Behold the beautiful and intricate beadwork, a tradition of the Maasai tribe.
Beading of dog collars, bracelets, leather pouches, salt shakers, Hadithi magnets or our Hadithi keychains - Our Maasai artisans have the best eye for design and quality! Contact us to request our latest wholesale catalogue.
ABOUT THE LADIES
The members our five beadwork artisan groups all live in a small manyatta (homesteads) next to the Mombasa highway, about 10 km apart from each other. They are all small Maasai communities that have settled on governmental road reserve land. Life on the side of the highway is harsh; the climate is very dry and the communities are squeezed between an extremely busy and dangerous road full of lorries, and the Tsavo East National Park.
Osotwa Women’s Group consists of 14 members. The members are of the same manyatta and are mostly related. Osotwa means brotherly love, kinship and is one of te two pillars of the maasai society. The other one is Enkanyit (respect).
In Myesharini location we work with two groups. Namelock (sweet) Women’s Group has 21 members and Mashipai (happy people) Women’s Group has 30 members.
Ol Donyo (mountain) Women’s Group was based in a town called Mackinnon, and grew so it was split in two in 2020: Ol Donyo Naserian and Ol donyo Naisho.
ABOUT THE MAASAI BEADWORK
The Maasai people of Kenya are well known for their traditional handmade beaded jewellery – it has been an important part of Maasai culture for many years. Almost daily Maasai women set aside time to work on beaded jewellery like colourful necklaces, bracelets, and pendants. It is considered the duty of every Maasai woman to learn the jewellery making craft. Traditionally the beadwork is made by women but is worn by both sexes, and has important cultural significance. The beadwork an individual wears reflects their age and social status.
All our jewellery is made with the best quality Czech beads. We sell a series of traditional beadwork and started custom orders in October 2018, partnering with the beautiful Love Is Project. Sometimes we the get the help of creative volunteers from the fashion industry to come up with fashionable competitive designs.