Senteu: The Story of The Great Maasai Warrior

Senteu and his younger brother Olonana or Lenana were the sons of Mbatian, the greatest Oloiboni or spiritual leader of the Maasai. The summit of Mount Kenya is named after him.

The two brothers were from different mothers as Mbatian had two wives. The brothers grew up on the savannah grasslands: playing, herding their father’s goats and seeking adventure with the inquisitiveness of all young boys. Mbatian loved his sons and intended that Senteu, the older of the two, should succeed him as Laibon.

Mbatian was getting old and sick. Knowing that his time was near he called all the elders and prophesied to them:

I am about to die. Do not move away from your ancestral lands. I will send you cattle from heaven. If you move away you will die of smallpox, your cattle will perish and you will have to fight a powerful enemy who will defeat you. My successor will be the son to whom I shall give the medicine man’s insignia. Obey him.

The morning of the following day Olonana presented himself to his aged father’s hut and tricked him into thinking that he was Senteu. Mbatian’s eyesight was failing and he could not tell the difference. “Father I have come” Olonana said.

Mbatian mistook Olonana for Senteu and requested him to come closer to suck his tongue as was done in this traditional ritual. So, Olonana sucked his father’s mysterious power into his own body and, through deception he received the secrets of his father’s craft.

Olonana walked out and a few minutes later, in came Senteu to his father’s shock and dismay, Mbatian was categorical that with his newly inherited powers, Olonana had now taken the ascendancy over Senteu.

He, however, gave Senteu his blessing and decreed that he should lead the Iloitai or Loita clan. By giving his two sons separate areas of jurisdiction, he hoped that future strife would be avoided.

Mbatian died soon afterwards. Olonana was duly proclaimed the principal medicine man but his rivalry with his brother led to loss of life in a civil war which reduced the Maasai population by half.

The Iloitai clan, led by Senteu, decided to leave its ancestral land and Mbatian’s prophecy was fulfilled: the Maasai suffered from disease, their cattle perished and the colonial Germans were to defeat them in battle.

In 1902, Senteu begged his brother to allow him back into the fold and with Olonana’s acceptance peace was restored to Maasailand.

Senteu's legacy lives on
The Maasai community lifestyle is mainly pastoralism, which has been compatible with wildlife conservation. For example, traditionally the Maasai people did not eat wild animals.

Today however, when there is human-wildlife conflict, pastoralists sometimes try to poison predators. Scavenging animals and birds such as vultures are also poisoned. Then we lose the crucial work they do of keeping the environment clean.

Let’s recognize the traditional Maasai values of letting wildlife live!