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m' FIELDIANA
Anthropology

Published by Field Museum of Natural History

Volume 66, No. 2 June 14, 1976

Mrs. Kadiato Kamara:
An Expert Dyer in Sierra Leone1

LORETTA REINHARDT

Assistant Professor

Erindale College, university of Toronto

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

This paper gives a brief account of indigo dyeing in Sierra Leone.
Two particular interests account for the organization of the paper:
first, to indicate the social and economic conditions underlying the
dynamic stylistic changes presently occurring in gara dyeing in
Sierra Leone; second, to treat technique and style as seen in the
work of one of the country's best known dyers, Mrs. Kadiato
Kamara, in order to show the interaction of the above factors in
context.

Sierra Leone lies midway along West Africa's Western Guinea
Coast. Climatically, the country is divided into two zones, tropical
forest in the south and a somewhat drier grassland environment in
the north. Although it is a small country of some 27,000 sq. miles,
Sierra Leone has a population of 21/2 million people divided into 13
major tribal groupings. Many of the tribes belong to the great
group of Mande-speaking peoples, a language family as diverse and

1 The material presented in this paper is based on fieldwork supported by the
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Field Museum of Natural
History, the Southern Illinois University Museum, and Dr. Gordon Gibson of the
Smithsonian Institution. Facilities for analysis were provided by Erindale College,
University of Toronto. Special thanks are due Dr. Basil Hedrick for his sponsorship
of my work, .and Drs. Philip Dark, Adrian Gerbrands, Claire LaVigna, and Miss
Mary Jackes for many helpful comments on the text. I am very grateful to the many
gara dyers who helped me in my study, especially to Mrs. Kamara, and to Edith and
Richard Butz, who introduced me to Mrs. Kamara.

© Loretta Reinhardt, 1976

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-11369

US ISSN 0071-4739

Publication 1230 11

12 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

important in West African history as are the Romance languages in
Europe.

Both tie-dyeing and batik have a very old history in West Africa.
In Sierra Leone, as elsewhere on the Western Guinea Coast, these
types of dyeing are called gara dyeing, referring to the gara leaves
which come from indigo plants, and which are the principal ingredi-
ents of the dye. "Gara" is a term of southern Mandinka origin and
is used widely in Sierra Leone.1 The Mandinkas are one of the princi-
pal Mande-speaking peoples and they and other closely related
peoples are pre-eminent gara dyers, practicing the work widely
throughout the Western Guinea Coast region. But, women of all
ethnic groups in Sierra Leone practice gara dyeing, and it is likely
that the technique of dyeing itself has a very ancient history in the
area. Early European chroniclers make reference to dyeing (e.g.,
Vivian, 1896), and there is an example of gara cloth collected from
the Western Guinea Coast in the latter part of the nineteenth cen-
tury in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution.2

Undoubtedly, the practice of indigo dyeing in West Africa must
be older than the past few centuries during which occasional his-
torical references to it can be found. From the wide distribution of
indigo dyeing in West Africa, as in other tropical areas of the world,
it may be inferred that the dyeing technique is indeed quite old. In
fact, the indigoferous plants consist of extremely varied species and
occur throughout tropical areas around the world. Likewise, indigo
dyeing, in one form or another, is also found throughout the tropical
areas of the world. It seems likely that vat dyeing (relying on the
fermentation of the indigo leaves and other substances) as practiced
in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in West Africa, must depend on a
settled existence, and may therefore have been one of the neolithic
developments associated with agriculture and the settled pattern of
life it allowed.

1 Many of the terms used in this chapter, e.g., siti, taka, kolingie, are of similar
origin, and likewise are used generally in the lingua franca of Sierra Leone, which is
Krio. Krio is the primary language of the residents of Freetown, developed origin-
ally by the peoples freed from slavery and settled there. The vocabulary of Krio is
as diverse as were the ethnic groups that formed it. Many English words occur in
the language, and "cloud" (used here as a descriptive term for one type of gara de-
sign) is such an example.

2 A number of the references cited in the text offer general discussions of early
mention of African textiles and dyeing. See especially: Barbour and Simmonds,
1971, passim; Boser-Sarivaxevanis, 1969, p. 153 and passim; Kent, 1971, pp. 1-3;
Plumer, 1971, passim; Sieber, 1972, pp. 196-201 andpassim.

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA 13

Further, although detailed field studies of dyeing techniques in
West Africa are still relatively scarce (Barbour and Simmonds,
1971, is one of the best to date; representative bibliographies may
be found in Boser-Sarivaxevanis, 1969; Kent, 1971; Plumer, 1971;
and Sieber, 1972), they do indicate that techniques may vary con-
siderably among such centers as Nigeria, Mali, and Sierra Leone.
While the general similarity of some styles suggests diffusion of
aspects of this art, the basic differences on the technical level may
suggest independent invention in the different centers.

It is obvious that the problem of the origin and history of indigo
dyeing in West Africa cannot be dealt with by the use of historical
sources alone. Archaeological work may uncover evidence of dye
pits and pots, but the interpretation of such remains is often un-
certain. Comparative linguistic and glottochronological studies of
dyeing terminology in different language groups should be most
useful in providing an idea of possible time depth, since it is a
reasonable assumption that the words denoting special dyeing tech-
niques would not have existed without the techniques. Finally, it is
to be hoped that future ethnographic work will provide a fuller
range of detailed reports which may be used in archaeological inter-
pretation and linguistic study, and which will give a better under-
standing of one of Africa's richest cultural achievements.

Although indigo dyeing has given way in many areas of West
Africa to cheap, imported "Holland cloth," Sierra Leone has seen a
veritable explosion in this dyeing since World War II. The dyeing is
now done mostly on imported cloth of varied types (ranging from
cheap poplin, to cotton damask, to cotton satin), and in recent years
there have been important innovations based on the new use of
kola nut dye and commercial dyes. The dry season, October to
April, is the period of greatest activity since the weather facilitates
the work of airing and drying the cloth and exposing it to the sun. In
addition, because the dry season is the time for both harvests and
festivals, people have more money to spend, and they like to get new
clothes for the festivals. Each dry season ushers in changes in style
which spread rapidly throughout the whole country. Such intense
stylistic variation seems not always to have been the case; ac-
cording to Dr. M. C. F. Easmon (1967, personal communication),
founder of the Sierra Leone Museum, formerly gara was seen mainly
only in the long, dark robes of Moslems and in the cotton yarn used
in native weaving. The basic designs seem not to have received very
much elaboration and production was not as great as at present.

14 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

Due probably to general economic conditions and the influx of
various Mandinka peoples in the post-war period, gara cloth became
increasingly popular. Following the Pan-African Exhibition of
African Art in Dakar in 1963, kola nut and commercial dyes began
to be used, and the Government Crafts Centre in Freetown spon-
sored and encouraged these innovations. Thus gara dyeing may be
seen as a national art in Sierra Leone both in its production and use
(see below, p. 19), notwithstanding tribal and even personal variation
in technique and terminology. The styles and terminology given in
this paper have general use among all groups and function as an
integrative baseline in both visual and verbal communication.

Social and Economic Organization of Gara Dyeing

Gara dyeing is regarded as a secret craft that a girl generally
learns from her mother. However, personalities vary, and a woman
may decide to teach other kinswomen the secrets, or even to teach a
friend for a fee. One fee was described as including: one cutlass, one
mat, one bolt of cloth, one fowl, seven Leones (ca. $8.50), and a large
dish of cooked red rice (rice with palm oil sauce). Such a fee is con-
siderable, in terms of local economics, but learning gara is well
worth the cost, for the status of gara women has always been re-
garded as high: Little (1967, p. 39) notes that in the old days it was
said that "the mark of a free woman was that her hands were always
black with dye." While gara dyers no longer advertise their pro-
fession by going about with black hands, they are still well regarded
for they do not have to leave their homes to practice their profession
as, for example, market women do. Only in one town, Makeni, do
women act as gara sellers in the market. Further, while gara dyeing
is one of the few economically productive occupations a non-literate
woman can follow besides farm work, it is not only non-literate
women who engage in it. Literate women, some with considerable
post-secondary education, also engage in dyeing. In Freetown, with
its population of varied economic means, some of these women have
achieved what might be called a coutouriere role, catering to the
wealthy by creating specially designed cloths and clothes for their
customers.

When one woman teaches another gara, she is supposed to pray
for the success of her student. Indeed, one well-known dyer said
that when people have trouble with their dyeing, they come to her,
give her a small present, and ask her to pray for them. Likewise,
when a woman starts a new gara pot, she performs a small ritual
and asks God for help with the work. Also reported, at least for

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA 15

former times, are stricter observances, including celibacy during the
work, but, at least at present, this is discounted by other practi-
tioners. Here, as in other aspects of gara, variation is to be ex-
pected, especially inasmuch as it is a secret craft.

Traditionally, gara dyeing was women's work, but nowadays
Mandinka men are also very active in it. A Mandinka woman ex-
plained that, formerly, the men kept the cattle and the women dyed
cloth. Both the man and the woman worked, and so they prospered.
Now that they have moved farther south into more forested areas
and into towns, the men can no longer keep cattle, and so they work
at gara dyeing, too. Since both sexes still work hard, they still
prosper. Mandinka men are experts at sewing and tieing the
patterns into the cloth and have come to be specialists at it. To be a
true gara dyer a woman must know how to do these things, but, in
fact, the women of other tribes often send cloth to these men to be
tied and sewn, paying for it by the piece.

Types of Gara Compounds

There are presently in Sierra Leone three levels of organization of
the production of gara cloth. The first level is the smallest operation
(fig. 1). It involves one gara dyer, assisted at times by one or two
kinswomen, and perhaps some of the children of the household.
Even such a small operation requires a fair outlay of funds on such
items as the various basins, pots, and drums which are needed, the
dyestuffs themselves, and on cloth, wax, stamps, mortars, extra
kindling for the fire and the like. While some of these things serve
other uses in the household, together they amount to more than a
poor household or even one of ordinary means would have at hand.
Thus a gara dyer is likely to begin as a person of reasonable means.
She may be the wife of a "big" man, a man of wealth, who does not
require her help with farm work. Thus she is therefore free to engage
in this occupation, bringing more wealth and prestige to the family,
but principally to herself and her children.

The small-scale operation often tends to be sporadic. The dyer
may set only one or two dye pots a season and produce not more
than 40 to 60 lappas. A lappa is a length of cloth of standard size,
big enough to be wrapped around the body as a skirt. This dyer sells
locally, or sometimes a male kinsman may take the lappas into a
large town and try to sell them there for her. Some small-scale gara
dyers, who have gained repute, have managed to acquire better
contacts for distribution, mostly in Freetown, the capital, and this
allows them to maintain a fairly steady production. For the most

16

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

Fig. 1. Small-sized operation. Mama Kaday is rinsing the candle wax out of a
lappa by dipping it into a couldron of boiling water. Other such rinsed lappas are
hanging on the clothesline in the background. Much of the equipment needed by a
dyer is shown: note the two 50-gal. steel drums used for the gara dye, one at the left
rear and one behind the lappas hanging on the clothes line (field photograph:
SL99C-21).

part, however, managing a wider distribution remains a tricky and
difficult problem for the small-scale dyer.

The second level of organization of the production of gara cloth is
a middle-sized operation (fig. 2) which includes all the members in
the household of an extended family, consisting of some six to ten
actively involved adults. The level of production is high, and the
lappas are sold both locally and in the markets of larger towns.

Whereas the first two levels of organization appear among vari-
ous ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, the third level of organization
seems characteristically Mandinka. This level of organization which
is much more commercialized, comprises an operation based in a
large compound (fig. 3) housing a number of related families, as
well as individuals hired as helpers. These helpers are usually young

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA

17

Fig. 2. Middle-sized operation. A section of a fairly large extended family com-
pound is shown. Several women are dipping lappas. The lappas are draped over
poles which conveniently extend across the dye pots, so that the excess dye may
drip right back into the pots. The pots in the foreground are old-fashioned pottery
ones rarely seen nowadays; those in the background are cement imitations of the
former. Note that the lappas being processed are stamped or tied into a variety of
designs (field photograph: SL7C-22).

Mandinka men arriving in town from the country who may rise in
the ranks of the compound and, eventually, establish compounds of
their own. The number of people involved is considerably more than
at the second level. These people share the open space and water
supply of the compound either in a generally co-operative manner,
or if facilities are limited, on a sequential day-to-day basis.

In centers that have large gara markets, such as Freetown and
Koindu, these compounds produce for two types of sellers. First,
they produce for the stalls located in the markets. Stalls must be
rented from the shopkeepers in front of whose shops they stand, or
from the market authority. A daily vending tax must also be paid.
Several men from a compound may have stalls. The compounds also
produce for younger men, who cannot afford stalls, and who are
called woka-wpka boys. They travel a given area of the country

18

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

Fig. 3. Large-sized operation. A section of a very large Mandinka compound is
shown. Many dozens of lappas tied into various styles have been treated with kola
dye and are drying in the sun. The man is opening the material to the air, which will
help oxidation and set the dye better (field photograph: SL87C-5).

more or less on a monthly schedule, carrying a large number of
lappas, and selling them in the towns and villages they pass
through (fig. 4). They may also act as wholesalers in "lending" lap-
pas to shopkeepers who repay the wgka-wgka men, after they have
sold the lappas themselves.

The level of production of these large compounds is impressive. If
need be, 200 or 300 lappas can be produced within two days. Produc-
tion of batches of 100 or more at a time is normal (fig. 3). Once or
twice a year, a man from such a compound may export a large
number of such lappas to one of the West African tourist centers
such as Dakar or Abidjan.

It is easy to see, then, how gara styles are disseminated. West
Africans seem never to have been stay-at-homes, and the gara sel-
lers themselves disseminate the styles not only throughout Sierra
Leone itself, but also throughout the Western Guinea Coast area.

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA

19

Fig. 4. Wgka-wgka Man, selling lappas in the market area of a provincial town.
The candle-stamped design on a loose cloud pattern of a kola and gara lappa is pro-
duced by the methods shown in Figures 8 and 10 (field photograph: SL9C-8).

Likewise, they return with new ideas. New styles are also popular-
ized by government officials and their wives, who wear them at
official functions and on their trips up-country. Gara cloth is really a
very important element of Sierra Leone's national culture and it
seems a symbol of pride and unity — particularly when worn by
government officials. It may be remembered that "Holland cloth"
was used this way in Ghana when Nkrumah introduced the wearing
of tribal robes at official functions.

From the above description, differences in economic scale of pro-
duction and distribution may also be seen. The small-scale gara dyer
may buy only one or two bolts of cloth at a time. When she has sold

20 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

the lappas made with this cloth, she pays up her account with the
shopkeeper. An active small-scale dyer, however, may purchase
much more cloth, and have an account running to the equivalent of
several hundred dollars. Members of large-scale gara compounds
operate with considerably larger amounts of money. In neither case,
however, is the actual level of profit as high as one might imagine.
Profit can vary from one-quarter of the selling price of a lappa down
to a very miniscule fraction of it. When it is remembered that
neither labor, stall rental, vending tax nor transport is included in
cost computation, it is possible to see that real profit is very low
indeed. Nonetheless, in terms of the general economy gara is still
one of the more rewarding occupational endeavours.1

Large-scale gara compounds have an advantage over the small-
scale dyer in that they can buy in bulk. They can also more easily
afford commerical dyes, one can of which may cost the same as a
bag of gara leaves which would last a small-scale dyer at least
half a season. These factors, plus their more frequent use of
cheaper cloth, give the compounds a competitive advantage over
the small-scale dyer. Thus, the small-scale dyer continues to use
gara leaves, with only occasional investment in commercial dye.
Yet, even though the quality of her work is generally believed to
be better than that of the wares of the woka-woka men of the
large compounds, she finds it hard to meet the competition posed
by their lower prices and novel color combinations. Many tradi-
tional gara dyers have, therefore, given up the practice of dyeing.
There are now the beginnings of co-operative organizations
among small-scale gara dyers which should ease their difficulties in
making it possible for them to buy in bulk. Should they succeed,

1 It should be emphasized that the selling price of a lappa may fluctuate greatly,
from Le. 1.00 ($1.20) to Le. 14.00, according to factors operating both in produc-
tion and selling operations. Such factors include the quality of goods, regularity and
quantity of custom, season, locale, bargaining, and so forth. Keeping in mind this
caution, the following may be taken as an acceptable cost-profit sales ratio: A gara
woman will be happy if she can sell a good briyon lappa for Le. 3.00. The price of a
bolt of good briyon yielding 12 or 13 lappas is Le. 24.00, or ca. Le. 2.00 per lappa.
The average price of a quarter-pound tin of B.A.S.F. commercial dye, which is suf-
ficient to dye about the same number of lappas, is Le. 3.00, or 25 cents per lappa.
These two costs constitute Le. 2.25, or three-quarters of the selling price. From the
remaining 75 cents gross profit must come allowances for standing overhead; re-
plenishment of supplies, such as candle wax and candle stamps (the latter ranging in
price from 20 cents to Le. 2.00); transport and/or seller's commission if the lappas
are not sold locally; and labor. The costs given here represent those current in
1971. Since then costs have risen in Sierra Leone as they have elsewhere.

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA 21

it is likely that the principal effect will be to widen the avail-
ability of commercial dyes, rather than to reinforce traditional
methods.

Other authors have noted the limited potentiality that some
African craft industries have for expansion in their present social
settings (Lloyd, 1953, p. 42; Bray, 1969, pp. 192-193). As may be
seen from the above discussion, the large Mandinka compounds
are quite expansionist in nature; the Mandinka seem to have
successfully translated the ideal of tribal brotherhood into larger
economic opportunity through more economical and efficient pro-
duction in gara dyeing. At the other end of the scale, the co-
operatives offer similar alternatives for the small-scale dyer. Thus
the co-operative in Bo has not only undertaken bulk buying but
has also established a central work facility at the Catholic church.

Traditional Techniques and Styles

There are two basic means of imparting resist patterns to cloth by
dyeing the whole cloth. One is by reserving the cloth at certain
points with thread or cord; in Sierra Leone, tieing, sewing, and
parcelling are employed; the other is by applying a viscous sub-
stance to the surface of the cloth, usually either wax or paste. In
Sierra Leone wax is now more commonly used than is paste. What-
ever the method employed, the cloth receives its pattern by retain-
ing its original color where the cord, wax, or paste has resisted the
dye's penetration.

When the cloth has had the resist pattern applied, it is then dyed.
The principal ingredient of the dye bath is the gara leaves them-
selves. Various other substances may also be added, as for example,
roots, bark, berries, ash, and other leaves. Although Little refers to
the boiling of the dye (1967, p. 290), this does not appear to be the
general practice now. Gara is fermented, the average period being a
week to 10 days, although the process can be hurried up if neces-
sary. Likewise, as the dye becomes exhausted, it can be freshened
with additions of fermented leaves and roots.

It has been said that gara dyeing is much like cooking, and each
woman has her own recipe. Moreover, she will vary the recipe
according to the effect she wants. In general, darker blues can be
obtained from more frequent dippings when the dye is fresh. Light-
er hues result from fewer dippings or the use of semi-exhausted
dyes. Since the early part of the century, two commercial ingredi-
ents have been in general use as well: caustic soda, which hastens
the fermentation more effectively than the potash substance form-

22 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

erly used; and a simple, cheap commercial black dye, which rein-
forces the deepness of color. As noted above (p. 14), the use of kola
nuts has become popular in recent years. Kola nuts by themselves
yield a rich reddish-brown color. Some people add caustic soda to
the kola nuts, which results in a duller brown color.

In order to show the intensity of work involved in gara dyeing and
how it fits into the pattern of daily life, a record of three days' pro-
duction by Mrs. Kamara is presented here. During this time she
dyed some 30 lappas, representing numerous variations on most of
the basic gara styles. A small-scale gara woman has to produce in
this manner to be able to present for sale enough variety to attract
different buyers. A large-scale compound, on the other hand, can
devote the same period of time to producing many dozens of lappas
of the same style on a production-line basis, which will then be
divided among the different sellers.

Mrs. Kadiato Kamara is a very well-known dyer in Sierra Leone.
She has also won prizes for her work shown in British Common-
wealth exhibitions. Fortunately, she has been able to arrange re-
liable sales outlets in Freetown, which makes it possible for her to
produce at a greater rate than the ordinary small-scale dyer. Mrs.
Kamara is a woman of some status, is fairly well off, and is a very
kindly and gentle person. Among her friends and neighbors she is
known as Mama Kaday.

The granddaughter of a Temne Paramount Chief, Mama Kaday
had a traditional upbringing, learning gara from her mother rather
than formal schooling. She has learned to speak Krio but not
English. She is now in her late thirties and lives in Freetown where
her husband is a successful businessman. At the time the work
described here was done, Mama Kaday's household included her
widowed mother and grandmother, a sister with two small children,
a visiting sister-in-law, an old man-servant, and her seven sur-
viving children. All of her children except the two youngest boys
were at school. As is the case with many other gara women, it is
the proceeds from her gara selling which provide the children's
school fees.

On Tuesday morning, after a breakfast of hardboiled eggs, bread,
and tea, Mama Kaday, her old servant, and a friend went to the
outskirts of town to dig some roots for the preparation of a small
new pot of gara dye. The gara dye she would be using for the next
few days had been started by her mother the previous week. When
the roots were brought back to the house, the dirt was washed from
them, and they were laid in the sun to dry while other ingredients

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA 23

for the mixture were gathered. All were then put in a large enamel
basin with water. Caustic soda was added which immediately
turned the water red. The basin was then left beside the compound
wall for two days to ferment. These preparations had taken the best
part of the morning.

After lunch, she went round to a local shopkeeper, paid up her
account, and bought a bolt of good cotton satin. Returning home,
she was joined by the other women of the house, and the rest of the
afternoon and evening were spent in cutting and sewing the cloth to
proper lappa size. A regular lappa of a good size is approximately
48 by 72 in. Since most cloth bolts are only 36 in. wide, part of the
bolt must be cut in strips of ca. 12 in. and the strips added to widen
each 72-in. length. Since the lappas are ordinarily dyed either folded
in half or back to back ( a matter of economy so as not to waste dye
in heavy absorption on the reverse side) the seam is on the reverse
side and does now show. After seaming the lappas on the sewing
machine, Mama Kaday started sewing and folding some of them
into patterns. When Michael, one of her older sons, arrived from
school, he, too, was recruited to sew siti. Although he is not fond of
the job, he does it very well.

Siti is produced by a looped or "cat" stitch, and may be sewn into
a lappa in a number of different patterns and sizes (fig. 5). Most
often it is simply stitched horizontally all over the lappa. But it may
also be alternated in horizontal or diagonal bands with other de-
signs or with plain areas. In the case of banding, the lines dividing
the bands are simply sewn tight with a straight stitch. Then the siti
pattern is sewn into the alternate bands. When siti is to be alter-
nated with other bands in the cloth, the non-siti bands are covered
with plastic (bolts of cloth are sold wrapped in plastic), and tied
tightly. When the bands of siti have been dyed as desired, they, in
turn, are covered with plastic and tied, and the other bands are un-
covered and dyed.

On Wednesday morning Mama Kaday began the day-long process
of dipping the lappas that had been prepared the day before. She
used about 10 or more dips for those lappas she wanted to be a very
deep, dark blue, only one to three times for a lighter shade. For
lighter shades immersion in the dye lasts no more than 5 min., while
for darker shades the immersion may last about 20 min. After
"pulling" the lappas from thegrara, she set them on a wire rack over
a galvanized metal tub to drain and air. It is important to spread
the material as openly as possible so that the air can reach it; this

24

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

Fig. 5. Mama Kaday's son Michael sewing siti (field photograph: SL97C2).

causes the indigo to oxidize and bond with the cloth. It is also felt
that it is good to expose it to the sun as much as possible.

With the lappas in the gara for their first dip, Mama Kaday began
preparing wax. Since candles are melted to obtain the wax, the
resist technique using wax is called "candle. " A tin basin was filled
to one-third full with water, and the wax added to raise the level
another third. The level of the wax must be several inches below the
lip of the vessel for safety's sake when being heated. Water is used
for the same reason, since the wax by itself would easily ignite. The
tin basin was set over a fire to heat. The wax must be brought to
quite a high temperature in order to permeate the cloth sufficiently;
if too cool, the wax simply lies on top of the cloth and the dye seeps
under it.

Mama Kaday then covered a low bench with several layers of bur-
lap, topping them with a piece of cloth. She deliberated over various
wooden stamps, choosing her newest ones, some of which had a
current strong popularity. (Stamps are made by carpenters, or
sometimes by wood carvers.) When the wax was hot enough, the
basin was brought to the bench, and she began to stamp the lappas,

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA

25

Fig. 6. Kandeh Konteh, a Mandinka man tieing taka (field photograph: SL87C-
12).

carefully moving the stamped part of the material away from her as
she proceeded.

The candle stamping went along with interruptions either to take
the lappas out of the gara to air for approximately 10 to 20 min.
intervals, or to put them back into the dye once they had aired.

At one point a neighbor, Mr. Bangura, an old carpenter and build-
er, wandered in as Mama Kaday was wondering whether to leave
borders on the lappas, or to carry the stamp design all the way to
the edge of the cloth. He insisted that she leave borders to show the
woven pattern of the cotton damask material which is called briyon
or brillon. This he thought much better because people could easily
see that this was an expensive material, not just plain poplin or

26 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

shirting. Characteristically, Mama Kaday listened quietly and
sympathetically to what he had to say. Apparently, however, she
wasn't completely convinced, since throughout the day she varied
all-over stamping with borders. While borders are generally con-
sidered nice, another consideration is that when the material is sewn
into clothing patterns, the borders may not always fit well.

As work on the lappas went along Mama Kaday continued think-
ing about which lappas she wanted in which styles. Deciding to do
five of the satin lappas in the taka style, she took them across the
street to a Mandinka compound for the men to do, so as to save time
for herself.

In doing taka, two lappas are dampened, placed back-to-back, and
folded into approximately 1-in. pleats. Cord is tied tightly about
the pleats from one end, or border, to the other. The resulting pat-
tern is one of longitudinal stripes (fig. 6).

Returning from the Mandinka compound, she again took the
lappas from the gara to air and then set her daughter, Isatu, and
another young girl to pounding kola. From a large box containing
about 10 gal. of kola nuts, about 1 gal. was measured out and put,
bit by bit, in the wooden mortar for the girls to pound. The result-
ing pulp was added to water in a large basin. During the day, as the
lappas were dipped in this mixture, the pulp was strained out and
pounded again. New nuts were also pounded and all added again to
the liquid. At the end of the day. the basins were set aside for fur-
ther use.

Once the girls had started pounding the kola, Mama Kaday swept
an area of ground, spread out two satin lappas, and started doing
what she calls "broom style candle" on it (this style is also called
"scattered candles"). In the technique for making this style, the
bristles of the short, hand-held broom are dipped in the hot wax,
and the wax is then dripped, or "scattered," over the cloth. In doing
this, Mama Kaday did not proceed with wild abandon. She care-
fully and thoughtfully dripped the wax, leaving open areas for the
second application. Also, she often checked the back of the cloth to
make sure the wax was penetrating it. Each of these lappas was
dipped in the kola mixture three or four times, dried, "candled"
again, and dipped for a short time in the gara. The overlay com-
bination of the two dyes produced a rich blackish color ( fig. 7).

Four of the lappas that had been candle-stamped were then wet,
drained, placed on a tilted piece of pan roofing, and each gathered
into a loose "cloud" pattern (see below). Over them Mama Kaday

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA

27

Sfe- .

' A V

Fig. 7. Mama Kaday doing the second application of wax on a broom-style candle
lappa. The lappa has already been sprayed with candle wax and dyed in kola. The
second sprays of wax, which appear dark in the photograph, will resist some of the
golden kola color. Thus the resulting lappa will show variegated shades of kola and
gara, as well as sprays of white, resisted in the first application of wax (field photo-
graph: SL99C 11).

generously sprinkled kola pulp, leaving them to drain until the next
day. The excess liquid drained down the corrugations in the pan
sheet into a basin so as not to be wasted ( fig. 8).

In fact, nothing is wasted. At one point, Sarah, Mama Kaday's
sister-in-law, to whom whe was teaching gara, began gathering up
bits of string and plastic wrapping and throwing them in a dustbin.
Laughing at this prodigality, Mama Kaday stopped her, pointing
out that all these things could be reused many times. Likewise,
candle wax is reused. When the wax is boiled off the dyed lappa,

28

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

Fig. 8. Mama Kaday dripping kola dye over loosely bunched cloud lappas that
have already been candle stamped. The excess dye runs down the corrugations of
the metal sheet and is collected in a basin for re-use (field photograph: SL98C-14).

it is scooped off the surface of the hot water and reserved; the cloth
covering the bench on which the stamping is done is scraped and
the bits added to the continuing store of wax.

After lunch, Mama Kaday sat in the shade of the compound wall
and did some lappas in the cloud style. In this technique, the
lappa is carefully gathered with the fingers into little cloud-like
puffs. As the lappa is bunched together bit by bit, it is kept pushed
against the inside of the thigh. Since the tendency of the material is
to come out of shape once the fingers have transferred to another
area, this is a very difficult style to make. But the resulting pattern,
said to look like clouds in the sky on a moonlit night, is considered

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA

29

very beautiful indeed. This is a pattern that only the women
produce.

Another pattern which also appears to be produced only by
women is kplingie. Although Mama Kaday did not do any kolingie
patterns during this particular period of work, the method may be
described briefly. A paste of rice or cassava flour is spread on a
lappa, and, while still wet, a pattern is fixed on the surface by scrap-
ing a comb in semi-circles. Sometimes linear patterns are effected.
When the paste has dried, the lappa is carefully and briefly dipped
in the gara dye. After the dye has dried and set, the paste is washed
out.

Meanwhile, Saidu, Mama Kaday 's youngest son, had been
whimpering and fretting. He had been very ill, and toddled about
after her demanding attention vociferously so that, between dip-
ping the lappas and other work, she gave him a good ration of hold-
ing and hugging. At other times, his sister or the older women
would try to amuse him. Now, Mama Kaday took him in her lap as

Fig. 9. Mama Kaday holding her small son Saidu while she candle-stamps (field
photograph: SL99C-5).

30 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

she sat at the bench to stamp more candle, and he quickly fell asleep
in the crook of her arm. She continued holding him and stamping
the cloth (fig. 9). Finishing this task, she handed Saidu to her
mother who put him in the house to continue his nap.

Mama Kaday now took up a long length of satin, and began sew-
ing it into a cloud pattern. This is a rather unusual way of producing
cloud, and the resulting pattern is very sharply defined (fig. 10).
As soon as she finished it, she put it in the gara drum.

Nearby was a sack of gara leaves. She took a large bucketful of
them, rinsed them, using a basket as a strainer, and put them in
fresh water to soak over night. After this preliminary washing, they
would be combined with the root mixture and left to ferment for
another week.

Next she took the kola-dyed, broom-style lappas down from the
clothes-line where they had been drying, and laid them out for the
second application of candle. This time, too, she dripped the wax
carefully, keeping in mind the final patterning of colors desired.
When they were done, she put them aside to set, pulled the lappas
from the gara drum to air, and went to bathe and rest before dinner.

On Thursday morning Mama Kaday started work by rinsing and
draining the candle-stamped lappas which had been dyed in a loose
cloud pattern in kola dye. She then gathered each into a loose cloud
pattern again, and dipped them in the gara just a few times for only
two or three minutes. In between times, she strained the gara
leaves, which had been soaking overnight, and put them in fresh
water.

She then loosened the cloud gara and washed it in two cold baths.
When just untied, the gara is a bright emerald green in the areas
that were sewn tightly. The oxidation process can be observed as,
on exposure to air, the cloth becomes blue. The water in which the
#ara-dyed lappas were washed was saved for use in the dye drum.
Next, the lappas dyed in both kola and gara were washed, but this
water was thrown out, since it was muddy in color. The washed
lappas were then hung on the line or laid on rocks to dry.

A very large bucket of water had been put over the fire to boil,
and into this Mama Kaday dipped the candled lappas, each at the
end of a long pole, to remove the wax. This is one of the most tiring
tasks involved in gara work. The water-ladden lappas on the end of
the pole are very heavy to lift. The hot sun beat down, the heat and
smoke of the fire blew in her face as the breeze continually changed
direction (fig. 1).

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA

31

Fig. 10. Sewn cloud lappa. Gara on white satin, by Mrs. Kadiato Kamara. Note
that some of the threads used to sew the pattern have not yet been removed from
the lappa.

As she finished boiling the lappas, her kinswomen took them from
her to wash them in cold water, and then hung them up to dry. Once
dry, the lappas could be beaten on a wooden log with wooden clubs
to give them sheen, and the whole process would be finished. The
lappas would now be gara cloths.

Earlier in the morning Mama Kaday had again strained the gara
leaves and had left them to sit in a basket. She now brought them to
the root mixture which had been sitting for two days. With a simple
ritual of crossing her hands, she delivered bunches of the leaves to
the root mixture, ending with an unspoken prayer asking for God's
help in the work.

32 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 66

While her kinswomen spent the afternoon beating the rest of the
lappas, Mama Kada went again to the local shop to buy some more
cloth. Later, she went to an outlying section of town to visit a
cousin, and the two went out to the farm to check gara bushes that
grew there in among the other plants.

That evening after dinner, Mama Kaday went to the mosque for
prayers. She is a deeply religious woman, remarking with joy and
wonder that God should have put the leaf in the bush for the people
to use.

Aesthetics of Gara

What is a good gara cloth? The answers given here certainly do
not represent rigid rules which everyone uses in judging gara, for
in Sierra Leone, as elsewhere, aesthetic preferences may be expected
to vary. As one gara woman said, while looking over a batch of
lappas that hadn't turned out to her satisfaction, "Oh no. I'm not
going to dye them again. You'd be surprised what people will buy.
They'll all be sold eventually."

The first consideration is the dye itself. Young gara leaves are
known to give the best color, rich and deep. It is deep and powerful
color that is generally preferred, even with regard to commercial
dyes. Pastel colors are not very popular, perhaps because they may
often be taken as connoting a poor dyeing technique. Nonetheless,
there is a light blue color, called fente, that is liked. This color is
almost always found in connection with the kplingie style, but
sometimes with other simple designs or simply plain.

Next, the fabric itself is a consideration. This is, of course, partly
an economic consideration, since nicer materials cost more. But
they also give sharper patterns and wear better and more comfor-
tably. In addition, the briyon or cotton damask, as mentioned
earlier, already has attractive patterns woven into the material and
cotton satin comes with a readymade sheen, very much liked. In the
case of other cotton materials, the final step of beating them pro-
vides a sheen.

The final consideration is the character of the designs given the
cloth. While any particular design may fade in and out of popularity
over time, there are general criteria which apply overall. Tied, sewn,
and parcelled designs must have sharp patterns. If the design has a
vague or fuzzy appearance, this indicates that it was not ably pro-
duced: the tieing or sewing may not have been tight enough, the
folding done in a slipshod manner. Again, for the candle-stamp de-
signs, regularity and continuity of pattern are looked for. Spots of

REINHARDT: MRS. KADIATO KAMARA 33

wax caused by dripping are thought bad, though they often do
occur. In such a case, one may try to hide the spots when sewing the
material into clothing. Too many cracks in a stamped pattern are
not appreciated either.

Novelty itself, of course, is an important criterion, and it is this
characteristic which has kept gara dyeing in Sierra Leone a lively
and dynamic art form. It is also the eagle eye of the buyer, combined
with strong tradition among the dyers themselves, that has kept
standards of quality high, as may be seen in the work of Mrs.
Kadiato Kamara. '

REFERENCES

Barbour, Jane, and Doig Simmonds
1971. Adire cloth in Nigeria. Inst. Afr. Stud., Univ. Ibadan.

Boser-Sarivaxevanis, Renee
1969. Apercus sur la Teinture a l'lndigo en Afrique Occidentale. Sonderabruck
aus den Verh. Naturforsch. Ges. Basel, Band 80/1.

Bray, Jennifer M.
1969. The craft structure of a traditional Yoruba town. Trans. Inst. Brit. Geogr.,
46, pp. 179-193.

Kent, Kate P.
1971. Introducing West African cloth. Denver Mus. Nat. Hist.

Little, Kenneth

1967. The Mende of Sierra Leone. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, rev. ed.

Lloyd, Peter

1953. Craft organization in Yoruba towns. Africa, 23, pp. 30-44.

Plumer, Cheryl

1971. African textiles: an outline of handcrafted sub-Saharan fabrics. Mich. State
Univ. Afr. Stud. Center.

Sieber, Roy

1972. African textiles and decorative arts. Mus. Modern Art.

Vivian, Rev. William

1896. The Mendi country, and some of the customs, and characteristics of its
people. Jour. Manchester Geogr. Soc, XII ( 1-3), pp. 1-34.

1 The original version of this paper was completed in March, 1973, and was used
as the basis for the chapter, "Pattern-Dyed Textiles," in the catalogue, Contem-
porary African Arts, published by the Field Museum of Natural History in 1974.

'j