MAU MAU UPRISING SHORT SWORD SEME

The national sword of the Maasai, it was embraced as the primary weapon and symbol of the Mau Mau Uprising of the Massai, Kikuyu, and related peoples, 1952-60. 15 3/8” spatulate medial ridged blade remounted from an earlier, probably heirloom sword. Hide wrapped wood grip. In its red hide covered scabbard which was emblematic of the Mau Mau terrorists and by which they were known to each other and the colonial farmers. Mau Mau raiders devastated British colonial farms, slaughtering the farmers and livestock with frenzied wild hacking attacks with these short swords.