The Church of Women: Gendered Encounters between Maasai and Missionaries

6. Possessed by the Spirit

210 6 POSSESSED BY THE SPIRIT The word “conversion” implies transformation from one state to another, raising questions of motivation, meaning, power, and process. Who converts and why? Who does not convert? How do we trace and understand the dynamics of power when conversion occurs in a missionary context, as opposed to in areas in which the church is well established and Christian conversion and belief have become the unquestioned norm? More centrally, how do we explain the preponderance of female converts to Christianity in Africa and elsewhere, despite concerted efforts by most missionary groups to convert men? This chapter analyzes why so many Maasai women (and so few men) chose to participate in the Catholic Church. I probe the different perspectives of Maasai men and women on conversion: why they converted or did not convert, the meanings of conversion, and their experiences of conversion. Questions of agency are central to these discussions, as illustrated by the concept of oltau (heart, spirit) as the agent of conversion and the role of orpeko (spirit possession) in “forcing” women to convert and enabling them to overcome the resistance of men. Spirituality and conversion were thus sites for struggles over gender relations, ethnic identities, and claims to power and moral authority. Although both men and women asserted the centrality of religious beliefs and practices to their sense of ethnic identity, I argue that involvement in the Catholic Church has enhanced women’s spirituality, strengthened their sense of moral authority, and provided them with an alternative female community beyond the control of men. In contrast, most men have rejected women’s more flexible notions of the relationship between ethnicity, culture, religion, and identity and have insisted that Catholic teachings and practices are contrary to “being Maasai.” Possessed by the Spirit 211 Spiritual Natures So why have Maasai women been so eager to join this “church of women,” despite the objections of Maasai men and the reluctance of most Spiritan missionaries? Certainly the historic moment of the encounter was one factor, as missionaries intervened at a time when tensions between men and women over economic rights and political authority were high, and women were searching for individual and collective “healing.” As discussed in chapter 1, by the 1950s the former complementary roles, rights, and responsibilities of Maasai men and women had been transformed into much more hierarchical and patriarchal relationships. Maasai men took advantage of the economic and political opportunities provided to them by British colonial practices to assert themselves as the household “heads,” livestock “owners,” and political leaders of their families and communities (Hodgson 2001a, 1999a). These slow and sometimes subtle social changes were intensi fied in the 1950s when the British suddenly accelerated their pressure on Maasai to “modernize,” in part through the comprehensive objectives and coercive implementation of the Masai Development Plan. These included harsh demands that Maasai integrate themselves fully into the cash economy, improve the productivity and increase the sales of their livestock, educate their children, exploit the vast labor potential of ilmurran, replace their customary dress with Western clothes, and build and live in permanent settlements (Hodgson 2001a, 2000a). As a result of these changes, Maasai women lost economic and political power, social autonomy, and spatial mobility. Their domestic workloads increased, and they were excluded from the expanding opportunities for education and income generation. Not surprisingly , they became (and remain) bitter and resentful about their changed situation (Hodgson 2001a, 1999c). But timing was only one factor. Unlike colonial administrators concerned with economic and political issues, Spiritan missionaries interceded in a realm—religion—where women felt empowered to assert themselves. As discussed in chapter 1, women perceived themselves (and were perceived by some men) as more religious, more prayerful, and therefore closer in spirit to Eng’ai. As “Nanne,” a middle-aged woman, explained to Morani and me in 1992: “You men [referring to Morani] just don’t want it. Why, for me there is usually not a day when I don’t come out and pray to Eng’ai. Even when I’m sleeping I pray to Eng’ai. But you men pray to Eng’ai only if you have a problem. Why, I splash milk for Eng’ai every evening and morning.” A number of Maasai men that I interviewed supported such a perspective, THE CHURCH OF WOMEN 212 explaining women’s attraction to the church as part of their superior spiritual nature, which manifested itself...