Decorated Hu Ronko Shirts from Northern Sierra Leone Birth, Life, and Decline

Simon Ottenberg Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

form of decorated men’s shirt in Sierra Leone raises issues not only of its own provenience, but of its relationships to similar West African dress. I first discuss the history of its local origin, then describe in detail the shirt and how it was deco- rated, how it spread in Sierra Leone, and finally how it compares to other decorated West African cloths.1 AWara Wara Bafodea chiefdom, or simply Bafodea, as I will call it, is the most traditional and isolated of seven Limba chiefdoms in northern Sierra Leone (basic works on the Limba include Finnegan 1965 and Conteh 2006). Located some 30 miles (48km) west of Kabala, the capital of Koinadugu District, Bafodea Town—the chiefdom’s capital in its south—is linked to Kabala by an earthen road. To the northeast live the Yalunka (Dialonké of Djallonke) and further east the Kuranko; all three peoples 1 small undecorated hu ronko spill over into Guinea-Conakry. The Limba are ancient in Sierra with native white and European black and white thread and red Leone (Atherton 1972a, 1972b), with no migration myths, though European cloth lining. there have been Fula and Mandingo incursions into Limba coun- try, including Bafodea. Southern Bafodea is tropical forest country, a wet and dry rice-growing region, with high rocky peaks, gentle valleys, and numerous streams. However, the old Kamuke chiefdom in its north, joined by the British to Bafodea in 1951, favors open grass- land and grain crops. Mobile cattle-herding Fula live all over Bafodea, and settled Mandingo farming and cattle-raising com- munities exist. Mandingo influence on Bafodea history has been all photos by the author, 1979, except where otherwise noted considerable, yet the Limba are the chiefdom’s largest ethnic group. Indigenous beliefs, Islam, and Christianity are all present in this multiethnic chiefdom (Ottenberg 1984, 1987).

14 | african arts winter 2007 2–3 Front and back of a hand- sewn, mahogany-dyed hu ronko, decorated and worn by Amadu Mansaray of Kamabansi community in northern Bafodea Chiefdom. He learned decorating from a man in Kalia in the Yalunka area and sold his decorated hu ronko in the major northern Bafodea towns. Rising sun and large “W” motifs. Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

The Shirt There was a large pocket (bot’o) slightly to the left of the upper The Limba, like many West African peoples, have had a strong chest area connected to the front neckline. Wide, loose sleeves cloth tradition. Until about 1950 most wives grew and spun cotton (ma gbekeng) at right angles to the shirt’s body reached below and most husbands wove the thread and sewed the cloth bands the elbows and were sometimes open at the sides. In some cases into clothing for family use—Finnegan writes that in Limba bush the shirt was open at its lower sides and some shirts had a non- villages “most (though not all) of the men can weave” (1965:98). native cloth inner lining at the back from the neck down. The At the time of my research in 1978–1980 working with cloth was term hu ronko was also applied to shirts dyed a single color from still familiar to many Bafodeans, but what was relatively new was yellow to dark brown, then painted with parallel black lines with decorating a native shirt called hu ronko (pl. ta ronko). The undec- a variety of designs stamped between them, and with solid black orated, loose-fitting men’s form is old in Sierra Leone, called by areas at the shirt’s bottom, sleeve ends, and neck edge (Figs. 2–3). different names in various ethnic groups. At Bafodea it was tradi- It is with this form of hu ronko that this paper is concerned. tionally made with native-band cloth (tikan ba sokeng), woven by men from locally grown cotton, generally white in color, though Hu Ronko Regional History occasionally having a few warp black or blue lines. Sometimes During the 1940s4 or a little earlier, when Bafodea Town was nonnative2 and native white threads occurred in a shirt, or both located in a secluded valley, Saiyunta from Bafodea met Tamani, these and nonnative black thread occurred (Fig. 1). The thread a Yalunka in-law who had come for a burial and remained for used depended upon the availability of locally grown cotton and several months. Later on Saiyunta visited Tamani at Kalia, a of nonnative thread for purchase. At the time of my research hu Yalunka center of decorated hu ronko production, and learned ronko shirts were also made by local tailors from nonnative white from him how to prepare it, which Saiyunta began to do on cloth (tika gba kaporotui). returning home. As the sole Bafodea hu ronko artist he was Native cloth bands varied in width from about 3–4" (7.6– secretive, working inside his home. Then, in 1954, Bafodea’s 10.2cm), and were woven in southern Bafodea on two loom first missionary, the Reverend (“Pa”) G.A. Huff of the American types, and in the north on a third loom form;3 it was not pos- Wesleyan Methodist Mission, arranged to move the town into sible to distinguish on which loom a band had been woven. The more open space a mile from the old site. There, a blacksmith, existence of three loom types at Bafodea reflects the site’s long Sunduku, learned the decorating process from a Yalunka man history and contacts. The traditional hu ronko shirt consisted of and later taught it to Momodu Conteh and Pa Yata Conteh, two from five to eight cloth bands ka( bakotong) sewed together by related Limba living in town, both from the Limba chiefdom of hand or on a manual sewing machine. Bands for the shirt’s body Kasonko to the south. By this time the decorating of hu ronko were arranged vertically covering the chest and stomach and the was no longer secret and hu ronko artists5 began to share techni- back (t’akput’hutete), with an open area for the neck (ma koyo), cal information and to train others. For example, Momodu Con- and sometimes with a small extra cloth piece at the neck back. teh taught Dunto Kamara, a Bafodean in town, who became a

winter 2007 african arts | 15 Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

prolifichu ronko decorator. The early decoratedhu ronko were as Kuranko. There is a decorated Sierra Leone cloth in the Brighton costly as they were scarce; by the time of my field research they Museum, England, collected early in the twentieth century in were more common and less dear. Sierra Leone by Thomas Joshua Alldridge, who wrote two major Other men in Bafodea chiefdom learned how to decorate hu works on that country (Alldridge 1901, 1910).7 ronko from these early artists or through contacts in Yalunka The anthropologist Michael D. Jackson, who carried out exten- towns, particularly Kalia and Kamba (Figs. 4–5), less com- sive anthropological research among the Kuranko, indicates that monly at Falaba further northeast, or at Kabala on the western during his first fieldwork in 1969–1970: edge of Kuranko country, a town of mixed Yalunka, Kuranko, Big men and hunters (notably) would wear the russet-colored gown and Limba. In turn, these men taught others. By the time of my with vertical black lines … dyed with a concoction of acacia root or research decorating hu ronko shirts had spread widely in the red kola, if my memory serves me right. The gowns usually had pock- Bafodea chiefdom, though centering on Bafodea Town. Except ets over the sternum … the use of machine or automobile parts (cog- during the rains hu ronko artists worked on their house-porches wheels etc.) as stamps over the russet country-cloth is associated, in or on the ground in front. Decorating required drying the pre- my memory, with the advent of the so-called Ferensola gown in the pared cloths in the sun, though some artists continued to cre- 2–3 years before the 1977 election. I always thought that the imprinted ate in the rainy period, working within their homes and taking cogwheel motifs were imitations of the leather sachets containing Koranic suras that one would see attached to the old warrior gowns advantage of occasional sunny days. By 1980 Bafodea chiefdom (also russet dyed, since the red signified danger, blood etc.).8 was the center of Limba decorated hu ronko production; only a little was produced in other Limba areas. He later wrote that “Ferensola” was an old, popular, Kuranko Although some Bafodeans claimed that the decorated shirt term for the Kuranko-speaking area, and by extension Koi- derived from the Yalunka, others believed that it began further nadugu District (Jackson 2004:18, 118, 122–3, 167–8). The term east among the Kuranko of Sierra Leone, or in the Kuranko connotes unity despite differences, for the Kuranko were devel- region in Guinea known at Bafodea as Sankaran, near the oping their own political movement before the election; Kuranko Guinea/Mali border. A Bafodea Town man, Pa Wosi Conteh, stamped cloths became a symbol of it. was trading in kola nuts about 1970 at Farana in Guinea, when Older writings on Sierra Leone cloth do not mention decorated a Kuranko man from the Kakurmara group in the Sankaran hu ronko, nor does the 1922 Limba dictionary (Easmon 1924, area taught him how to decorate hu ronko; men were decorat- Abraham 1976, Clarke 1922 [1971]). Venice and Alastair Lamb’s ing numerous shirts there. Pa Wosi later became a well-known survey (1984) of Sierra Leone cloth includes a section on Bafo- Bafodea hu ronko decorator. Opala (1978:20) argues that during dea’s hu ronko based on Venice’s visit there while I was conduct- the eighteenth century Kuranko warriors established rule in a ing research. I am fortunate to have access to two unpublished number of Limba and Yalunka areas, and that the Kuranko and papers as well as a copublished one by Joe Opala, the Ameri- Bamana, where painted gowns with magical powers existed, were can anthropologist, who carried out hu ronko research early in closely related linguistically. On the other hand, Sieber (1972:30) 1978 at Bafodea and at Bumbuna Limba chiefdom to its south- pictures a full native-cloth robe,6 with lines enclosing circles, a east (Opala 1978, 1983; Opala and Boillot 1996).9 His account dif- design known at Bafodea, from the Kono area of eastern Sierra fers in certain details from mine; this is discussed at appropriate Leone, a robe acquired in 1957 by the American Museum of Nat- points below. ural History. Significantly, the Kono are located just south of the

16 | african arts winter 2007 (opposite) 4–5 Front and back of a Yalunka-style hu ronko, woven, sewed, and dyed by Amadu Fofana, a Mandingo from Kali in Musaia, and stamped by Bokari Samura, a Yalunka of that town. Aspects of the general layout and some motifs differed from those usually found at Bafodea.

(this page, l–r) 6 hunter’s shirt of native cloth belonging to Alana of Bafodea Town, with the small, central pocket in contrast to the larger, angled, hu ronko one. And unlike the hu ronko, the shirts fits tightly on the body.

7 sleeveless hunter’s shirt worn by a man from Kooky village, Bafodea chiefdom. Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 Dyes Donne’s suggestion that Western Sudanic peoples have con- siderable knowledge of a range of natural pigments applies to Bafodea, although it is further to the south (1973:104). Dyes ranging from yellow to maroon to deep brown have been applied to native-produced cloths at Bafodea—on hunting dress, on long gowns on boys returning from the initiation bush, and on hats, pants, and leggings. There were black and red dyes on raffia fibers in hammocks, and on brown-colored decorated wood storage boxes. Native white thread used in weaving was sometimes dyed here (Lamb and Lamb 1984:124). The two most popular dyes for black; blue-dyed native cotton thread and whole cloths dyed the whole shirt were ku bara, from tree roots, producing a brown blue for Muslim dress were old traditions at Bafodea. However, that sometimes turned to a purplish tinge, and if worn for long dyes on these objects were not necessarily those employed on hu tended to turn white, and ku wodo, from mahogany tree roots ronko shirts. Familiarity of Bafodea men with dyes, the previous that created a yellow color. Ka sibunka, a small ginger-like root, existence of undyed hu ronko, the experience of men in work- produced a yellow color, and ku were,11 either from a small root ing with cloth, and with tools on wood transferred to making and or tree bark, had a reddish brown appearance. Mixing dyes wood stamps, suggest that preparing decorated hu ronko did not helped control the color range, particularly of ku bara and ku involve much new technical skill. wode. Most dyes were available all year long; what slowed pro- In warfare days tight-fitting hunter’s shirts (Figs. 6–7), also duction was the lack of sun to dry the dyed shirts (Figs. 8–9). called hu ronko, were dyed “red” (wu pote), actually ranging from To dye a shirt the artist collected the roots, washing and dry- yellow to reddish brown to dark brown.10 (Wu pote is one of three ing them in the sun, which allowed the dye to “open” the cloth Limba color terms, the others being white (wu huhe) and black threads so that they would dye better. The roots were then (wu bole). A hunter’s native cloth hat (ku haka) and trousers (so placed in a metal or porcelain pan and boiled for some time gbeni) were similarly dyed. Medicines were in the shirt’s dye and adding nothing to it; the dye was then usable for four days or the hunter carried other medicines. Warrior shirts were simi- more. After gently shaking out the cloth, it was placed in the dye lar; the medicines used were believed to prevent knife and arrow and turned gently for a short time, then spread directly on the cuts. No motifs were stamped on the hunter’s or warrior’s cloths, ground, a burlap bag, cloth, or mat on the earth. The cloth dried though protective leather charms were attached to both. Some in the sun outside of the artist’s home and then was turned over hu ronko stamped motifs were possibly related to the shape of, or to dry on the other side. For native-woven cloth this was done design incisions on, these charms. three or four times, for nonnative cloth ten to fifteen times. The The Bafodea term for dye, ku poto, was also a general term for sun brought out the color strongest on the sun side, that is the medicine, suggesting that dyes had mystical protective power. shirt’s outside; the inside color was less intense. Shirts were not This view, while understood by some artists, was not universally dyed again after black lines and motifs were placed on them. held by those wearing hu ronko shirts at Bafodea, who generally For the shirt’s black lines and motifs, up to three dyes were viewed it as a secular garment; the medicinal concept may have commonly used in various mixtures, made from leaves called evolved through cultural memory from warrior and hunting bu donya, bu mala, and bu yaya.12 All three grew near swamps days. A significant aspect of the skill in producing a decoratedhu where the artists also collected swamp mud (ku bo). Leaves were ronko lay in selecting the proper dyes, particularly in the initial boiled in water and let stand for a time, then mud was added coloring of the shirt to obtain the desired result in the yellow-to- and the mixture boiled again. The more mud used, the darker dark-brown range that artist and his customer desired. the black. Ash was not used for black. The term for dyeing the whole hu ronko cloth was andoaputo-

winter 2007 african arts | 17 8 Front of a completed hu ronko decorated by Ali Kamara drying in the sun. Note the deep reddish-brown color. Fence and rising sun motifs.

9 back of a hu ronko decorated by Pa Wosi Conteh of Bafodea Town Note the shirt’s brown color, in contrast to Fig. 8, and the black triangles at the base.

der with varying numbers of vertical bars. All motifs and the accompanying lines were in black. Motifs were not drawn from the Fula cattle brands found in the chiefdom, but some motifs

came from Yalunka decorated shirts. Motifs were not drawn Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 from female scarification on the face, back, and body front, and male scarification did not exist. Bafodea artists mostly developed a distinct set of motifs, evidence of innovation in the chiefdom.

At Bafodea, the most frequent motifs were: Star (sunsawo). The number of rays varied, up to at least eight (Fig. 12). If there were four rays the design was sometimes called a cross. Opala writes that “to the Limba it represented a tied bundle or ‘gathering’ of harvested rice called hu bon, a symbol drawn on houses of successful farmers” (1978:17). But the word hu bon, interestingly enough has another meaning—it is also the word for a secret meeting or “gathering of witches.” Cross (kros). This motif was often used to fill in small spaces on the shirt pocket and the back of the neck (Fig. 9) Watch (klok). A motif with a circle and twelve lines, like a watch or clock, one artist called it bi yiloko: “something that moves around a lot” (Fig. 12). Spider (wosi). The motif had one or more horizontal lines at Stamps and Motifs its center. Bafodeans believed that spiders caused illness, partic- Bafodea did not have a grand art tradition, in contrast to ularly blindness (Ottenberg 1996), but this meaning in hu ronko Asante, Yoruba, and Dogon, but what existed was important. shirts was obscure (Fig. 13). Bafodea cloth motifs can be viewed in terms of equally sim- Circle (kutoto or ntowusilo, “something that is round”). This ple motifs incised on large wood storage boxes, wood combs could be small or large, or a half, quarter, or three-quarter circle and gongs, aluminum jewelry, leather charms, and designs on (Figs. 14–15). The stamp was usually of bamboo rather than raf- embroidered hats, decorated hammocks, and baskets. Simi- fia palm (thus eliminating the need to carve a circle), although lar levels of skill characterized Bafodea music.13 Visual motifs one artist used raffia palm for a large circle. A related motif was on some objects were similar to those on hu ronko, but others two to five connected half-circles in a row, all opening upwards, were not. Bafodea designs were not difficult to create and were downwards, or sidewise (Fig. 13). One artist employed a half-cir- sometimes repeated on the same object. Hu ronko artists learned cle design made from elephant grass, which he called ku land, how to carve the stamps using everyday tools after only a short the name of the grass. period of guidance. No hu ronko artists worked at it full time; all Rising sun (ka now). This popular motif at Bafodea was also farmed, and all were male.14 the symbol of the dominant Sierra Leone political party, the All Stamps were between 3–4" (7.6–10.2cm) long and some 2" Peoples Congress (APC; Fig. 14). One artist, disregarding poli- (5cm) wide (Fig. 10). Some had motifs at both ends, either the tics, said that “the sun dries our rice, it dries our cloth. So with- same or a different design, depending on the wishes of the artist, out the sun you cannot do anything. It stands for life.” This motif who normally prepared and replaced them (Fig. 11). Motifs were might have one or more straight or curving horizontal bars cut into the soft core of raffia palm with a knife, although bam- below the sun’s rays. Opala suggests that the motif represented boo was employed for the circle motif.. Stamps became dull with “the rising sun and thus ascending power” and “both power and use and required sharpening. An artist might have as many as manliness—the very essence of the hu ronko, since Limba men twenty motifs, though some were a basic design in variant form, were interred with their heads to the east, toward the rising sun, such as the rising-sun with different numbers of rays, or the spi- while women were to the west” (1978:17).

18 | african arts winter 2007 Less common Bafodea motifs, sometimes unnamed, included a large S, a reverse S, a large W in a variety of positions, and a fence design (Fig. 16). A few artists placed black triangles at or near the edges of their shirts (Fig. 9). A man from Kabate village near Bafodea Town apprenticed with the blacksmith Sunduku, an early Bafodea Town hu ronko artist, acquiring the idea of decorating from him but not the skill. Later he learned to deco- rate on his own, doing so for three years. He continued to stamp while in the military for seven more years. I counted nine motifs on three of his decorated hu ronko; only the cross was similar to other Bafodea chiefdom motifs; some others suggested military insignias (Figs. 17–18).

10 stamps in active use by Dunto Kamara of Opala obtained twenty-five motifs that he collected in Limba Bafodea Town, including four made for the country, some from Bafodea (1978:21); about half of them simi- raffia palm core: spider, star, clock or watch, lar to those that I noted. I also saw hu ronko motifs on Yalunka cross, and one thin bamboo-tube stamp of a circle at one end and a half circle at the other. shirts (Figs. 4–5), though I did not analyze them, including a Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 broken circle and inverted “Vs” stacked on top of one another. 11 suma Mannio of Bafodea Town wearing a Hu ronko motifs may have been originally viewed as a substi- hu ronko and cutting a rising sun or All Peoples Congress (APC) design. tute for protective leather amulets, commonly found on hunt- ers’ and warriors’ gowns, as Michael D. Jackson suggests above. Or they may have been attempts of a largely nonliterate people to capture the magical protective powers attributed to Arabic writing.15 Against that idea, it is possible that the development of decorated hu ronko in Guinea and northern Sierra Leone was a reaction to increasing Islamic influence. While some nominal Muslims at Bafodea occasionally wore decorated shirts, strict Muslims did not, rather wearing traditional Islamic dress, often a long white native long-sleeved cloth gown and white circular cap (Fig. 19). Hu ronko may have represented, in part, an attempt of non-Muslims, who were Christians or traditionalists or both, to assert a visible identity in the face of the increasing influence of Islam in northern Sierra Leone, for hu ronko was largely a secu- lar garment, though sometimes linked to traditional medicines.

The Decorating Process If the artist himself obtained shirts to decorate and sell he determined the motifs used. If shirts were brought to him to dec- orate by someone who planned to wear or to sell them, the deco- rator generally allowed that individual to select from among the artist’s designs, though occasionally the artist insisted on choos- ing them himself. If someone unknown to the artist brought a shirt the artist often required payment in advance. The artists varied greatly in age. A few were schooled, as Pa Wosi Conteh from Bafodea Town, formerly a police sergeant, and the soldier Bokari Kamara. Some artists spoke no English, only Limba and Krio.16 Opala writes that the hu ronko were pre- pared by blacksmiths as well as others (1978:5–6), though I noted only two hu ronko artists at Bafodea who were blacksmiths, men in Limba country who were often thought to possess “four eyes,” being witches. Bafodea had a reputation in Sierra Leone for witchcraft (Finnegan 1965:116–19; Opala 1978, 1983; Opala and Boillot 1996). Blacksmiths were also closely associated with the powerful, secret men’s society, gbangbani. An artist prepared from one to five or more shirts at a time. If more than one, he might finish lining and stamping one shirt, before going to the next, or he lined them all and then stamped them, often with the same motifs. Usually the black vertical lines

winter 2007 african arts | 19 were first put on the shirt’s front, then the back, thus guiding Artists might select motifs to please themselves, but were the later placement of motifs between them (Fig. 20); no lin- cognizant of what sold well. I found little in the way of overall

ing or stamping occurred on the shirt’s inside. Lines were laid preference in the motifs employed, other than for the rising sun, Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 down with a pointed flat stick some 3–4" (7.6-10.2cm) long. In clock, and star. The artist Pa Wosi Conteh in Bafodea Town pre- some cases lines were doubled or tripled, with only a small space ferred clocks and spiders, while an artist in the chiefdom’s north between them. A single line was often placed on the sewed seam liked stars, rising suns, and half-circles. Suma Mannio of Bafo- joining two cloth bands; if there were two lines, one was placed dea Town liked the clock more than any other design, particu- on each seam side, and if three, one on each side and the third larly its round element and the way the twelve spikes come out on the seam. Neck and pocket lines were frequently the last to from it. Hamidu Kamara preferred the rising sun (APC motif); be decorated; here lines sometimes crossed the cloth bands. Sev- his next favorite was the star. Some artists stamped from the eral artists noted that it was easier to line native than nonnative cloth’s center outward, others began at one side. Artists some- cloth, for the band borders served as guides. However, lining times borrowed stamps from one another. The black dye faded native cloth took more time as the artist sometimes had to go after a while, and Pa Wosi Conteh told me that over time he had over a line several times due to the cloth’s thick, rough quality. re-decorated four shirts, covering faded motifs with new ones. Pocket lines were often horizontal, contrasting with body lines; The artist Dunto Kamara said that a well-decoratedhu ronko was when the sleeves were outstretched their lines were horizontal. one whose details you could see clearly at a distance, one of few Occasionally an individual who brought nonnative cloth shirts aesthetic comments I obtained from artists other than their pref- to an artist preferred to have lines omitted; this was usually done erences for stamp motifs. (Figs. 25–27). Suma Mannio prepared thirty-fivehu ronko the first year I was Some woven shirts had thread lines of black European or dark at Bafodea and twenty-two the previous year. A few artists cre- blue gara-dyed native thread,17 adding an aesthetic quality to the ated more than several hundred decorated shirts a year. It took cloth, and sometimes substituting for black painted lines (Fig. 21). some three hours to line and to stamp a shirt, but the black dye Some artists dyed the shirt edges black first but others did so fur- had to dry in the sun, which took longer. The Limba word for ther along in their work, or at its end, covering some of motifs art, wali ba, also means “work, business, job, labor, handicraft, and lines. The shirt’s black edges nicely framed it, being dyed 4–8" occupation, office, practice, task, toil” (Clarke 1922 [1971]:55). (10.2–20.3cm) in depth on the shirt’s body, with edges on the sleeves Many of these meanings apply to decorating hu ronko. somewhat less deep, and neck edges about 1" (2.5cm) wide. Several The numerous choices in shirt decoration—in the number of artists employed large black triangles on the shirt’s body edges. black parallel lines, in stamp designs, in the shirt’s background The process of stamping a shirt, akpasi hu ronko (“to make color, and in the ways of lining and stamping—suggest that designs on a hu ronko”)18 employed from one to six different shirt decoration was not ritualized, nor closely linked to reli- stamps. Generally only one motif was placed in the wide space gion.19 There were only informal cultural rules as to what type between two vertical or sleeve lines, with differing motifs often of cloth was decorated. I never saw a decorated Muslim gown. placed between different lines. Stamp motifs did not usually While some Muslims wore decorated hu ronko, as did the Bafo- cross cloth bands or black lines. There might be bilateral sym- dea’s chief at times, devout Limba Muslims did not, nor did Fula metry on both the shirt’s front and back. Circles and crosses, and Mandingo in the chiefdom. However, there was also the somewhat smaller motifs than most, tended to be placed on the decorating of seven-band sleeveless shirts (Fig. 23), native full- lesser spaces of pocket and neck. Shirts were normally filled with length, half-length, or short native pants (Fig. 24), shirts of non- lines and motifs; empty spaces of any size were rare, even on the native cloth, European-style shirts, and pants of nonnative cloth shirt’s outer back. (Figs. 25–27), women’s under-wrappers, head-scarves,20 modern The artists’ work required patience so as not to spill black dye dresses, sheets, pillow cases, sleeveless boy’s native shirts (Fig. on the cloth; once dropped, the ink could not be removed. If this 28), and traditional native-cloth hats (bambada or bambade) occurred, the artist attempted to cover it with a line or a motif. (Lamb and Lamb 1984:fig. 160), at times worn with decorated Even when sitting on a low stool the work was sometimes awk- shirts (Fig. 29). I sometimes saw decorated shirts worn during ward to accomplish (Fig. 22). the day in Bafodea Town, and by a dancer at a rite.

20 | african arts winter 2007 (both pages, l–r) 12 clock and the star motifs.

13 clock, spider, and lined half-circle motifs.

14 circle and rising sun motifs.

15 half circle motifs.

16 Fence design, which the artist Dunto Kamara said he invented.

Although there was no obvious humor in the decorated shirts, hu ronko from a number of Bafodea artists who regularly deco- there was a sense of play about their production, an evident rated for him. He had sufficient land to grow cotton, numerous

pragmatism. I doubt whether the frequent “irregularities” in wives to spin thread and he commissioned weavers and tailors to Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 decorated hu ronko reflected deep symbolism, as Sarah Brett- prepare shirts for decoration. While some shirts were patronage Smith found in traditional bogolanfini cloths (Brett-Smith 1984; gifts to cement political links, he sold manyhu ronko from his res- Duponchel 2004:83–166 and plates 9, 13–19, 21–38 appears to idence and through a Fula shop near his home, and outside the confirm Brett-Smith’s views). Nor did the artists indicate their chiefdom through persons residing in Sierra Leone’s major cities, signatures by particular marks, other than through each artist’s particularly Kabala and Freetown. The practice of a chief’s col- tendency to favor certain designs. lecting cloth and using it for gifts has a history in Sierra Leone.21 I located nine hu ronko artists in Bafodea Town, of whom six Other Bafodeans, when visiting away from home, sometimes used worked regularly and four did so on and off. These were not large a decorated shirt as a gift rather than rice or other food. numbers out of a population of some 1,000 in town, the center of Most decorated shirts made in the chiefdom were sold away the chiefdom’s hu ronko decorating activity. A number of artists from home through relatives or traders, or by the artist, almost worked in outlying villages, though often trained in town, and always in cities, particularly Freetown, Kabala, Makeni, and Bo. I found four in the chiefdom’s northern area; I am certain that The artist Momodu Conteh took his shirts to Makeni or Free- others existed. town to sell at whatever house he resided, at times he went to Bo or Kenema, and he provided decorated shirts for a trader in Human Relationships and the Migration of Hu Ronko Kabala. Men from the Limba chiefdom of Kasunko, south of Hu ronko artists were involved in complex relationships Bafodea, sent shirts to be prepared by an artist in Bafodea Town, throughout much of Sierra Leone. Their shirts became central to who had taught the Kasunko chief how to decorate. There was agency, rather than just symbols and aesthetic forms (Gell 1998), active shirt trade back and forth between men in the northern associated with the artists’ multiple social links through which Bafodea chiefdom and Yalunka to the east, bypassing Bafodea shirts moved. Artists procured native and nonnative shirts to Town. Relatives of Bafodea artists might sell shirts from their decorate. While some artists were weavers or tailors, making city homes and traders from their shops. A major decorator at some of their own shirts, others were not; tailors sold them shirts Bafodea Town, Dunto Kamara, sent shirts via poda poda (truck) or brought them to be decorated on commission. Artists were to his wife’s relative in Kabala, who sold them in his shop; the dependent on wives or other females to grow and spin cotton latter sent his own shirts and individuals with shirts to be deco- and in some cases to prepare the background dye. An artist often rated to Dunto. Another high-volume decorator, Pa Wosi Con- had a close relationship with whoever taught him to decorate, teh, had brothers in Freetown who sold for him, sending him the the two visiting back and forth, discussing each other’s work, proceeds. The Fula trader at Bafodea Town acquired decorated and lending stamps to one another. I noticed little competition shirts from local artists as well as the chief and sold them at his among those involved in hu ronko production; there were col- shop to Bafodeans, visitors, and other traders. Muctaro, a tai- laborative efforts among weavers, tailors, and shirt decorators, lor, bought native cotton bands from weavers, sewed them into with enough work for whoever wanted to do it. I was told by shirts, took them to Dunto to stamp, and then carried them to a Bafodean that most decorators, as well as weavers, had “cold” Freetown to sell. hearts (hutu guma ho tebe) rather than hot hearts (hutu ma ho Traders from the cities mentioned, including several females, togwe), being quiet persons who did not like palaver. The art- brought native shirts to Bafodea Town to be decorated or, more ists appeared to me to be gentle, perhaps in keeping with the often, many large pieces of white, nonnative cloth, which they patience needed in their work. then tailored into shirts and pants to sell elsewhere in Sierra Some decorated shirts were sold locally by the artists for local Leone. Kabala was a major site for selling Bafodea’s decorated wear, but the biggest local buyer during my stay at Bafodea was shirts; they could be seen among hu ronko made by others in the elderly, venerable Paramount Chief Alimamy Salifu Mansa- shops in and near the market. Opala (1978:22) was told by a ray (1896–1990), who had reigned for more than fifty years (Fig. Yalunka selling decorated hu ronko that the shirt trade was so 30). In a year he probably purchased several hundred decorated good that “immigrant Fulas who are noted for their keen nose

winter 2007 african arts | 21 for profit are rumored to be producing the ronko in large quan- Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 tities in Kabala.” Not only did Bafodea stamped shirts move widely in Sierra Leone, but also those produced in the Kuranko and Yalunka areas, and to a lesser extent in other Limba chief- doms. Bafodea decorated shirts sold outside the chiefdom did not appear to differ in quality from those sold within, though hu ronko artists were cognizant of what motifs were most popular elsewhere, such as the APC (rising sun) motif.

Medicine, Magic, Politics, and Power The related features of medicine and politics led to the spread of hu ronko in Sierra Leone. It was believed that if a diviner, herbalist, or blacksmith soaked a shirt in medicines with accom- panying rituals, either before or after decorating it, this protected the wearer against witchcraft and other evil. Some Bafodeans believed that when Bafodea’s chief, although nominally a Mus- lim, occasionally wore a hu ronko, he was so protected. Witch beliefs in Sierra Leone stressed that witch attacks were often by persons close to the afflicted; protective shirts prevented them (Jackson 1989:88–101; Ferme 2001; Opala 1978, 1983; Opala and Boillot 1996; Shaw 2002; Speed 1991). Decorated hu ronko washed in medicines were not distinguishable from those with- out it; decorated shirts were generally respected. At Bafodea, some prominent politicians, who did not exclusively wear Mus- lim attire, had shirts prepared in this manner, as did others who feared witch attacks or other misfortune. The famous diviner, the late Chief Pa Honor of Adamson village, a short distance from Bafodea Town, was nationally known as an expert at applying medicines and the associated rituals to hu ronko sent or brought to him from Sierra Leone.22 Shirts were sometimes prepared for prominent Sierra Leone ministers and other politicians for pro- tection and their advancement. Other Bafodea diviners or black- smiths might be consulted instead. 17–18 Front and back of a yellow, mahogany-dyed, native cloth, hand-sewn Some individuals, particularly in urban areas where many hu ronko, decorated by Bokari Mansaray from Kabate village, Bafodea chiefdom, who was in the army in Freetown. He developed most of the motifs himself, individuals did not know one another, feared the decorated partly based upon his military experience. shirts, especially when worn by persons of power; the shirt rein- forced hierarchical relationships (Opala 1978:17–18, 1983:2);23 the 19 pa Salifu Mansaray, leader of one section of Bafodea Town, wearing tradi- tional Muslim dress. This one has lines of gara-dyed thread in it. garment was not only a defense against evil but also be a threat to others. Opala and Boillot write24 that “the Limba call it the 20 ali Kamara of Bafodea Town lining a hu ronko, using a black dye composed chief’s gown in public but, in private they often refer to it as the of bu donya and bu mala leaves, boiled in water and then mixed with swamp mud. He lines from the shirt’s bottom upward and will put on the black edges ‘witches’ gown’” (1996:6, 9). Medicinally treated hu ronko were later on. The background cloth color is from the tree-root ku bara. believed “to repel attacks by swords, knives, and bullets, leaving

22 | african arts winter 2007 a mark on the skin but not penetrating it” (Opala 1978:12–13).25 Opala writes: In contemporary Sierra Leone there are many stories of public dem- onstrations of the “power” of this gown. They always tell of a man who stands confidently in front of a large crowd and allows himself to be fired at with rifles at point-blank range. When the firing stops, he is said to smile and shake the cloth as bullets fall harmlessly to the ground! Such stories are widely believed and have even been men- tioned on the radio (1983:1).

He further writes that “the failure of an assassination attempt on a national leader has been attributed on several occasions to the potential victim’s possession of a modified hu ronko worn under his Western-style business suit” (ibid., p. 5). Again, Opala sug- gests that the yellow-to-brown color of the hu ronko shirt—the

Limba “red”—represents witchcraft, although his “informants Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 insist that no one thinks so consciously; although in other con- texts these colors do have this meaning” (1978:15). If a man wear- ing it stood in front of a chief or big man with his shirtsleeves rolled up, this was an insult.26 The shirt pocket was a convenient place for protective charms, as well as objects of everyday use; Opala writes that it “is designed for entry by only the left hand and is expected to contain protective medicines” (1978:16). Since the left hand is associated with defecation, lovemaking, and witchcraft while the right is with positive public actions such as eating, greeting, working, and sacrificing, he notes further asso- ciations of hu ronko with the Limba’s mystical world.27 Putting medicines into cloths was not new at Bafodea; there was a tradition of doing so to hunter’s and warrior’s garments. A com- mon protective dress at Bafodea was a seven-band native-cloth sleeveless shirt with bands of natural white, brown, and black, the same dyes as used in shirt decorating. Called t’antola, the bands were arranged so that contiguous bands were of different colors (Fig. 31). Although not soaked in medicines, the shirt, often pre- pared on a diviner’s recommendation, was believed to provide protection against witches and other misfortune. The diviner did not usually tell the wearer how to arrange the colors; the latter did so himself. Since the shirt contained the only three named Bafo- dea colors, this suggests completeness, relating color to power. At the time of my research the Limba were influential in national politics, and decorated and medicated hu ronko, espe- cially those with the APC party motif, became popular with pol- iticians and chiefs in Freetown and elsewhere. It was not unusual to see legislative members wearing them and Limba and non- Limba entrepreneurs did so as well, for strong beliefs in witch- craft and magic in rural areas was also an aspect of the Freetown

21 Hu ronko with black European thread lines, instead of the usually somewhat thicker black painted lines. Decorated by Pa Wosi Conteh of Bafodea Town. Half-circle motif only.

22 dunto Kamara of Bafodea Town stamping a hu ronko with a clock motif on his porch.

23 an old short-sleeve shirt, decorated by Pa Yata Conteh. Spider, star, linked half-circle motifs.

24 the backside of full-length decorated pants. More frequently shorter pants of varying lengths are decorated. Rising sun motif.

winter 2007 african arts | 23 modern, urban, political scene.28 By the 1970s, hu ronko had Islamicization, being largely associated with non-Muslim, mod- become associated with national politics, the Limba, and the ern Sierra Leonean culture32 despite their accompanying medici- APC.29 No longer was it just a north country, rural phenome- nal and witchcraft associations.33 Decorated hu ronko were often non, but a pan-country one. Following a national referendum viewed by both Limba and non-Limba as Limba objects; their in 1978, the APC became the sole political party in Sierra Leone association with the APC heightened the sense of Limba identity until overthrown by a coup in 1992. Hu ronko became associated in Sierra Leone.34 When I lived at Bafodea its chief was a strong with a highly corrupt, centralized government, whose failures APC supporter and President Siaka Stevens had a retreat outside in economic and social development led to the rise of the 1990s of Bafodea Town. Ministers and big men passing through town civil war in Sierra Leone (see Reno 1995). The decorated shirt, to visit the famous diviner Chief Hono or for other purposes employed for local purposes up-country, had migrated from were housed and greeted by the chief. While the shirts were rural Kuranko or Yalunka in Guinea, westward to Bafodea, then also decorated by members of other ethnic groups, they were to to Sierra Leone’s cities and national politics, becoming linked to a large extent viewed as Limba shirts, though in Freetown they Limba identity. were worn by individuals from many cultures.35 For Bafodea, this shirt represented a growing recognition of Unlike bogolanfini of the Bamana of Mali, the Senufo fila fan the previously neglected Limba by the rest of Sierra Leone. Bafo- of Côte d’Ivoire, and the Asante adinkra of Ghana, decorated hu

deans had moved elsewhere, perhaps to avoid the hard work ronko never became a popular tourist item and did not convert Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 of farming, some going to mining areas southeast of the chief- to new commercial forms for sale in Europe and America. This dom, where they rarely had any luck. Many went to the Freetown was probably because tourism was not as advanced in Sierra area,30 especially into the military. The Limba, including Bafode- Leone as in these other countries. Expatriates in Sierra Leone ans, were nationally known for their skill in palm-wine tapping, occasionally bought the shirt and it sometimes appeared out- tappers visiting and settling here and there in the country.31 Thus side the country, but it was never well known elsewhere. These while Bafodea chiefdom itself remained relatively isolated, a fair features also reflected the lesser research and publication on hu number of its inhabitants moved about, and decorated hu ronko ronko than on these other decorated cloth forms. was an aspect of this phenomenon. For a slowly eroding Bafo- Decorated hu ronko have double lives, a secular one for some dea traditional culture, in the face of external cultural and reli- shirts, and a medicinal, mystical, witchcraft-related one, linked gious pressures and a bleak economy, the production and spread to power and medicine, for others. Both mirror life in Sierra of these shirts provided a sense of identity for chiefdom mem- Leone, which is attracted to a modern worldview while deeply bers. The garments were a statement against Bafodea’s growing involved in witchcraft and magical beliefs and practices. It is not certain which, if either, will eventually dominate the country.

25–26 Front and back of a modern decorated suit of nonnative cloth worn and owned by Hassan Bangura, the Bafodea chiefdom’s sanitary inspector. On the right front there is a large “S” and on the back of the collar the word “LOVE” has been added in reverse, with the word not blackened. Note the lack of black lines here and on the dress of his wife (Fig. 27). A very contemporary style at Bafodea, decorated by Pa Wosi Conteh of Bafodea Town.

24 | african arts winter 2007 Links to other West African Decorated Cloths There was some decorated cloth in the area not too differ- ent from that from Bafodea: In 1984, Germaine, writing on the forest region of Guinea (1984:315), probably based on infor- mation he collected earlier, briefly mentions yellow cloth, dyed from three plants, with wood-stamped circles on it. This earlier tradition was apparently overwhelmed. Tavy Aherne informs me36 of an aid program in the 1990s to this mixed ethnic area of refugees from the wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and probably more recently Côte d’Ivoire, which brought Bamana women to teach bogolanfini to the inhabitants, many of them displaced Sierra Leoneans. The designs were stamped in brown on a yellow or reddish-brown background, since the Bamana’s proper dyes were not available. A major textile program grew out of this making cloths decorated with black

designs, with some similarities and differences to those of Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 Bafodea, as reported by Anne-Chantal Gravellini and Annie Ringuedé (2005:91–144).37 Decorated cloths center on the city of N’Zérékoré and the town of Lola 26 miles (42km) to the east. In the city broken kola nut pieces, otherwise of little com- mercial value, are prepared to dye cloth in colors from yellow to dark brown, while at Lola either one or two bark types38 are employed to produce similar colors; leaves and roots may also be used. At both sites native and nonnative cloth are used. Black motifs made from a clayey mud are put on cloth by means of wood stamps—the most traditional method—or the mud is brushed over stencils made from various substances, allowing for a more rapid placing of designs. As at Bafodea, the work is mostly done outside the home, dependent on the weather, with the cloth’s back side fainter than the front. 27 Mari Bangura, wife of the sanitary inspector, Hassan Ban- However, chemical red dye is sometimes employed, and has gura. Prepared by Pa Wosi Conteh the same color strength on both cloth sides. of Bafodea Town. Spider, clock motifs. In this largely non-Muslim region N’Zérékoré is a crossroads community of Kpellé (Guerzé), Kissi, Kono, Mano, and Loma,39 28 small boy with a decorated of indigenous beliefs or mixed native and Christian faiths. A sleeveless shirt, Bafodea Town. major craft center at N’Zérékoré, the Centre Artisinal de la Pro- motion Féminine, sells a wide range of these cloths and other crafts; cloths also sell in local markets, in both cases sometimes to tourists. At Lola, where Mano dominates, a UNESCO center linked to nearby Mt. Nimba brings tourists to the area, some of whom purchase these cloths at local markets. In the Guinea for- est both the preparation and application of the background dyes are done by females; motifs are only rarely placed on cloth by males. All of this differs from Bafodea. At N’Zérékoré an occa- sional design, such as the “flower,” seems similar to Bafodea’s sun or clock (Gravellini and Ringuedé 2005:124).40 The use of stencils rather than wood stamps allows greater motif size and complex- ity than at Bafodea—masks, animals, trees, a map of Guinea, a person on a bicycle, scissors, and even words appear, and there is a greater volume of cloths prepared for sale. Black lines do not appear in the Guinea cloths, unlike Bafodea, where they usually are found on a shirt, but Gravellini and Ringuedé picture a shirt with the kind of pocket found on Bafodea hu ronko (2005:124). It is not clear whether among the refugees there were any from the Limba, Yalunka, and Kuranko with knowledge of hu ronko pro- cessing, but it is likely that there were refugee artists, as Aherne has suggested to me.41

winter 2007 african arts | 25 Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

29 three traditional-style Limba hats, called bambada, showing a variety of motifs. These are sometimes worn with hu ronko and at others times alone. The hat was formerly undecorated.

30 the late Paramount Chief Alimamy Salifu Mansaray of Bafodea Chiefdom in September 1986, wearing a decorated hu ronko with star, cross, circle, and clock motifs. He holds his official govern- ment staff of office. Photo courtesy of Vera Viditz-Ward

Another possible source of Bafodea’s hu ronko shirts is bogolan- hunter’s dress, men’s shirts, and women’s wrappers, while hu ronko fini among the Bamana in Mali, Dogon, Bozo, Minianka, and Sen- are used in a variety of nonritual situations, being essentially secu- ufo (Brett-Smith 1982, 1984, 2001, 2005; Donne 1973; Duponchel lar, except when medicines are added. Bogolanfini may be older in 2004; Imperato and Shamir 1970; Polakoff 1982; Rovine 1997, 2001). origin than hu ronko, though both were first reported early in the Both employ simple patterns of one or two motifs covering large twentieth century. Some bogolanfini motifs form a secret, esoteric cloth areas, if one considers only the more traditional bogolan- text while Bafodea hu ronko motifs lack secret meanings. fini and not the more modern forms. For black color both rely on I am dubious of any overt connection between the two mud, and the yellowish bogolanfini background is also sometimes cloth forms, although it is possible that the idea of motifs on the color of hu ronko. Both may employ two dyes for the back- cloth may have spread from Mali to Sierra Leone with differ- ground, though the yellow of bogolanfini comes from the leaves ent production techniques. What is missing is information on of two trees, while that of hu ronko is from roots. In both cases the the cloths in between their two areas. In 1980 I traveled north background color is stronger on the cloths’ outside than inside. from Bafodea to Guinea via Bindi, Mamou, Labe, and Futa Both rely on cotton-thread woven bands made by males, and Djallon, returning through Conakry. I do not recollect seeing both sometime use nonnative cloth. In both, motifs are named, decorated cloths similar to hu ronko, but, as Tavy Aherne has and in both decorated cloths are popular in the countries where reminded me, this is largely Fula country. It may be that a link they are created, although bogolanfini has evolved into the mod- between hu ronko and bogolanfini lies further east or northeast ern form of bogolan, while hu ronko has not.42 Both occur in more in Guinea, or hu ronko may have simply been a local develop- than one country, and both are linked to non-Islamic practices in ment among Yalunka or in the Sankaran area of the Kuranko regions where there is a strong Muslim presence. The Bamana are in Guinea, northeast of Bafodea. Mande-speaking Kuranko a Mande people while the Limba are not, though there have been settled in northeastern Sierra Leone about the beginning of major Mande influences at Bafodea. the seventeenth century, refugees from Muslim jihads. Limba But the differences are also striking. Bogolanfini motifs are pro- had many historic connections to its northeast in the nine- duced by women and stamps are not used, while men decorate hu teenth and early twentieth centuries, including attempts on the ronko with stamps.43 Bogolanfini designs are created in reverse to part of several ethnic groups to dominate them from there. A stamped hu ronko motifs, by blackening the areas around them, major trade route linking northeast Sierra Leone and Freetown using a metal spatula and a wood tool; thus bogolanfini cloth con- crossed Limba territory (Fyle 1979a, Jackson 2004:77); the only sists of light patterns on a dark background, while hu ronko have road out of Bafodea at the time of my research went eastward. dark patterns on a lighter background. The production ofbogolan - There were also attacks by Mandinka warriors from the north- finimotifs is more laborious. The dyes for the black color differ for east on the Kuranko and Limba by Samori and his sofa forces the two cloths. Bogolanfini are employed in girl’s initiation rites, between 1870 and 1890.

26 | african arts winter 2007 Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

31 My field assistant Paul Hamidu Mansaray holding a seven-band sleeveless shirt, which by its colors has magical protective value.

32 native-cloth hu ronko for sale by a Kuranko producer/seller whose shop is located several blocks away from the Kabala market, 2007. The shirt at the left is of commercial cloth.

While the Kuranko Sankaran area is the most likely source of cedure than at Bafodea. Glaze suggests that while outwardly Bafodea’s hu ronko, the Lambs suggest similarities to the Akan Senufo cloths appear similar to those of the Bamana, their pro- adinkra of Ghana, “which too, could well have it origins in the duction differs. “Senufo design is more positive and the Bamana Manding cultural world” (1984:127). Huronko and adinkra use more negative,” she writes (1978:71). Bamana women are the art- black stamped motifs, but with differing motifs and stamp materi- ists, while among Senufo it is males. Glaze doubts that there has als. Adinkra designs are linked to proverbs or sayings, while Bafo- been any association to other decorated cloths. dea ones are not. Geographically and culturally Akan and Bafodea Other possibilities exist. Decorative styles could have devel- are a long way apart, though Ghanaians have been in Freetown for oped in different regions independently due to wishes to dec- many years and may have influencedhu ronko production.44 orate plain white cloth in a manner less technically complex Mato’s survey of adinkra cloth’s origin (1986:63–102) shows its than in weaving, or to emulate Islamic amulets or Arabic writ- existence in Ghana by at least the early nineteenth century, com- ing. There is the possibility of some crossover of both produc- ing from the Muslim north through Arabic script and amulet tion processes and cloth motifs with indigo cloth,45 although designs. It became thoroughly absorbed into Akan culture, with at Bafodea locally produced indigo-dyed cloth was not very a few adinkra sayings and symbols, such as the magic square, still common. Linguistic evidence does not suggest close connec- today showing Islamic influence. But Mato is cannot say where tions among the cloth design areas,46 although at Bafodea the in the north it came from. former were not too common. The Guinea forest cloths would There have been traditional, male-decorated Senufo cloths in be a major example. Excluding the Guinea forest regions, all Côte d’Ivoire’s Korhogo region (Polakoff 1982:158–9 and fig. 104; four forms might be connected through some original center, Glaze, 1972, 1981:pl. 81, 1978:63–71, 107–8; Etienne-Nugue and perhaps in the Sankaran Kuranko region of Guinea, or they Laget 1985:172–83). The designs, mostly on native cloth, consist may have all derived from northern Mande sources. Four of of repetitive vertically or horizontally organized, black abstract them, and sometimes the fifth, have largely abstract, repeti- motifs, and occasional painted figures of lizards, pythons, birds, tive designs, arranged linearly on cloth. Or some forms may and other animals, separated by black-line columns. These fila- be linked, such as Bafodea and the Guinea forest region cloths, fani cloths are associated with hunters, initiations, Poro per- and others are not. Another possibility for Bafodea is that formers, wall hangings, and everyday dress, and are sometimes Kuranko in Freetown saw adinkra cloth from Ghana, as Gha- prescribed by diviners. Designs are created with a light yellowish naians have been present there for a long time, and translated it solution prepared from a certain tree, painted on white native into the hu ronko form. Or, as I suggested above, it may derive cloth, and afterwards immersed in mud, fixing the dye. The cloth from decorated Muslim cloths. Whatever the origin, the Bafo- is then washed, removing the mud so that the cloth regains its dea hu ronko artists I met were unaware of bogolanfini, adinkra, white appearance except from the painted areas, a different pro- fila fani, or the Guinea forest-region cloths.

winter 2007 african arts | 27 Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021

33 Woman in Bafodea dressed in a commercial cloth hu ronko blouse, skirt, and head-tie, 2007.

34 a man in Sakuta village, Wara Wara Chiefdom, wearing a commercial cloth hu ronko gown, 2007.

35 young girl in Bafodea Town wearing a dress of commercial cloth hu ronko for a Wesleyan Church Sunday service, 2007.

The Decline of Native-Cloth Hu ronko boys’ initiation rites from the north, where formerly they made I returned to Wara Wara Bafodea Chiefdom for eleven days their own. The decline of native-cloth hu ronko was also acceler- in April 2007 to note what life and culture were like following ated by politics. The APC political party with which it had been the end of the bitter 1992–2002 civil war, during which virtually associated is now a minority party and its politicians no longer every village in the chiefdom was attacked, houses burned, prop- wear hu ronko, which no longer has political significance. Fur- erty and food taken away, and girls, boys, and women abducted. ther, the cessation of hu ronko production during the long civil All hu ronko producers mentioned in this paper had died except war assisted its decline, along with a general disappearance of Suma Mannio, now living in an outlying village of Bafodea Town, indigenous Bafodea culture. who could weave and produce hu ronko but lacked commissions What I did find in Bafodea Town, and occasionally in nearby to do so. Bassay Conteh, son of the late hu ronko creator Pa Wosi villages and in the district capital of Kabala, were bright yellow Conteh, had trained with his father to produce hu ronko but was or brown commercial cloths with black motifs arranged much involved in trading, stating that in any case he could not find as in the hand-made hu ronko, except that they lacked the black native cloth to use. I saw only two old hu ronko being worn in lines between rows of designs (Fig. 36). These were worn as Bafodea Town, one bought in Kabala, where a Kuranko from the shirts, shorts, or gowns by men and as shirts, skirts, and dresses Mongo region had a small shop off the market to sell those he by women, and had some popularity among children (Figs. 33– made himself, woven with European thread (Fig. 32). The other 35). They generally carried the label: “VERITABLE HI-WAX” old hu ronko had been made by Bassay Conteh with thread pre- followed by the date of either 2005 or 2006, carried the Diane pared by his wife. No hu ronko were being produced in Bafodea protective trade mark, and were considered to be a type of hu Town’s outlying villages. ronko in Bafodea or a ronko elsewhere. The motifs, printed in There are fewer weavers than before in Bafodea Town and black on cotton damask, differed from those embedded in the its surrounding villages. Individuals in some communities had damask and from the usual Bafodea native-cloth motifs. Some grown cotton, but the card used in preparing thread had been Bafodeans say these cloths are of Chinese origin, while others do taken by rebels, so the thread could not be prepared. No young not know their origin other than that they purchased them at the person wants to weave today and those few females still prepar- small Bafodea Town market, or at Kabala or Freetown. ing thread are old—girls are not interested in this work. Weav- In Freetown I occasionally saw these commercial ronko being ing, so important in producing indigenous hu ronko, is on the worn on the streets, even sometimes as only one part of a shirt, decline. However, weaving is still strong in the Kamuke in the and they were being sold as whole cloths and prepared clothing north of the chiefdom, where I was told that a few hu ronko were at the large Liberty Market, but not the Main (Big) Market. The still being prepared, though I could not verify this due to poor shirts frequently had elaborate embroidery on the front-middle road conditions. So little indigenous cloth exists in the south- with a somewhat different style for each gender (Fig. 38), embroi- ern chiefdom communities that they purchased the cloth used in dery being important to the large Muslim Freetown popula-

28 | african arts winter 2007 (clockwise from top left) 36 two commercial hu ronko-style cloths purchased at the Kabala market. I viewed both designs in clothing form a number of times at Kabala and Freetown, 2007.

37 two stamped or stenciled hu ronko on commercial cloth, with some embroidery. Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 The one at the left is from Freetown and the right one is from Kabala, 2007.

38 commercial cloth hu ronko purchased at Liberty Market, Freetown with male-style embroidery and a white cloth-piece at the neck back, 2007.

39 stenciled commercial cloth from the forest region of Guinea on a washing line at Bafodea Town, with images of palm trees and women pounding food, 2007.

tion, with its tradition of embroidery enhancement on clothing. Indigenous hand-crafted hu ronko has virtually died out in According to the cloth sellers none of these cloths or their motifs Sierra Leone. It had generally been sold outside the normal cloth had specific names. The same cloth company also produces other channels in Freetown, and other cities, as I have indicated above. cloth with the same label, but unrelated to ronko style. Inquiries Now the new forms are embedded for sale in the regular Sierra indicate that the cloth was manufactured in China but the motif Leone cloth markets and become just another style for sale. stamping done in Freetown by Chinese, who now play important Native hand-made hu ronko has had its birth, life, and virtual roles in Sierra Leone development and its economy. The light- death in Sierra Leone in some sixty years. ness of the cloth and its lower price compared to native hu ronko makes it attractive. In Kabala and in Freetown I also saw a number of cloths with Simon Ottenberg carried out field research at Wara Wara Bafodea motifs that indicated that they came from the forest Guinea area Chiefdom in 1978–80 and is the author of numerous articles and a book growing out of that work: Seeing with Music: The Lives of Three Blind discussed above, such as a palm tree and native hut design or African Musicians (University of Washington Press, 1996). He has also palm tree and women pounding food (Fig. 39). Further, black, published extensively on the traditional and contemporary arts of the Igbo crudely stamped or stenciled motifs of ronko style on commer- of southeastern Nigeria. He is an emeritus professor of anthropology at the cial fabric dyed dark brown were for sale in Freetown, motifs put University of Washington, where he taught for thirty-six years. on at Freetown or Kabala (Fig. 37). At the Main Market I saw only one native-cloth hu ronko for sale—for a child—and none were being sold at Liberty Market.

Notes Brett-Smith for references to books by Daniel Mato and a form more than a hundred years old in Sierra Leone, Anthropological research was carried out in 1978–1980 Anne-Chantal-Gravellini and Annie Ringuedé, and for and old at Bafodea. And there is the Mandingo loom, in the chiefdom, based in Bafodea Town, with the aid of helpful comments. where the weaver sits behind the heddle on a stool, one a leave of absence from the Anthropology Department, 1 Except in the last section of this paper, I employ of numerous Mande influences on the chiefdom. Some University of Washington, and a research grant from the the past tense, since the original field research was car- Bafodeans used it exclusively, but others alternated National Foundation for the Humanities. I thank my two ried out before the 1992–2002 Sierra Leone civil wars. between these two looms. In Bafodea’s northern region, field assistants, Paul Hamidu Mansaray and Fatamata 2 In this paper “nonnative” refers to commercial a rare third type exists, the single pole loom, where the Mansaray, for considerable assistance in my research. thread or cloth produced in Europe and Asia. I do not frame is held up on a horizontal pole by a post at each In April 2007 I returned to Bafodea for a short visit, use the term “commercial” here, since hu ronko also has end of the loom, while the weaver sits on the loom’s and again thank Paul Hamidu Mansaray for his help. commercial aspects. right side, moving along the warp as he works. See Michael D. Jackson, Prince Sorie Conteh, Jeremiah Cole, 3 In the chiefdom’s south there is the standing Lamb and Lamb 1980; 1984:36–9, 40–46, 62–7. Tavy Aherne, and Vera Viditz-Ward deserve thanks for long frame loom, where the weaver stands behind the 4 This is my estimate based on information from assistance in the preparation of this paper, and Sarah heddle, a high frame holding up the weaving apparatus, hu ronko decorators and Bafodea elders, including Pa

winter 2007 african arts | 29 Yaya Conteh, who indicated that decorated hu ronko was probably an old tradition brought by Fula Muslims. 28 Prince Sorie Conteh (2006:107) writes that the first appeared at Bafodea at the time of the Koinadugu Few Limba at Bafodea engaged in it, though there were Limba “throughout APC rule [1968–1985 for Siaka Ste- District Officer Victor Pffennel-Smith. many Limba Muslims there. vens; 1985–1992 for General Momoh], high ranking pol- 5 Years ago scholars would have called stamped 18 Akpasi also refers to making incisions on objects iticians and those of less influence sought out the help shirts crafts and their producers craftsmen, but I see such as a comb, an aluminum hair pin, a leather charm, of diviners and fortune-tellers to win and keep their individual creativity to the extent that I refer to them as or on a carving, or the body. seats or to gain the favour of those in higher authority respectively art and artists. 19 A major hu ronko artist whose wife, still of when seeking more lucrative political positions.” 6 It has the typical hu ronko pocket. In the pho- childbearing age, regularly prepared the brown dye for 29 Opala (1978:24) states: “In his official photograph, tographic caption Sieber writes: “Similar in style to that him told me that there were no menstrual taboos on in fact, the former Primer Minister and the current described nearly three hundred years ago as a prestige this work, nor on spinning thread, and that no religious Second-Vice-President, a Tonko Limba, appear in a hu costume from Senegal to Sierra Leone” (1972:30). It is or spiritual aspects were involved. ronko and a bambade,” a traditional Limba hat. However, not clear whether Sieber is referring to the form of the 20 At the memorial for a dead man, certain female a survey of photographs of political leaders in five books shirt or both the form and the stamping on it, most relations would dress in his clothes, singing and danc- on Sierra Leone politics of the time indicates that in likely the former, common in West Africa. Lamb and ing in imitation of his movements. If the deceased those images these men were mostly wearing European Lamb 1984:127 support the idea that the hu ronko was commonly wore hu ronko shirts, some of these females suits. An exception is a photograph of the President Siaka well established by the beginning of the nineteenth did as well. See Opala 1978:18 as well. On the same page Stevens (Stevens 1984:426) wearing a decorated hu ronko century, but they provide no evidence other than that he writes: “(and it does not matter whether it actually with the APC symbol, but he is not in a formal situation; cloths for various uses were dyed hu ronko colors at that happens or not—only that men believe it occurs) a the image is entitled “Look After a Garden.” time. There is no evidence of stamping on them. woman with male attributes and obvious supernatural 30 Finnegan (1965:123–43) discusses Limba migra- 7 Despite a number of attempts I have been powers is thought to wear the hu ronko with impunity.” tion in Sierra Leone, and Moseley (1978) provides a unable to obtain a response from the Brighton Museum Further, Opala (1978:18) argues that the local head (ba thoughtful view of the Safroko Limba in Freetown. Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/afar/article-pdf/40/4/14/1734963/afar.2007.40.4.14.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 on this cloth. Fanthorpe’s two papers on politics and digba) of the women’s secret society (Bondo) “wears a 31 Opala (1978:2) writes: “Every large town has a government among the Biriwa south of Bafodea (1998a, sort of modifiedhu ronko made by a blacksmith while ‘Limba corner’ where one may be refreshed.” 1998b) do not mention hu ronko, but his interests lie performing ceremonies in the sacred bush,” connecting 32 Laing (1825:359) suggests that the Yalunka used to elsewhere. this to the unusual prerogatives permitted this impor- dress as Muslims but following the incursion of Muslim 8 Personal communication, January 17, 2006. tant official, who is also believed to be a witch. Fula, “it has been the fashion to appear as different to 9 An old hand in Sierra Leone, Opala lived for 21 Fyle 1979b:23 writes of a Biriwa Limba chief in their enemies as possible, in dress as well as in religion.” more than twenty years, off and on, in Freetown, earlier 1887, and Alldridge 1970 [1910]:297 cites a case of the 33 Tavy Aherne considers this argument illogical, serving for sixteen months in the Peace Corps in the Bafodea chief in 1890. Jeremiah Cole, now a dealer in since the adoption of the designs from Muslim sources Limba chiefdom of Bumbuna. Ha planned to use his hu African art, reports receiving a hu ronko about 1970 as a without the associated power would bring their wearers ronko data for a PhD dissertation at the School of Ori- gift from the chief at Kabala (personal communication). no protection at all. ental and African Studies, University of London, but did 22 Opala (1978:3, 7–9), on the basis of hearsay and 34 Note that at near the beginning of this paper I not do so. It was he who kindly directed me to Bafodea data from one man who witnessed the ritual, states that indicated that Kuranko decorated shirts became associ- as a center for my own researches, and provided me the medicinal hu ronko form, which he calls hu ronko ated with the ferensola political movement there. with copies of his unpublished 1978 and 1983 hu ronko hu ka biya fooma, was prepared by blacksmiths and 35 Opala (1978:22) recounts meeting two young papers. His work strongly emphasizes the magical and appeared to involve the initial dying and stamping in men in Freetown wearing decorated hu ronko, one witchcraft aspects ofhu ronko while mine has stressed the bush and some seven days of rites. The person for of whom was a Mende, the other from Ghana. When the more secular domain. I have tried to balance the whom the rite was done usually attended, and if not Opala “asked them why they were wearing Limba two approaches. already a witch was made so by the blacksmith through clothes, the reply should have been obvious: ‘It’s African 10 The termwu pote is associated with both the this ritual. culture.’” bush and witchcraft (Opala and Boillot 1996:9). 23 The photographer/art historian Vera Viditz- 36 She carried out research on cloth in the Guinea 11 I wish to thank Alex V.O.A. Robin of the Fourah Ward who, among other work, photographed Sierra forest region in 1995–1996. Bay College Herbarium, Freetown, for identifying the Leone chiefs (Viditz-Ward 1990), wrote me: “In terms 37 Similar motifs to Bafodea can be seen in photos scientific names of plant materials which the artist of photographing chiefs and elders in their ‘worked’ hu on page 124 (with the typical Bafodea shirt pocket), and Dunto Kamara kindly collected for me. Kuwere is f. ronkos, there was a very strict protocol in which I was page 116. See also Germain 1984. Meraceae Fiscus glumosa (Dalziel 1937:279). permitted to photograph but never to touch the gowns” 38 Terminalia ivorenis, family Combretaceae and 12 Bu donya is from long, serrated, dull-colored (personal communication, 2006). And Opala and Boil- Trichilia cf. heudelotii, family Meliaceae. leaves of a bush with long, thin branches: f. Papiliona- lot 1996:10 note that when medicinally treated, “the 39 Gravellini and Ringuedé 2005 write Manon for ceae Lonchocarpus cynaescen (Dalziel 1937:135). Bu mala gown is said to provide its owners with supernatural Mano, Konon for Kono, and Toma for Loma. is from the shiny, small, oval, nonserrated leaves of a powers and to cause illness or death to anyone else who 40 Germain 1984:315, largely based on data he ear- small bush: f. Onagraceae Jussiaes abyssinica (Hutchin- touches it.” Yet Viditz-Ward added that women in Free- lier collected, mentions wood stamps to produce circle son, Dalziel, and Keay 1954 1:170). Bu yaya is from town wore European-style hu ronko stamped dresses designs on yellow cloth, the color deriving from three long, oval, nonserrated leaves of a bush growing at the of nonnative cloth openly, without any problems. Of plant materials which seem to differ from those cited by Bafodea waterside: f. Caesaliniaceae Cassia podocarpa a remarkable independent Sierra Leonean artist in Gravellini and Ringuedé. (Dalziel 1937:182). I did not obtain scientific names for Freetown, she writes: “On several occasions I observed 41 Tavy Aherne, personal communication. all the dyes. the Sierra Leonean woman artist, Olayenka Birney 42 Sarah Brett-Smith (personal communication, 13 Ottenberg 1983, 1987, 1996. Although singing, Nicol wearing a traditional home spun, man’s hu ronko.” January 3, 2007) writes: “A few Bobo and Bamana hunt- both for rituals and play, is endemic at Bafodea, I never Further broadening the view of hu ronko, Opala writes ers shirts are made using stamps cut from old bits of heard references to decorated hu ronko shirts in song. (1978:21) of the Freetown area that the shirt “is often calabash. The designs are limited in number and have 14 A wife of one hu ronko artist once tried decorat- worn under the costumes of the devils used by Creole esoteric meanings corresponding to the grade in the ing shirts but gave it up for reasons I could not ascertain. Hunting Societies in the Western area,” “devils,” being hunter’s association of the hunter who wears them.” 15 Opala 1978:20 suggests that some hu ronko the Krio term for male masqueraders. 43 However Tavy Aherne (personal correspon- motifs resemble Arabic script. I recently saw on exhibit 24 Opala and Boillot (1996) suggest that some dence) informs me that for a least thirty years and at the British Museum a cotton talismanic tunic (rigan Limba believe that witches originated hu ronko and that possibly much longer, “people around San, Mali have yaki), with leather and paper, possibly from twentieth witches still wear them. produced ‘positive’ cloth motifs on bogolanfini; and by century northern Nigeria, on which were found graphic 25 Opala relates the hu ronko to former warrior 1990 Dogon were using stencils to decorate their ochre- signs, Arabic letters, and words from the Quran (Ethno dress and lists taboos supposedly associated with the to-red cloths with brown and black designs.” 1940 Af23.1) and a large Ghanaian painted cloth deco- wearer’s use of the medicinal hu ronko (1978:14). 44 Tavy Aherne (personal correspondence) sug- rated with geometric patterns or inscriptions in Arabic, 26 Jeremiah Cole, personal communication. gests that during the reign of Sekou Touré in Guinea forms of protective symbolism. (Ethno 1956 Af 3.1). See 27 However, I had no trouble placing my right many Guineans fled the country, returning some years also Prussin 1986:89–93. hand in the pocket, nor did Bafodeans that I asked after his death. She suggests that it is not impossible 16 Krio (from “Creole”) is the informal national to do so. But this principle of hand differentiation is some earned adinkra techniques in Ghana which were tongue of Sierra Leone. common in West Africa. See, for example, Brett-Smith later brought to Guinea. 17 Gara dying of thread and of cloths in Bafodea 1994:179–80, 296–7, n. 53. 45 Tavy Aherne, personal correspondence.

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