MAA LANGUAGE; EKIRORIE IRKANCHAWONI TOSOTUA;NIKILEJILEJ TOONKISULAT;NIKINCHO INKARN;NIKIRANYAKI ENAA INKISHUANG ARIPI

TRANSLATION; COMUNICATING WITH ELEPHANTS THROUGH PEACE, WHISTLING, MUSIC, AND NAMING THEM LIKE OUR BELOVED CATTLE

The peace between the Maasai and elephants is the result of my three-year quest to document the elephant migration into Maasai villages including their stories, reactions, believes, challenges and indigenous knowledge, as well as imagining the future of conservation in modern-day Maasai land. As a village myself, I encounter and interact with elephants every day and

I have witnessed first-hand, the Maasai-elephant conflict that sometimes result in fatalities; I know where and how these conflicts occur mostly; I have heard negative stories and stereotypes about elephants; I know the feelings and frustrations of villagers with the elephant presence in their villages; I know the villager’s wishes deep inside their hearts and I have documented fifteen indigenous knowledge rules and wisdom. This information and other community grievances harboured by villagers for decades, leads me to conclude, that tangible benefits to the community, providing, distributing and sharing the available water resources equally, is the only long-term and sustainable solution to the Maasai-elephant conflict.

The purpose of the peace is two-fold; to directly involve the Maasai community in conservation through a simple process that they will understand, own, identify themselves with and guide them to carefully manage it for prosperity, and to create a future conservation model that works for the long-term sustainability, resilience and independence of the Maasai, wildlife and the environment, resulting in a conservation paradise for the Maasai and wildlife.