The Maasai resisted British colonialism through both armed resistance and strategic negotiation. They fought in the 1890s but were weakened by rinderpest, drought, and internal conflict. The British imposed treaties in 1904 and 1911, moving the Maasai out of the Rift Valley. Some Maasai leaders collaborated, others resisted, most did what they could to survive. The colonial period reduced Maasai political power and land, but it did not erase their identity. They emerged from colonialism marginalized but intact, a people who refused to disappear.