The Maasai age system and the Loonkidongi prophets

Spencer wrote this article as a discussion paper to be presented at the African Studies Association conference in San Diego, USA in 2015. The paper is largely based on fieldwork conducted in Kenya in 1976–1977, and critically engages with Spencer’s earlier published work to ask new questions and suggest new perspectives. The article combines a re-consideration of three earlier themes – the role of prophets, the management of age and generational relationships and the differences between Maa-speaking communities along a ‘north–south continuum’ – and examines the wider implications of the relationship between the Loonkidongi Prophets and variations in the age-organisation of different Maasai sections. The article speaks to recent trends in revising the history of Maa-speaking peoples in Kenya and Tanzania. Richard Waller and Tom Spear have edited the paper for publication, and Waller added an introduction.