[Leica] Cow's Blood

[jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)]

Richard/Marty/Ric/nathan
Thanks for looking. Nathan, to answer your question, yes, this is a major
part of their diet, though I suspect the bow and arrow routine is for
tourists. Marty, I have not tried it, and I do not remember anyone trying
it in the two trips I have made to this village.
Cheers
Jayanand

On Sat, Nov 5, 2011 at 8:19 PM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu> 
wrote:

> Is this something they still do for real, or is it something for safari
> groups? And I wonder why they make the incision with bow and arrow rather
> than more obvious way of using a knife?
>
> The photography, as always from you, impeccable.
>
> Cheers,
> Nathan
>
> Nathan Wajsman
> Alicante, Spain
> http://www.frozenlight.eu
> http://www.greatpix.eu
> http://www.nathanfoto.com
> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
> Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/
>
>
> YNWA
>
>
>
> On Nov 5, 2011, at 7:52 AM, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote:
>
> > One of the staples of Masai diet is Cow's Blood, mixed with milk - they
> > never kill cattle, which is the determinant of their wealth, being a
> tribe
> > of cattle herders. In fact, it is surmised that the whole Mara/Serengeti
> > landscape has been fashioned over the centuries by cattle grazing, the
> > trees giving way to grasslands to support the Masai and similar closely
> > related pastoral tribes. If they need meat, they slaughter goats/sheep
> > instead.
> >
> > Here the cow is being prepared for bloodletting with a torniquet around
> the
> > neck:
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/People/20110919_1764Mara.jpg.html
> >
> > The incision is made on the neck artery with a bow and arrow. Here a
> > warrior takes aim:
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/People/20110919_1765Mara.jpg.html
> >
> > He lets fly and the arrow successfully makes a nick. It took two or three
> > tries to succeed:
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/People/20110919_1769Mara.jpg.html
> >
> > The spurting blood is collected in a gourd, always by a woman:
> >
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/People/20110919_1777Mara.jpg.html
> >
> > The milk is then added to the gourd, and the mixture is churned till the
> > blood coagulates, and then it is ready for drinking.
> >
> > Comments and Criticism, as ever, welcome.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Jayanand
> >
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