Market Value: $60.00

Instant Buy: $40.00

Maasai Beaded Choker Necklace (piece C)

Authentic and beautiful beaded neckware, handmade by the Massai women of Kenya. Display as original art pieces when mounted on walls in a frame.

Why do the Maasai women make jewelry?
The bead work embodies the Maasai culture, representing beauty, tradition, strength, and sometimes even social status. Women meet up in groups and beaded jewelery worn by both men and women during different events and occasions. Beads are a symbol of beauty.

• The Maasai in Kenya live with no electricity and no transportation.
• The women walk miles twice a day to the river for water which they share with livestock and wild animals.
• When school is available, their children walk two to three miles twice a day, often facing wild animals along the way.
• Maasai men are herders take responsibility for security, and caring for and protecting the livestock.
• The Maasai women construct the homes, provide water, gather firewood, milk the cows, and cook for the family.
• Point of interest - Maasai homes are mud/branch/manure huts built by the women, who are shorter than the men. So Maasai homes require crouching down to enter., since the woman can build only as high as they can reach.

Each beaded jewelry piece made by the Maasai women can take weeks to complete.

• The women sell their beaded jewelry at the gates of the Maasai Mara National Reserve and also to tourists who visit Maasai villages while on Safari.
• Buyers from large Kenya cities' curio and jewelry stores also buy and then sell for much more than they paid.