Imaged or Imagined?

Cultural Representations and the "Tourismification" of Peoples and

Places (Imagé ou imaginé? Les représentations culturelles et la "tourismification" des
peuples et des lieux)
Author(s): Noel B. Salazar
Source: Cahiers d'Études Africaines , 2009, Vol. 49, Cahier 193/194, Tourismes: La quête
de soi par la pratique des autres (2009), pp. 49-71
Published by: EHESS

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 Noel B. Salazar

Imaged or Imagined?
Cultural Representations and the
'Tourismification" of Peoples and Places*

Peoples and places around the globe are continuously (re)invented, (re
duced, and (re)created as tourism marketers create powerful representa
of them. This happens in a competitive bid by potential destinations
obtain a piece of the lucrative tourism pie, in a world marked by rap
changing travel trends and mobile markets. If anything, tourism is par
what David Harvey (1989: 290-293) calls the "image production indust
in which the representation of peoples and places has become as open
production and ephemeral use as any other. Because image-making
emerged as a crucial marketing tool, it variously influences peoples'
tudes and behaviours, confirming and reinforcing them as well as chan
them. Images travel, together with tourists, from predominantly tour
generating regions to tourism destinations and back, leading to a "tourismi
cation" of everyday life - "a socio-economic and socio-cultural proces
which society and its environment have been turned into spectacles, at
tions, playgrounds, and consumption sites" (Wang 2000: 197). Paradox
cally, tourismification proceeds not from the outside but from with
society, by changing the way its members see themselves (Picard 199

* This article is based on research supported by the National Science Founda

under Grant No. BCS-05 14129, and additional funding from the School of
and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania (USA). The ethnographic fieldw
in Tanzania was conducted under the auspices of the Tanzanian Commission
Science and Technology (Research Permit No. 2007- 16-NA-2006- 171)
kindly sponsored by the University of Dar es Salaam. An earlier version
presented at the 10th Zanzibar International Film Festival Conference in 2
I am most grateful to Joseph Ole Sanguyan and Monica C. Espinoza for th
thoughtful comments and support.
1. Other scholars, including Picard (1996) and Wang (2000), call this "tounst
tion". I prefer tourismification as a term because it is not the mere prese
of tourists that is shaping this phenomenon but, rather, the ensemble of acto
and processes that constitute tourism as a whole.

Cahiers d'Etudes africaines, XLIX (1-2), 193-194, 2009, pp. 49-71.

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50 NOEL B. SALAZAR

As Adrian Franklin a
simply a function of ch
ing flows or the tour
than physical travel,
objects of tourism, an
than asking whether
tourism (and other gl
tourism and its imagi
and society (Salazar
Tourismification is a
globalization. Global t
circulation of people,
often a highly ambiv
Tourismification can
on tourism for subsi
largely responsible fo
destroying or prohibiti
providing a potentiall
& Munt 2003). People
but to accept and to a
that are created for t
tourism and tradition
other (as the latter attr
and affirmation of lo
itage - be these real o
al. 2005). In other wo
displayed, or enacted
relations of contestat
2002; Hall & Tucker
Tourismified commu
ontological and essent
with clearly defined ch
of old-style ethnology
ing peoples - are wide
of identity and cultur
Ironically, this is happe
ist approaches to cult
are not passive, boun
1997). Of course, acad
inspiration that shap

2. Imaginaries are repres

As institutionally grou
hegemony, they represen
and are tied in to proje

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 5 1

influence of popular culture media forms - the visual and t

of documentaries and movies; art and museum exhibitions
video games, and animation; photographs, slides, video, and
elogues, blogs, and other websites; guidebooks and tourism broc
table books and magazines; literature; advertising; and q
media like National Geographic - is much bigger (Morg
1998). Throughout this article, the term "cultural represen
used to refer to such content.
In the case of sub-Saharan Africa, western imagery of the region has
often been presented in the most literal sense of the word, in visual forms.
These visual representations, which flourished especially during the colonial
era, lay at the basis of stereotypical "us" versus "them" categorizations
(Salazar 2007a). During colonial rule, for example, the British in East
Africa highlighted Maasai life because, as colonizers, they wanted to pro-
mote an image of Africans as different and nobly primitive. Some authors
have interpreted contemporary tourism as a continuation and silent perpetua-
tion of these old processes of stereotyping and "measuring" African cultures
in a hierarchical relation to western civilization (Mowforth & Munt 2003).
According to Harry Wels (2002: 64), "we have replaced the stage for the
African Other from Europe's World Exhibitions, journals, scientific ethno-
graphies, National Geographic, television-documentaries and so on, to Africa
itself. Tourism imaginaries often depict Africa in the same way as the
continent was portrayed during the colonial period. Consequently, tourists
long for

"pristine African landscapes with the picturesque thatched roofs dotted and blending
into it and expect to hear the drums the minute they arrive in Africa, with Africans
rhythmically dancing to its ongoing cadenza. That is Africa. That is the Otherness
[...] for which they are prepared to pay money. This is the imagery to which the
tour-operators have to relate in their brochures in order to persuade clients/tourists
to book a holiday with them" (ibid.: 64).

In this paper, I use the example of the visual cultural representations

surrounding the Maasai of East Africa to analyze how the (re)construction
of Maasai society in Tanzania and its socio-cultural tourismification are
framed within well-established notions of western dominance and superior-
ity (for similar analyses in the Kenyan context Akama 2002; Berger 1996;
Norton 1996; Wels 2002)3. I show how the romanticized imagery of the

2002). Tourism imaginaries are heavily influenced by mythologized (often west-

ern) visions of "Otherness" from popular culture, (travel) literature, and academic
writings in disciplines like anthropology, archaeology, art, and history (Pratt
1992; Said 1994; Torgovnick 1990).
3. This article is part of a larger project in which I examine how local tourism
actors and intermediaries in Tanzania and Indonesia represent their cultural and
natural heritage to a global audience of tourists (Salazar 2005, 2006, 2007b,
2008).

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 52 NOEL B. SALAZAR

virile Maasai warrior -

such as nature docum
semi-biographic film
affecting the daily lif
in the country. The e
two periods in which
2004 and eight month
notes of cultural touris
depth interviews with
interviews with inte
related to tourism an
2008). The interviews
Maasai research assist
versity of Dar es Sala
Research on Poverty
in Tanzania; the Unive
of Leuven in Belgium

Maasai Imaginaries

"The word was passed r

forest, we soon set our
subject of my waking d
splendid fellows!' as I su
found in all Africa" (Th

The Maasai, speakers

widely dispersed ethn
subsistence agricultu
southern Kenya and n
In Tanzania, they are
and Ngorongoro highl
(and stereotyped) med
traditionalism and un
(Galaty 2002).
For decades, the Maasai have been a source of fascination among tour-
ists and cultural advocates who have been struck by their adamant refusal
to abandon their culture. Overseas professional photographers have immor-
talized them in pictures carried in publications and on postcards. Multiple
tales about their audacity are told and environmentalists laud their ability
to sustain balance with nature, which allows them to co-exist with their cattle
and wild game. However, this "pictorial fame" (Galaty 2002: 347) bears
considerable political costs. The tacitly pejorative images that proliferate
in film, tourism brochures, and advertising convey unspoken cultural pre-
suppositions that shape public (mis)understandings of Maasai communities.

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 53

These images speak confidently about who the Maasai are, w

sent, and what their fates will be.
Ideas of Maasai traditionalism and conservatism are
together with images of the Maasai male, alternately as a
or obstinate pastoralist (Coast 2001). For early European
encountered this nomad warrior "race", Maasai ilmurran (w
sented the epitome of a wild and free lifestyle4. By publis
accounts of their encounters with Maasai, these explorers
mythic images of Maasai as noble savages and icons of wi
enhanced their own reputation for bravery and boldness
Joan Knowles and David Collett (1989) sketch how the wa
one of several possibilities found in early explorers' texts
in ways that justified colonial policies, and later became the ba
lonial development initiatives5. In part due to these histo
sentations, Maasai are now considered an integral part
wilderness, an image that corresponds with a stereotyped
the primitive, sexual, violent African, or the romanticized ima
savage (Hughes 2006). Edward Bruner (2002: 387) nicely su
representational narrowing of Maasai culture as follows: "
about the Maasai [...] is a gendered Western fantasy of th
proud, courageous, brave, aristocratic, and independent, t
and the freedom-loving pastoralist. Associated with this w
are artifacts and adornments - shield and spear, beads, earr
sandals."

Silver Screen "Maasai"

"He, who has travelled far, sees far", Maasai proverb.

According to Neal Sobania (2002), the Maasai were amongst the earliest
African peoples specified and named in mass-produced European images.

4. An ilmurran describes a stage in a Maasai youth's life when he has been circum-
cised and incorporated into the newest age set. Circumcised young men are
junior warriors, a traditional period of life associated with the establishment of
a manyatta, a camp to protect their neighbourhood.
5. Major colonial accounts that contributed to creating lasting stereotypes ot Maasai
culture include Richard Burton's The Lake Regions of Central Africa (1860),
Joseph Thomson's Through Masailand (1885), Karl Peters' New light on dark
Africa (1891), Sidney and Hildegarde Hinde's The last of the Masai (1901), and
Marguerite Mallett's A white woman among the Masai (1923). Representative
traditional ethnological writings on the Maasai comprise Alfred C. Hollis's The
Masai: Their language and folklore (1905), Meritz Merker's The Masai: Ethno-
graphic monograph of an East African Semite people (1910), Louis S. B. Leakey's
Some notes on the Masai of Kenya Colony (1930), Henry A. Fosbrooke's
An administrative survey of the Masai social system (1948) and George W. B.
Huntingford's The southern Nilo-Hamites (1953).

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 54 NOEL B. SALAZAR

As far as the commer

over-exposed probabl
Africa. This fascinati
and tall dignified bea
West, has increased d
commercialization of
is a consequence of t
through their reputati
of this image by inter
ethnographic films, wr
Among the first Ma
Tanzania's Tepilit Ole
umentary, titled Man
warden in the Sereng
success of the docum
him to study in the
cohabitation of peopl
1988) are considered a
and culture. After co
where the National G
in his life, from a ga
Diary (1989). To some
commendable, while o
agingly labelled the
amassed wealth for s
the fact that Saitoti ha
cultural tours being o
trict. Ethnographic f
nating nostalgic Ma
Llewelyn-Davis, who
pleted her PhD in ant
Her first films (direc
Manhood (1975), were
ethnographies were
Series. They are succe
society that has long
should be like. As ant
although at the time
Maasai life.
Given the representational history of the Maasai briefly sketched above,
it is not surprising that a number of feature films fit the Maasai within a
postcolonial glorification and visual representation of colonial life, a recu-
peration of the era of those who conquered Africa. One of the clearest
examples of this is the classic autobiographic movie Out of Africa (1985)
in which Maasai - as African male "Others" - are seen as a sexual danger

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 55

towards white women. While presenting a nostalgic pic

times, the film also focuses on the relentless decline of Ma
tradition in the face of inevitable modernization. Likewise,
German production, Nowhere in Africa (2001), tells the tr
German Jewish refugee family moving to and adjusting to f
Africa in the 1930s. When the father is suffering from ma
nursed back to health by his Maasai cook and bodyguard - a
of noble savage ethos. The young daughter falls in love wi
black culture, easily absorbing Maasai culture.
The casting of Maasai actors has broken new terrain in
culture's exposure to the mainstream entertainment audie
nately, most films play on the line of exoticism and inno
bothering to tell the Maasai' s own story or create parts that b
culture and intrinsic values. Rather than celebrating the M
industry is treating this people as it once treated Native A
Indians) - as a foil of adventure films, a convenient commun
faceless "barbarians" who can be counted on to foolishly r
of bullets and lose every battle to the good guys. Some
including Richard Gere's Survival International, have em
against the ridiculing of minority cultures, dealing with th
level and listing protection of the Maasai among its prioriti
forcing Maasai to play degrading roles, commonly their part
any acting skills. Typical poses display warriors resting on
leaning on a huge spear as the African sun sets or rises on t
herding cattle, or doing their trademark cultural jig, jump
air. They are largely faceless, pliable, and with no speakin
than occasional chanting, mainly appearing as symbols to sa
makers' ideal of exotic Africa. Newly emerging Tanzanian
understand the monetary value of Maasai warrior represen
Half the space of the promotional poster for the movie B
for example, was taken in by a group of Maasai standing in fro
hut topped by a grass-thatched roof. During the Philadelp
the movie, filmmaker Josiah Kibira confessed that this w
for marketing purposes", because the entire storyline of the
in the USA.
In the 1990s, Hollywood caught the Maasai bug and some
carried representations of the ethnic group, purely for vis
Ghost and the Darkness (1996), which was shot in South A
on a story about the man-eaters of Tsavo (Kenya), had
despite the fact that this does not appear in the original coloni
by Colonel John Patterson. The band of brave warriors
maverick white hunter, brought in to dispatch the man-eat
one else has been able to kill. This film heightened the alr
nature of popular images of Maasai pastoralists, presenting
acters and offering lurid caricatures of their warrior natur

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56 NOEL B. SALAZAR

(2002) was able to rese

as well as how they
distance, unaware of
setting the terms of th
they had become incr
their own image. In
another group of Ma
of a bush in Africa t
the United States sav
Croft Tomb Raider: T
extras clad in bright
for star actress Ange
Benin movie star Djim
Although, or maybe
fierce warriors and ex
absent in wildlife mo
ning wildlife adventu
wild animals and sel
have put Tanzania on
in opening up the cou
was shot inside Arus
places and supplies, no
exception to the rule is
(1994), in which the m
the nomadic existence
ing for their cattle h
diet - a mixture of m
past by stressing how
the Maasai still defen
not all wildlife lover
preferred animals (A
the largest Internet m
the following commen

"This is a great docume

only complaint is that t
about 5 minutes of Afr
see humans every day a

6. The Samburu are the

toralists. The merging
both historical reality an
using Samburu instead o
referring to their relati
cially more attractive t
7. <http://www.imdb.co

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 57

The French-made Masai: The Rain Warriors (2004) is the

tion to be solely populated by real-life Maasai and spoken e
native Maa tongue. The cast had no previous acting experi
thing was shot in the highlands of Kenya, presented as a
untouched by modernity. The storyline, seemingly based
end, follows a group of courageous teenagers who are sent
the mane of the fiercest of all lions, as an offering to th
traditional Maasai rite of passage. While this is a much
cultural representation, it still capitalizes heavily on the war
However, as Bruner (2001: 894) argues, "the colonial image
has been transformed in a post-modern era so that the Maa
pleasant primitives, the human equivalent of the Lion King,
mal king who behaves in human ways. It is a Disney constr
the world safe for Mickey Mouse". His assessment is nicel
The White Massai (2005), a German autobiographical movie
fantasy of what it is like to step outside western culture
culture (actually Samburu). It is a hopelessly romantic love
young Swiss lady who falls for a Samburu while on holiday
friend in Kenya. After overcoming many obstacles, she mo
mud hut with him and spends four years in Kenya, until t
to crumble and she finally flees back to Europe with her b
In animations, Maasai frequently appear as tourism attract
erners. In the Wild Thornberrys episode Critical Masai (200
family is camping near a Maasai village. When the natives v
berry camp, the children of the family run into their Maas
trying to prove himself as a warrior. This inspires the kid
see which one of them is more of a warrior themselves. S
(2001) tells the hilarious story of The Simpsons family saf
Of course, their holiday includes a visit to a Maasai vill
Simpsons are portrayed sitting by the campfire with the chief
a traditional Maasai beverage from calabashes. The fami
take when their local guide tells them it is cows' blood an
find their behaviour uproarious. The Simpsons children sh
the "tribal" body adornments the Maasai gave them - neck
style most commonly found among the Ndebele people in S
Zimbabwe) and a clay lip plate (as worn by the Mursi peop
Valley in south-western Ethiopia). Later, the family go
completely native and dances around the fire with the Ma
exaggeration and irony, the makers succeeded in presenting
critical analysis of western representations of wildest Afri
worth mentioning that The Lion King (1994), undoubtedly th
tial animation made about (East) Africa, does not feature an
if the landscapes unmistakably refer to the wide Serenget
Ngorongoro area - the latter still the home of many Maas

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 58 NOEL B. SALAZAR

Tourismified Maasai

"Visual tropes of traditionalism and martial virtue, contemporary images of pastoral-

ists are seemingly dependent on the tourist gaze. In industrially designed encoun-
ters, tourists at once absorb, reflect, and mentally recreate the pictorial pastoralists
they view while on safari through some of the world's most spectacular landscapes
and its most unusual herds of wild animals" (Galaty 2002: 351).

Apart from the amazing wildlife, it is an undisputed fact that the Maasai
are the flag-bearer of Tanzanian tourism. The relationship between tourism
and Maasai culture in the country has been largely determined by safari
imaginaries. This can be partly explained by the fact that the most popular
"northern circuit" game areas are situated in regions where Maasai reside.
The well-established representational attraction of the Maasai in (western)
tourist-generating countries is another explanation for their relationship with
safari tourism. In fact, until recently Maasai were virtually the only ethnic
group extensively used to represent the Tanzanian people on the one hand
(e.g. the global Tanzania, Authentic Africa campaign of the Tanzania Tourist
Board), and to fulfil the tourists' expectations to see typical authentic Afri-
cans on the other hand8. Although the country is populated by over 120
different ethnic groups, most foreign visitors only think of the Maasai as
"local people" (Bachmann 1988; Spear & Waller 1993). Unsurprisingly,
ilmurran with their distinctive long ochre dyed plaited hair, colourful blan-
kets, and jewellery, are one of the main features associated with Maasai by
the large numbers of international tourists who visit Maasailand. As partici-
pant observation and short semi-structured interviews during safari tours
confirmed, international tourists want to catch a glimpse of warriors with
their lion hunting equipment (spears, clubs, and knives) and women deco-
rated with beads and a child on their back in their most traditional habitat9.
They not only want to set eyes on the Maasai - "as seen on television" -
but also want to immortalize the experience by taking their pictures or film-
ing them and buying tangible souvenirs to be reminded of the "historical"
encounter.

In conventional tourism circles, the Maasai have traditionally been repr

sented as a unique and esoteric community that represents the essence
real Africa, namely as a people who have managed to resist western influ
ence and to retain their "exotic" culture. As a consequence, overseas tou

8. The much smaller ethnic group of Hadzabe bushmen of Karatu District (Easte
Rift Valley) are now being promoted aggressively by Tanzania's tourism industr
as the last "authentic" hunter-gatherers of East Africa.
9. Visitors to Maasai-inhabited areas in Tanzania do not come to see only, or prim
rily, the Maasai. Their attraction is mainly to the wildlife and a visit to a Maasa
settlement is combined with a wildlife-viewing safari through the African savan
nah. This was not different in the past. Although the Maasai and their cattl
have been crucial elements in the Serengeti ecosystem, they were merely a foot
note to Theodore Roosevelt's hunting safari of 1909, the event that turned Ame
ica's attention to East Africa.

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 59

operators and travel agents often market the Maasai as one o

dinary, mysterious indigenous African communities that
untouched by western influence and the global forces of
These forms of tourism imaginaries are usually represent
tourists, particularly Euro-American tourists, who are keen on
adventure in the manner of the early European explorers (altho
showed that Asian visitors touring Maasailand also like
instances, foreign tourists, and particularly those from Nor
Europe, want to see Africans and the African landscape in
as they saw it during their formative years of image-moulding
of the black continent were usually based on information
the colonial period (Wels 2002: 64). Therefore, many West
pristine African landscapes dotted with picturesque huts to
thatched roofs. They also expect to hear the sound of dru
they arrive in Africa, and to see African natives rhythmic
the ongoing cadence, representing real and quintessential
1996). As the visual cultural representations discussed above
jects the Maasai as primitive people who "walk tall" am
Africa wildlife.
John Akama (2002), who did a historical analysis of the development
of the Maasai image and the representation of their culture in the tourism
industry, argues the latter has taken over colonial images to use Maasai
culture as "additional anecdotes" in the safari experience. Many stories
and elements of Maasai culture therefore have been torn from their socio-
cultural context to function as entertainment around the safari campfire.
Examples of this are the jumping warriors and their heroic stories about
the killing of lions and their sexual potency, as expressed by the number
of wives. This Maasai image is being used to contribute to the adventurous
and authentic atmosphere of the wildlife safari. These Maasai representa-
tions fit perfectly within the fantasy of authentic indigenous Africa: living
in mud huts, herding cattle, seemingly untouched and unaware of the global-
ized world. The romance of the safari pairs the viewing of game with the
scenes of nomadic Maasai. Because of their presence near the most popular
game parks and their worldwide image, the Maasai are both being pushed
and pulled into the front region of tourism, resulting in the apparent freezing
or standstill of their culture. Their lasting place in tourists' imagination is
partly due to the common belief that they still live in harmony with nature.
While true to a degree, this idea leads to the attitude, reinforced by tourism
promotions, that the Maasai are part of the landscape, not so unlike wilde-
beest and zebras. In reality, the same protected areas that draw tourists were
often created by removing the Maasai people from their lands (Neumann
1998)10. However, Tanzanian tour guides now jokingly say that foreign

10. In 1959, with the establishment of Serengeti National Park, the Maasai who lived
there were evicted and moved to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. In 1974,
they were forced to evacuate some parts of Ngorongoro as well, because their

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 60 NOEL B. SALAZAR

visitors do not come t

to denote the five mos
elephant, and buffalo

Maasai (Images) on
"It was also in Zanzibar
tribe mostly living in Ke
(don't quote me on that)
ing things about them,
is. There is a small num
tional beaded jewellery
to have half our bodies

Due to popular cultu

lier, every tourist s
minded Maasai thems
Gimblett 1994). Indee
of themselves for tou
objectification and se
in the tourism game, o
Maasai culture, are fo
culture, like any oth
circumstances. Group
guages and livelihood
various national and i
(1999: 220) nicely illu

"It was a classic African

his kraal, as his ancesto
to this photo-perfect pa
ber of Parliament, form
was a newly built Maas

presence believed t was

they faced further rest
stiffened. In 2006, the
communities living in
area by end of the year
1 1 . While observing a c
a teacher tell the appren
that many western fem
things: to see a lion and
nary that Maasai men are well endowed).
1 2. <http://www.travelpod.eom/travel-blog-entries/gracielastanley/preparations/l 14208
2900/tpod.htm>.

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 61

The forces of modernization and globalization have visi

into traditional gear as well. The customary animal sk
replaced by polyester tartan blankets produced in Pakistan
in ornaments that undergo frequent revisions to keep up
fashions come from the Czech Republic. The traditional kn
imported from China, the blades sharpened and made smal
fit locally made protective sheaths. The ilmurran are incr
using cell phones, smoking cigarettes with filters, wearing
or putting on watches (which are often taken off the moment
shows up). Finally, many Maasai children are now attendi
secondary school and there is a rapidly growing group of
urban(ized) Maasai, although there is still a very clear gen
2002).
Tourism generally has been a nuisance because photographic safaris
have commoditized much of Maasai culture (van der Cammen 1997). Of
course, the degree of influence of tourism on Maasai settlements varies
according to their location relative to main access roads. However, virtually
no communities are left completely untouched by visiting foreigners.
Whereas tourism alone should not be held responsible for all changes Maa-
sai communities are currently undergoing, the tourismification process has
quickly turned their traditions into a cultural tourism commodity, part of
an all-inclusive package13. One of the major predicaments is that so many
of the traditional activities of the Maasai are now against the law; and pre-
cisely those illegal activities are most appealing to tourists14. The conver-
sion of culture into an object of tourism means that traditional values are
transformed into commercial ones, in a bid to meet (projected) tourist expec-
tations and desires. This transformation comes with several semantic
changes, both positive and negative to vernacular traditions. Many Maasai
themselves, like other indigenous groups, seem to be selling their own mar-
ginality. Were they not marginal to and different from the tourists, they
would not have attracted the latter' s attention. In order to sustain such
commodity and to continue attracting customers, they have to maintain their
difference. They may try to put on a show, for example (Bruner & Kirshen-
blatt-Gimblett 1994). Blue jeans, watches, and cell phones are concealed
behind spears, feathers, and other ornaments or may be taken off for the
duration of the show. However, in order to sustain itself over time, such
a show has to be well disguised. It would be self-defeating if it were too
blatant (Bruner 2001). Spears, clubs, jewellery and artwork were initially

13. Other factors that have greatly contributed to transforming the Maasai way of
life are (global) trade, missionary activities (including schooling), and, increas-
ingly, new information and communication technologies {e.g. the use of mobile
phones and the Internet).
14. The British banned, unsuccessfully, the practices of the ilmurran in 1921, and
the postcolonial East African governments all have laws against lion hunting,
cattle raiding, and female circumcision.

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 62 NOEL B. SALAZAR

just part of the cultu

for their own subsist
while selling these ar
turing system is set
leaking calabashes use
The fact that Maasai a
ens the marginality a
attraction. Maasai ar
regarded as most ma
centrality of the so-
have become voiceless
they are asked to par
selves, for others. M
growing tourist souv
into visitor shows. Cu
bly and has to yield a
ism maintains, defen
development within bo
is the permanent pre
role in performing da
market place, wherea
should live together i
areas (Ritsma & Onga
ings from short inte
that most of the Maa
tourism purposes.
Some Maasai themse
a means of enticing f
more and more Maas
to my Maasai research
their culture to make
or seeking to be phot
so aware of how to ext
sion have been horrifie
graphed and videoed,

"various forms of unwanted behaviour and vices of mass tourism have been noted
in Maasailand. They include incidents of prostitution, alcoholism, smoking, and
drug taking. The Maasai youth are especially influenced by tourist behaviour and
are enticed to indulge in such deviant activities."

Not only Maasai culture in general is changing; some Maasai themselves

are exploring new horizons. In the coastal towns of Kenya and on the
beaches of Zanzibar, the places where most of the package tourists stay,
there are many Maasai. Attracted by potential employment opportunities

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 63

and the seeming wealth of touristic regions, up-country

migrated to these coastal areas. Benefiting from their image,
jobs as security guards, sell artefacts and adornments along t
in towns, and perform traditional dances in hotels. In Zan
Town, for example, there are plenty of Maasai tourist art trad
migrated from the northern districts of Arusha and Kilimanj
following the tourist movements. Many of them were first
walinzi (guardians) in hotels, but then - being extremely popula
ists who tour the national parks in the north of Tanzania - became
tion themselves and now perform for tourists. Most have
tourism souvenir trade for a while and travel regularly between th
and Zanzibar. Quite a number of them got into tourism after
droughts of the 1990s, when most of their cattle died. They ar
of their aesthetic appeal to a foreign tourism gaze. Interesting
Stone Town's Maasai or Maasai-style tourist art is actually mad
ari people. The Maasai men who make beaded jewellery are
oddity, because, in their own culture, beading is a woman's tas
also Tanzanian Maasai women started migrating from Maasail
es Salaam and other cities, even as far as Zanzibar, Kampala, a
They produce and sell beads and traditional medicines for cas
their families.
This phenomenon of migration is indicative of an overall intensifying
impoverishment of the Maasai (Coast 2002). Only very few migrated for
frivolous reasons, and those few are seen by others as deviants, likely to
stay in town and become "lost" to the more traditional Maasai community
(May 2003: 17). Many Maasai blame the recent decline in economic cir-
cumstances on their lack of schooling. Formal education was historically
shunned, partly due to the mobile life style, and also because the relevance
of it for pastoralism was not evident. Young Maasai men who travel to
the coast to become "beach boys" may expand the sense of roaming adven-
ture long associated with their age grade, but elders are concerned about
their moral decline from encounters with western tourists (Hodgson 2001).
The new migrants usually profess a profound dislike for life in the city,
and an expressed goal to earn enough to replenish their shrunken livestock
herds and return home; a wish to remain pastoralists (albeit not in a tradi-
tional way, but making use of modern commodities and new information
and communication technologies) and politically as well as socio-culturally
independent. Unfortunately, few Maasai seem to be reaping substantial
financial benefits from tourism.

Tourism Trap?

"Pastoral peoples find themselves in a kind of trap. To the extent that they want
a share of the tourist dollar, or want the income derived from selling their images
to the Western media, then they are required to enact the Western fantasy. But

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64 NOEL B. SALAZAR

to the extent that they

perpetuate that fantasy

Through the tourism

their culture's capacit
scene. This has quickly
mainly because touris
tors. Cultural narrativ
reference to tourism.
Maasai history and cu
images and stereotype
that provide additiona
and adventure in the
into an "economy of p
exploitation of one's ow
inates where few econ
Gimblett 1994).
When human agents
legitimize, they reprodu
representations that spe
pretation of what they
fore, un-coordinated
destroy territorial an
can be argued that ins
economic problems th
the process of margin
historical and cultural
be an integral part of t
alized and prestigious
processes can be medi
In tourism, culture is
for new audiences (Bru
sarily lead to homogen
create hybridization (
Dean MacCannell (197
world are ex-primitive
world, and another kin
tive', a kind of perfor
of local traditions, of
cultural tourists, the p
of identity affirmati
tion", or, in this case,
Maasai culture has tried
tion" for tourists to a
history, politics, and t
a monolithic romantic

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 65

in international tourism discourse, but what is crucial for a

of tourism imaginaries is to ethnographically examine pa
determine how global imageries are locally enacted. One o
have tried to make in this article is that popular visual m
factor in influencing tourist expectations, and, ultimately,
behaviours of those that are visited as well. In the case of
Staples (2006: 394) recently reminded us that "largely as a
pendent and commercially sponsored safari films, as well a
safari films that followed in their wake, African cultures
dances, colourful costumes, and exotic practices became em
continent". These kind of images-as-imaginaries are so po
"they not only enact but also construct peoples, places, and
2002: 387). It is important to acknowledge that images are
neutral; they have real world consequences, sometimes un
and sometimes consequences that contradict precisely what
designed to convey. No matter how, cultural representation of
is a political act. As far as Maasai are concerned,

"a diffuse train of associations is triggered by distinctive cloth- wr

consciously designed hair-pieces, patterns of lobe extension and sc
of jewellery, and weapons seemingly joined to bodies, which tran
ties of time, place, and cultural affinity. Those associations inclu
tionalism, localism, difference" (Galaty 2002: 348).

Everybody seems to "know" the Maasai - with spears and

ing or charging across the open plains - at a time these pastora
are faced with political marginalization and are often bein
their land. The silent assertions that are partners of the
through which they are conveyed suggest, wrongly, that
unready to grasp the opportunities of modernization, are
their use of the rangelands, and represent unworthy trustees
mental resources of the great East African savannah (ibid.
exploitation of Native Americans only began to break down
Hollywood luminaries such as Marlon Brando spoke out aga
tive portrayals15. Who is willing to do the same for the

The Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) and Marie Curie Fell

(Th European Community Framework Programme) at the Intercu
Migration and Minority Research Centre, University of Leuven,
Visiting Research Associate at the Centre for Tourism and Cultu
Leeds Metropolitan University, UK.

15. When Brando received a Best Actor Academy Award in 1972,

American actress Sacheen Littlefeather on stage to reject the
this, Brando wanted to chastise the Hollywood community for
portrayal of (Red) Indians and bring national attention to the
siege at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

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 66 NOEL B. SALAZAR

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CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF PEOPLES AND PLACES 7 1

Abstract

The various ways in which peoples and places around the globe are represented and
documented in popular media have an immense impact on how tourists imagine
and anticipate future destinations. Even though tourism discourses take a variety of
forms, visual imagery seems to have the biggest influence on shaping tourists' pre-
trip fantasies. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this paper illustrates the dynamic
processes of cultural tourismification in Tanzania's so-called "northern circuit". In
many parts of the world, famous nature documentaries, mainstream Hollywood enter-
tainment, and semi-biographic films about this region have become fashionable icons
for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, often reinforcing a perfect nostalgic vision of
the black continent as an unexplored and time-frozen wild Eden. While tourism
representations have overwhelmingly focused on wildlife, an increasing demand for
"meet-the-people" cultural tourism is increasingly bringing local people into the pic-
ture. Interestingly, locals are commonly portrayed while engaging in vibrant rituals
or in inauthentic, staged poses wearing celebrative costumes. As an example, the
paper discusses how the romanticized image of the virile Maasai warrior, dressed in
colourful red blankets and beaded jewellery, has led to a true Maasai-mania that is
profoundly affecting the daily life and culture of Maasai and other ethnic groups.

R£sum£

Image ou imagine ? Les representations culturelles et la « tourismification » des

peuples et des lieux. - Les differentes fagons dont les peuples et les lieux sont
represents dans les medias populaires ont un impact immense sur la maniere qu'ont
les touristes d'imaginer et de prevoir leurs futures destinations. Bien que les discours
sur le tourisme prennent des formes diverses et variees, les images semblent avoir
la plus grande influence sur la fagon dont les touristes revent leurs voyages. Base
sur un travail de terrain ethnographique, ce texte illustre les processus dynamiques
de tourismification culturelle dans ce qu'on appelle « le circuit du nord » de Tanza-
nie. Dans beaucoup d'endroits du monde, les documentaires celebres sur la nature,
les divertissements grand-public de Hollywood et les films plus ou moins bio-
graphiques de cette region sont devenus des icones a la mode pour I'Afrique sub-
saharienne, renforgant souvent une vision nostalgique du continent noir comme un
Eden sauvage inexplore et fige dans le temps. Alors que les representations du tou-
risme se sont principalement centrees sur la faune et la flore, une large demande
« de rencontrer des gens » se fait sentir. De plus en plus, le tourisme culturel fait entrer
la population dans le paysage. On montre frequemment les habitants pratiquant des
rituels vibrants ou habilles de costumes de ceremonie dans des mises en scene sans
authenticity En exemple, ce texte traite de I'image idealisee du guerrier massaT, viril,
pare dans des couvertures rouges et orne de bijoux, qui mene a une vraie « massaY-
mania » qui affecte profondement la vie quotidienne et la culture des MassaT et
d'autres groupes ethniques.

Keywords/yVfofs-c/es: Tanzania, Maasai, cultural representation, tourism imaginary,

tourismification/Tanzan/e, Massai, representation culturelle, imaginaire touristique,
tourismification.

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