Social mobility in children's mobility? An investigation into child circulation among the Maasai of Kenya

There is an old Maasai children’s story about a young brother and sister who, following the death of their mother, are sent to live with an evil, abusive stepmother. The siblings eventually run away and after several misadventures with the Devil, they secure the Devil’s livestock, kill their stepmother and father, and live happily ever after. This Maasai story, retold by Hollis (1905), recalls the tales of the Grimm brothers, whose protagonists—Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, and Cinderella—were also abused at the hands of evil stepmothers. This suggests that the fear that fostered or adopted children might be vulnerable to the “wicked whims” of nonnatal caretakers is not only a Western preoccupation.