Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna

Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna
National Geographic Kids

Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton

Herman Viola

Facing the Lion

Copyright © 2003 Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton with Herman Viola

Photographs copyright © 2003 Ashley Lefrak

Published by the National Geographic Society.

All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the National Geographic Society is strictly prohibited.

The verses that introduce each chapter come from a traditional Ariaal warrior song.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lekuton, Joseph.

Facing the lion: growing up Maasai on the African savanna / by Joseph Lekuton with Herman J. Viola.

p. cm.

Summary: A member of the Maasai people describes his life as he grew up in a northern Kenya village and traveled to America to attend college.

ISBN: 978-1-4263-0667-9

1. Lekuton, Joseph—Juvenile literature. 2. Masai (African people)—Kenya—Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. Masai (African people)—Kenya—Social life and customs—Juvenile literature. [1. Lekuton, Joseph. 2. Masai (African people)—Biography. 3. Masai (African people)—Kenya—Social life and customs. 4. Blacks—Kenya—Biography.] I. Viola, Herman J. II. Title.

DT433.545.M33L45 2003

967.62?004965—dc21

2003000750

Version: 2017-07-05

Dedication

These words are dedicated to my mother, Nkasiko.

Although unable to read or write, she gave me a priceless

education. And to my mothers in America, Bea, Ricki,

Jackie, Anne, Betty, and Kathleen, who reflected and

reinforced my mother’s philosophy of life.

And to all the nomadic boys and girls

who have similar stories.

My story is theirs;

I just had the chance to tell mine.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 A Lion Hunt

Chapter 2 The Proud One

Chapter 3 Cows

Chapter 4 The Pinching Man

Chapter 5 School

Chapter 6 Herdsman

Chapter 7 Initiation

Chapter 8 Kabarak

Chapter 9 Soccer

Chapter 10 America

Chapter 11 A Warrior in Two Worlds

Afterword

Chapter One

A Lion Hunt

My sweet mother,

Don’t call me a baby.

I stopped being a baby when I was initiated.

I’M GOING TO TELL you the lion story.

Where I live in northern Kenya, the lion is a symbol of bravery and pride. Lions have a special presence. If you kill a lion, you are respected by everyone. Other warriors even make up songs about how brave you are. So it is every warrior’s dream to kill a lion at one point or another. Growing up, I’d had a lot of interaction with wild animals—elephants, rhinos, cape buffalo, hyenas. But at the time of this story—when I was about 14—I’d never come face-to-face with a lion, ever. I’d heard stories from all the young warriors who told me, “Wow, you know yesterday we chased this lion—” bragging about it. And I always said, “Big deal.” What’s the big deal about a lion? It’s just an animal. If I can defend myself against elephants or rhinos, I thought, why not a lion?