Maasai settlement consisting of several houses with dome-shaped roofs, Olengaitoli village, Kenya

"Ilparakuyo and Masaai (Masai) call their settlements enkang' (pl. inkang'itie). These are groups of between on or eight houses around a cattle kraal. Often several such groups of houses lie close together. Every six to eight years a new enkang' is built, either in another area or in the close vicinity of the old one. Building a house is very time-consuming work in which all women from an enkang' will help. The plaster, made from cow dung and earth, lasts for only a limited period and has to be regularly renewed. The Parakuyo houses also rarely have the typical spiral entries of the Masai houses, which provide protection from the wind." [von Mitzlaff U., 1994: Maasai Women. Tanzania Publishing House]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.