Older Maasai woman with neck jewellery and leather ear flaps, Great Rift Valley, Kenya

"Maasai (Masai) women's lives and ornamental changes flow parallel to men's through male oriented ceremonies. But while changes in female ornament are connected to their sons and husbands advances in status, they also reflect the gradual, non-institutionalized progress of a woman's childbearing and motherhood career. These changes come about slowly and ceremoniously such as the changes in ear pendants and handbags after having several children, or the adoption of isurri (blue and white strands attached to ear flaps) and later imporro (long strands of large beads) as the woman's offspring advance in status." [Klumpp D., 1987: Maasai Art and Society:Age and Sex, Time and Space, Cash and Cattle. U.M.I Dissertation Service]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for American Broadcasting Company and traveled to Africa from early December 1966 to early February 1967.