Maasai tribe: Visitors, friends and family must spit on a newborn child

Members of the Maasai tribe in Kenya and northern Tanzania spit at each other as a way of blessing.

When a child is born, people who visit the family have to spit on the newborn baby to wish good luck and long life to the child.

The belief is that, if they praise a baby, it will be cursed and may not survive for long, so they say bad things about the child while spitting on it.

Meaning if a child is born, all visitors from the Maasai tribe to the child’s parents including family and friends must spit on the newborn just as the parents by way of blessing them with good luck and longevity.

Maasai people in Kenyan and Tanzanian consider spitting as a sign of reverence and blessing, and they have incorporated it into their greeting culture. They spit into their palms before a handshake.

Reports say fathers bless their daughters on the wedding day by spitting on the bride’s forehead.

You can just imagine the quantum of spit from family and friends an innocent baby would have to be soaked in by the time they are done visiting.

Also, in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is far from clear how the people of the Maasai tribe are coping because if they should continue spitting on babies and doing the same in other activities, then the disease might spread faster in their locations than others.