how the white people close all …

The Maasai people once had a distinct territory with well-defined natural boundaries, rivers, mountains, valleys, and hills. It is within this territory -- known as Olosho le Maa (the homeland of the Maa speakers) -- that they practiced, as a sovereign nation, their culture and traditions since time immemorial. In 1913, the colonial government made its first move to undermine the sovereignty of the Maasai by declaring that the Maasai were a tribe and must not be t teated as a sovereign nation. As such, the treaties of 1904 and 1911 would no longer be honored by the government. This pronouncement forever altered the social and political landscapes of Maasai people. They lost sovereignty and autonomy in all subsequent dealings with the colonial and independent governments of Kenya and Tanzania. Maasai Sovereignty in Post-independence Kenya and Tanzania Kenya and Tanzania's independence did not restore Maasai sovereignty; post-independence governments instead adopted assimilationist and integrationist policies, an indication of disinterest in restoring and preserving Maasai sovereignty and autonomy.