Meet the Tribe Where Men Must Share Their Wives With Other Men In The Village

Polyandry, which is the practice of a woman taking two or more husbands at the same time, existed for many years, across all continents.

It is common knowledge that among the Maasai, men of Kenya of the same age group were free to share the hospitality of each other’s wives.

The word hospitality here is used in its widest and most generous form, leaving nothing out that should be in. When a female Maasai marries a man, she not only marries him, but his extended family and friends as well.

Because of high infant death rates, some elder husbands will allow other male family members to sleep with her (but only if the wife agrees). If she is impregnated, the baby is considered to be the child of both her husband and the other man (or men).

If a Maasai man wished to avail himself of the matrimonial benefits of his mate’s wife, all he needed to do was call on her while the husband was out, plant his spear outside her hut, and the woman would be his for the night as long as the spear stood its ground.

If the husband happened to come home while the spear was still erect, he would understand and move on to another mate’s hut and “do likewise”. And so it went, or perhaps still goes.

Forgetting their own little moral transgressions here and there, puritans have condemned the arrangement as immoral and “unAfrican”. Contrast this moral outrage with the general acceptance of polygamy.

Polygamy is supported by at least one major religion and the laws of many countries. It is what we call culture. Yet culture is not static, and things that were previously frowned upon as anathema soon find their way into mainstream culture.

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