A lost tribe

This morning, before definitively getting up for the day, we were pondering about the diets of the world. Our cartoon was that decent folk in dry climates had a diet based on wheat, while those in wet climates had a diet based on rice. Up north, in the cold regions surrounding the north pole, people had a diet based on meat, particularly the marine variety, things like seal and fish. Then there were various other oddities, for example, places where potatoes were dominant. Or where there was a lot of fruit.

Another such oddity were the tribal peoples of east Africa who lived mainly on cows, particularly their blood and their milk. We thought Kenya. But we could not bring their name to mind. Now usually when this happens, one just goes away for a bit and after a while the name pops back into mind. Today, I tried to force the matter.

I thought that the name started with an 'M'. Then that it was a shortish word, probably involving an interior 's' or 'z'. But I was blocked by 'Maori' which was clearly wrong. But I continued to circle around, trying to bring what I knew of these people to mind. 

Now two things often happen in these circumstances. First, I turn out to be quite wrong about the initial letter. Second, when the name pops back into mind, I am, immediately, quite sure that it is the right word. It is a very familiar word, which I am very comfortable with.

But on this occasion, the word 'Masai' crept into view rather gradually. I was not sure that it was right at all. The word did not seem or sound like a real word at all. Then over a few minutes, it became familiar again and I become more confident about it. At which point I got up to check with Bing, to find that I had got the word right, even if the current anglicisation of the word involves a double 'aa'.

Also to find that the Maasai were a Nilotic people who came down to their present homelands from the north, pushing out or assimilating the peoples who were already there. Not the sort of thing allowed since the UN Charter of 1945. See reference 1.

PS 1: somewhere along the way there was also the thought that a wheat diet was associated with both coeliac disease and psoriasis, two tiresome complaints which we happen to be familiar with. The further thought that, if push came to shove, I might miss (wheaten) bread more than alcohol.

PS 2: Bing offered lots of colourful snaps of Maasai people, but one involving cows seemed more appropriate on this occasion, although I stopped short of paying Superstock for a proper version of that above. A company I don't think I have come across before.

PS 3: Superstock also offers art, and to try them out I asked for the rape of Europa, a painting by Titian in which I have been taking an interest recently. To get the snap offered above, which I thought seemed much lighter than the painting I had come to know; pallid even. Was this just the vagaries of reproduction? Had it been cleaned recently? Then it turned out to be a quality copy made by Rubens when he happened to be visiting at the Spanish Court. See reference 3. The things one picks up in the margins!

PS 4: not much Titian to be found in this volume of the blog. But there is a link, via reference 5, to Olympia. The same as we came across in Berkeley Square, just the other week. Finding which is left as an exercise for the reader. And there is some recent Rubens. Ditto.

References

Reference 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasai_people.

Reference 2: https://www.superstock.com/.

Reference 3: https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-rape-of-europe/a136a9c4-3a2f-44bd-ab8a-97fd47c30d7e.

Reference 4: Titian's 'Rape of Europa' - edited by Nathaniel Silver - 2021. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/09/olympia.html.