on the reserve board. Muzychuk's best individual result came at the 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad, where she scored 8/11 and finished in fifth place on the top board with a performance rating of 2547, 26 points below bronze medallist Hou Yifan's performance rating of 2573.

Muzychuk fared better for Slovenia at the European Women's Team Championships, which she took part in for four consecutive editions from 2005 through 2011. Slovenia finished in the top ten three times in those four tournaments, including in 2007 in Heraklion when they came in 6th place out of 30 teams and outperformed their 11th seed. Overall, the team scored 12 points (+5–2=2). Krivec, Srebrnič, and Vesna Rožič were on the lower boards that year, while Indira Bajt was on the reserve board. Muzychuk's best result was in 2011 in Porto Carras when she earned an individual gold medal with a near-perfect score of 8½/9, corresponding to a performance rating of 2782, 150 points ahead of Lagno who won the silver medal. This performance also earned Muzychuk her final GM norm to clinch the Grandmaster title.

Ukraine
Since switching federations back to Ukraine, Muzychuk has played at three Women's Chess Olympiads and her team has medalled at all of them. At the 2014 Tromsø Olympiad, she played on the top board in front of her sister Mariya, Natalia Zhukova, and Anna Ushenina on the lower boards, as well Inna Gaponenko on the reserve board. As a team, they were the 3rd seed and won the bronze medal with 18 points (+8–1=2), behind Russia who had 20 points and China who also had 18 points. They were the only team to defeat Russia, but lost to the lower-rated team of Serbia. With the same players, Ukraine again won bronze at the 2016 Baku Olympiad. As the 2nd seed, they finished with 17 points (+7–1=3), behind China who again had 20 points and Poland who also had 17 points. Their only loss was to the winners China. Individually, Muzychuk won the gold medal on the top board with an unbeaten 7½/10 and a performance rating of 2629, ahead of Hou Yifan. At the 2018 Batumi Olympiad, Ukraine were again the 2nd seed, using the same team except for swapping in Iulija Osmak on the reserve board. They tied with China for first place with an unbeaten 18 points (+7–0=4), but ended up with the silver medal because of the tiebreak criteria. Muzychuk narrowly did not earn an individual medal, finishing in fourth place on the top board.

Muzychuk has represented Ukraine at two European Women's Team Championships, and her team has medalled at both of them. She played on the second board in 2015 in Reykjavik as Ukraine won the silver medal with a score of 15 points (+7–1=1). They drew the winners Russia and lost to bronze medallists Georgia. Muzychuk again played on the top board in 2017 in Hersonissos. Ukraine scored 13 points (+6–2=1) and won the bronze medal behind Russia and Georgia, the two teams who defeated them. Muzychuk won an individual silver medal with an unbeaten score of 6½/9 and a performance rating of 2621, behind only Alexandra Kosteniuk.

European Club Cup
Muzychuk has participated in the European Women's Chess Club Cup since 2006. She started out playing for AVS Krasnoturinsk, winning team bronze and silver medals in her two appearances as well as an individual silver in her first appearance. She switched to ŠK T-Com Podgorica in 2008 and then Ekonomist SGSEU Saratov, winning a team bronze and individual silver for the former club. From 2010 until 2018, Muzychuk played for perennial contenders CE de Monte Carlo, winning five team gold medals and four individual gold medals on her respective boards. Her teammates on CE de Monte Carlo regularly included Hou Yifan, Koneru Humpy, and Pia Cramling. In 2019, Muzychuk switched clubs to the Kyiv Chess Federation. She won both team and individual silver medals in 2019 and then both team and individual bronze medals in 2021.

Playing style
Muzychuk has a very strong preference for 1.e4 (the King's Pawn Game) with the white pieces. Although rarely used, her second-most frequent first move with the white pieces is 1.f4 (Bird's Opening). She commonly defends against 1.e4 with the Sicilian defence (1.e4 c5) and commonly defends against 1.d4 with the Dutch defence (1.d4 f5). Muzychuk has described her playing style as similar to that of Fabiano Caruana in that they both focus on preparing openings and are good at positional chess. She considers herself an active player.

Personal life
Muzychuk and former world champion Viswanathan Anand co-hosted the official commentary for the 2021 World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Muzychuk was replacing Almira Skripchenko, who was unable to attend.

Muzychuk has a good friendly relationship with her sister, even though they regard each other as having very different personalities. Anna thinks of herself as calmer and prefers spending time with family and solitary activities such as reading or watching movies, in contrast with Mariya who is more expressive and likes shopping and doing things outside of home. All of their classical games against each other have ended in draws, while Anna has the only two wins between them in blitz format.

Awards and honors

 * Order of Princess Olha 3rd Class of Ukraine.png Order of Princess Olga (3rd class)

Notable games

 * Anna Muzychuk (2539) – Ori Kobo (2445), 2020 Gibraltar Masters: Round 10; Sicilian defense, . Muzychuk was awarded the tournament brilliancy prize for her last-round game where she offered to sacrifice one of her bishops and her queen in the middle of the game. Tournament journalist John Saunders annotated the game below:

 * 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qc7 6.f4 a6 7.Nxc6 Qxc6 8.Bd3 b5 9.Qe2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Bc5 11.a3 Ne7 12.0‑0‑0 0‑0 13.h4 f5 14.g4 ("14.h5 has been played before, but the text has the flavour of a devil-may-care last-round punt.") 14...d5 15.gxf5 exf5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Rhe1 Qf7 ("18...Qa2 crossed my mind, threatening mate in one, but after simply 19.Bc3 the queen would be left looking silly.") 19.Bc3 Rfe8 20.Be5 Re6 21.Qf1 ("21.Kb1!? followed by c4 looks like a good plan for White.") 21...Rf8 22.Qh3 Rh6? ("Material is level and Black's pieces apparently all well-defended, but White now uncorked a stunner.") 23.Bxf5!! Qxf5 24.Rd7! Rg6 ("A queen sacrifice but capturing it is punished immediately: 24...Qxh3 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Rg6+! and mate next move.") 25.Qb3+ Kh8 ("25...Rf7 is met the same way.") 26.Rxb7 ("White recaptures the sacrificed bishop for a net gain of one pawn plus a rook on the seventh.") 26...Bf2 ("A mistake as White immediately demonstrates. Black had to do something about the monster bishop on e5 with 26...Bd6? though he's still in dead trouble after 27.Qd3 Qxd3 28.cxd3 with an extra pawn, possibility of joint passed pawns if the bishops are exchanged, and h5 in the air.") 27.h5!! ("Finely calculated.") 27...Rg3 ("27...Bxe1 28.hxg6 Rg8 29.Bxg7+! Rxg7 30.Rb8+ and mates.") 28.Qd5! h6 ("The point of the sacrifice is that, after 28...Bxe1, White has 29.h6! with a winning triple attack on the g7-pawn.") 29.Re2 Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Bh4 31.Qd4 ("Threatening both Bxg7+ and the loose rook on g1, so Black hasn't time to consolidate with 31...Bf6.") 31...Rc8 32.Bxg7+ Kg8 33.Qxg1! ("It's White's turn to accept proffered material. She has to calculate carefully to ensure that her king can escape to safety after Black's forthcoming retaliatory strike on c2.") 33...Rxc2+ 34.Ke3 Qh3+ ("34...Rxe2+ 35.Kxe2 Qe4+ 36.Kd2 Qxb7 37.Bf6+ discovers check on the king and wins the bishop on f4, after which the win of the game should be relatively straightforward.") 35.Kd4 Bf2+ ("If 35...Rc4+ 36.Ke5 and, despite its exposed position in the middle of the board, the white king is safe from checks.") 36.Rxf2 Rc4+ 37.Kd5 1‑0 ("Now the black queen can give check on d3 or f5, but in either case White can interpose with her bishop, discovering an attack on the black king, with fatal consequences.")

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Anna Muzychuk


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Talk:Kenny G (album)

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I've wikified what was already there and added some information that I found. It's still a stub, though. Decagon 17:44, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)

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Category:English novelists

Novelists from England. See also Category:English novels.

title: Category:English novelists


text: Category:Kenedy County, Texas

title: Category:Kenedy County, Texas


text:
The Story of G.I. Joe

The Story of G.I. Joe, also credited in prints as Ernie Pyle's Story of G.I. Joe, is a 1945 American war film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Mitchum's only career Oscar nomination.

The story is a tribute to the American infantryman (G.I. Joe) during World War II, told through the eyes of Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle, with dialogue and narration lifted from Pyle's columns. The film concentrates on one company (C Company, 18th Infantry) that Pyle accompanies into combat in Tunisia and Italy.

In 2009, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.

Plot
The untested infantrymen of C Company, 18th Infantry, U.S. Army, board trucks to travel to the front for the first time. Lt. Bill Walker allows war correspondent Ernie Pyle, himself a rookie to combat, to accompany them. Ernie follows the men all the way to the front lines through the rain and mud.

Ernie comes to know the men about whom he will write, including Sgt. Warnicki and privates Dondaro, Mew and Murphy.

Their baptism by fire occurs at the Battle of Kasserine Pass, a bloody chaotic defeat. Pyle is present at battalion headquarters when Walker arrives as a runner for his company commander. Ernie and the company part ways, but months later he seeks to find them, as he believes that they are the finest outfit in the army. He finds them on a road in Italy, about to attack a German-held town. Ernie finds that Company C has become proficient at killing without remorse. In house-to-house combat, they capture the town. After arrangements are made for Murphy to marry his nurse fiancée, a fatigued Ernie struggles to stay awake during the ceremony.

The company advances to a position in front of Monte Cassino, but, unable to advance, they are soon reduced to living in caves dug in the ground, persistent rain and mud, endless patrols and savage artillery barrages. When his men are forced to eat cold rations for Christmas dinner, Walker obtains food for them at gunpoint. Casualties are heavy, and young replacements are quickly killed before they can learn how to survive in combat. Walker is always short of lieutenants, and the veterans lose men, including Murphy. After a night patrol to capture a prisoner, Warnicki suffers a nervous breakdown and is sent to the infirmary. Ernie returns to the correspondents' quarters to write a piece on Murphy's death and is told by his fellow reporters that he has won the Pulitzer Prize for his combat reporting. Ernie again connects with the outfit after Cassino is finally taken. His reunion with the men is interrupted when a string of mules is led to them, each carrying the dead body of a G.I. to be placed on the ground. A final mule, led by Dondaro, bears the body of Walker. The soldiers express their grief in the presence of Walker's corpse.

Ernie joins the company as it proceeds down the road, narrating its conclusion: "For those beneath the wooden crosses, there is nothing we can do, except perhaps to pause and murmur, 'Thanks pal, thanks.'"

Cast

 * Burgess Meredith as Ernie Pyle
 * Robert Mitchum as Lt./Capt. Bill Walker
 * Freddie Steele as Sgt. Steve Warnicki
 * Wally Cassell as Pvt. Dondaro
 * Jimmy Lloyd as Pvt. Spencer
 * John R. Reilly as Pvt. Robert "Wingless" Murphy
 * William Murphy as Pvt. Charles R. Mew
 * William Self as Pvt. Cookie Henderson (uncredited)
 * Dorothy Coonan Wellman as Nurse Lt. Elizabeth 'Red' Murphy (uncredited)
 * Sicily and Italy Combat Veterans of the Campaigns in Africa as Themselves

Casting notes
Casting for the role of Pyle began in June 1944. Pyle had pleaded: "For God's sake, don't let them make me look like a fool." Producer Lester Cowan considered James Gleason and Walter Brennan for the lead role but selected Meredith because he was lesser known. Meredith had been serving as a captain in the Army, and the Army refused to release him from active duty. According to Meredith, the Army was overruled by presidential advisor Harry Hopkins, and his honorable discharge from the Army was approved personally by general George C. Marshall. Meredith spent time with Pyle, who was recuperating in New Mexico from the emotional effects of surviving an accidental bombing by the Army Air Forces at the start of Operation Cobra in Normandy. Pyle approved of the casting of Meredith and said that he believed Meredith to be the best choice after the death of British actor Leslie Howard in a plane crash. The studio had wanted to place a leading-man type in the main role, but Wellman wanted a physically smaller man such as Meredith to better portray the middle-aged Pyle. As a compromise, Mitchum was chosen to play Bill Walker. The film was one of Mitchum's earliest starring roles.

Nine war correspondents are listed as technical advisors in the film's credits, three of whom appear in the scene in which Pyle learns that he has won the Pulitzer Prize.

Wellman's wife, actress Dorothy Coonan Wellman, appears in an uncredited speaking role as Lt. Elizabeth "Red" Murphy, the combat-zone bride of character "Wingless" Murphy.

The Army agreed to Wellman's request for 150 soldiers, who were training in California for deployment to the Pacific and had all been veterans of the Italian campaign, as extras during the six weeks of filming in late 1944. The War Department allowed the men to grow beards for their roles. Wellman insisted that actual soldiers speak much of the dialogue for authenticity. He also insisted that the film's Hollywood actors live and train with the soldiers.

Screenplay
The film's concept originated with independent producer Lester Cowan, who approached the War Department in September 1943 for cooperation in making a film about the infantry with the same high degree of prestige as in Air Force. In October, he agreed to terms with United Artists for financial support and distribution of the proposed film. Cowan then developed a story outline based on Pyle's columns reproduced in Here is Your War, which the Army approved on November 27.

Attempts to write a script that would accurately translate Pyle's style and sentiments to the screen delayed filming for a year After the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, with the end of the war in sight, the script became more focused on Pyle's movements with the infantry in its final advance to victory.

The screenplay was developed with the input of several war correspondents and associates of Pyle, mainly Don Whitehead, Lee Miller and Paige Cavanaugh, who selected details from Pyle's columns for inclusion in the film, Director William Wellman also worked directly with Pyle.

Finding a director
Cowan's first choice as director was John Huston, who had completed only two films before entering military service. Cowan was impressed by two combat documentaries that Huston had directed, Report from the Aleutians and The Battle of San Pietro, but was unable to gain Huston's services from the army.

In August 1944, unable to complete the screenplay, Cowan recruited William Wellman to be the film's director but after facing great difficulty in convincing Wellman to take the job. Cowan asked Ernie Pyle to contact Wellman. Pyle invited Wellman to his home, where he persuaded Wellman to accept the director role.

Historical basis
Pyle covered the 1st Infantry Division, including the 18th Infantry, in Tunisia from January to May 1943, and wrote a column on the American defeat at Kasserine Pass. He also landed with the 1st Division during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. However, after the Sicilian campaign, which is mentioned but not portrayed in the film, the 18th Infantry moved to England to prepare for the Allied invasion of France, while the film's Company C is said to have made a landing under fire at Salerno.

While the screenwriters chose the 18th Infantry Regiment for the film, Pyle's favorite outfit was the 133rd Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division, a unit that he had covered in 1942 while it was still stationed in Northern Ireland and then again in Tunisia.

The events in Italy portrayed in the film are based on Pyle's experiences with soldiers of the 36th Infantry Division in the Battle of San Pietro and the 133rd Infantry in the Battle of Monte Cassino. Mitchum's character of captain Bill Walker was modeled on two soldiers who had impressed Pyle. Walker was based on captain Henry T. Waskow of the 36th Division's Company B 143rd Infantry. Waskow's death in combat on December 14, 1943, was the subject of Pyle's most famous column. Sgt. "Buck" Eversole was a platoon leader who became the subject of several of Pyle's stories.

Release
Although filmed with Pyle's cooperation, the film premiered two months to the day after he was killed in action on Ie Shima during the invasion of Okinawa. In his February 14, 1945 posting titled "In the Movies", Pyle commented: "They are still calling it The Story of G.I. Joe. I never did like the title, but nobody could think of a better one, and I was too lazy to try."

Critical appraisal
Film critic Manny Farber in The New Republic, August 13, 1945, wrote:

"The writing, as well as the direction, constantly shuns the romanticism that has colored almost every other war film. Nobody talks about the war, either as an aim, or as a matter of beating an enemy; in general they seem too tired to talk, and when they do it is in shorthand, avoiding the obvious, which includes every great question like the danger of death and the separation from everybody they love."

Farber adds: “Wellman’s The Story of G. I. Joe is one of the only movies in years that says just about all it has to say, and drives it home with real cinematic strength.”

Preservation
The Academy Film Archive preserved G.I. Joe in 2000.

Academy Award nominations

 * Best Supporting Actor - Robert Mitchum
 * Best Original Song - Ann Ronell for "Linda"
 * Best Score - Louis Applebaum and Ann Ronell
 * Best Screenplay - Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore, and Philip Stevenson

title: The Story of G.I. Joe