The Maasai Blanket ''LUBEGA"

The Maasai  are amongst the few tribes in Tanzania who are still adhering to their culture. And their famous for that. This people are herders of cattle (nomads),  so they  move from one place to another in search of good pasture and water for their cattle. It is a tradition of Maasai men  to wear colourful outfit  known as "lubega" in Kiswahili or popularly known as Maasai blanket. This piece of cloth they just simply fling it around their bodies. And to hold it in place they use to tie it into a knot near the shoulder area, with belt  support  around their waist. The belt also carries the "sime" (Maasai sword) and a club. The Maasai warrior plait their hair in a very unique style of their own, also put on "lukaria",a special red soil all over their bodies. For a complete attire dress up they elongate the lobes of their ears by making big holes on them, carry a shield, a spear and put on sandals made from old used car tyres. When fully dressed up they attract a lot of attention to passer by. Tourist love to take a photograph with them. Now a days we see man from other tribes also flinging the Maasai blanket around their bodies to keep them warm during cold season.
The Maasai cuture is very rich, to write about it, you are talking of writting a book of many pages.

Maasai wariors getting organised just before perfoming their traditional
Maasai dance

People from other tribes wearing Maasai attire

The Maasai blanket is available in a wide variety of colour mix. Below  you can see some of the varieties. The blanket can also be used as a table cloth, curtain,  car cushions, sofa upholstery etc.

 At  our Shop Sanaa Zetu we have a wide variety of Maasai blankets.You are most welcome. We are based in Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. Customer satisfaction is our motto.

                                                             KARIBU SANA

Banana plant as a raw material source for Chagga artists and craftsmen plus other uses

The Chagga people, live in the slopes of mount Kilimanjaro. In those days in every homestead they grew a variety of Banana plants on their farm, namely Mshare,Matoke,Kimalindi,Nyelele,Kipungara,Kisukari,Mkojozi, Msusu, Ngombe and Kitarasa.Some of the Banana varieties, they used for cooking Chagga dishes, such as, Machalari, Mtori, Shiro, Ngande, Kitawa, Kitalolo, roasted or fried green bananas commonly used at breakfast instead of bread and Kiumbo.It should be noted by then Bananas was the staple food of the Wachagga. But with intermarriages it is no longer the case,maize took over as staple food.And rice was regarded as a special food and it was cooked only on Sundays or on special occasions. On the other varieties, some are used as raw material for preparing Chagga local brew Mbege and in recent years Banana wine. And others when ripe as fruits. After banana harvest, the left over of the plant is used as food for cattle, goats and sheep. The leaves of the plant which have dried off is used as bedding material in the cattle barn, so as to keep the herd dry and warm especially during cold season. The cow dung with the used beddings is then spread on the banana farm as manure.     

Above we can see a person holding a banana bunch.On the ground we can see dry banana leaf this material is mostly used for beddings in cattle barns. And on the banana stem we can see its outer core which has dried off. Artists,crafts people and builders use it as raw material. The artist carefully peel off the fibre from the stem s dry outer core. The extracted fibre has a combination of colours, ranging from Black to white, with exceptions of Red, Green, Blue and Purple. The artist and craftsmen use the fibre to make a wide range of products, namely decorative (Portraits and wall hangings) , utility (rope,cooking pot support-ngata, table mats,lampsheds, storage baskets, picture frames etc) and personal use(jewelry,bookmarks,Purses, hand bags etc) .

Below we can see some decorative products.

 

And here are some of the utility products.

 

For ladies personal use we have earrings here below. Craftsmen also make hand purse and shoulder bags.

Flamingos
 Banana Fibre fabrics combination

Maasai women
 Banana Fibre fabrics combination

Maasai women fetching water
 Banana Fibre fabrics combination

The other use of the banana fibre material is as roofing material for thatching the roof of Chagga house. This type of material was commonly used by Wachagga of Machame.
You are most welcome to Sanaa Zetu for your Banana fibre made products and other varieties. Customer satisfaction is our motto.

Carving tools frequently used by Makonde hard wood (Ebony) carvers.

The Makonde carvers use most of the widely used common carving tools, such as the flat,u-shape, v-shape chisels and knive.

An axe for felling the ebony tree:


 and wood hand saw for preparing the work pieces:


In Tanzania to cut down ebony tree is government control, you can not freely cut the tree, one has to have a permit and license to do so. Now coming back to our topic, the carvers frequently use the following tools: Makonde Chopping axe (tezo) for preparing the initial shape of the carving:


Hand file (Kurubula) for finishing work, on the carving:


Below we can see hand file application on finishing process of Giraffe by Mzee Kibange of Majengo Makonde carvers, Moshi, Kilimanjaro:

Makonde Wood scraper (Mkwango) for detailed finishing such as on the eye:

Makonde Wood scraper (Pondola) for finishing work:


Makonde Carving knife ( chipula):



Makonde Mallet ( Kiwenguwengu) it is used as a hammer whilst chiseling out the work piece:






In the past a carving was doned entirely by one carver and they used to sign engrave their names on the bottom stand of the carving or sometimes at the bottom end of the carving. Now with commercialization we have specialization. Some carvers do the initial rough piece of the carving, followed by those who specialised on detailed work and lastly by finishing experts. And that is why now you can rarely find a carving signed as it formerly was.

Makonde People

Makonde tribe is found on the south East coast of Tanzania in Mtwara region. The Makonde people have a very rich culture.
 
And are famous world wide for their carvings carved in Ebony wood, their carvings can now be found in almost every country.

In the past makonde carvers carved as a hobby,
but now it has turned commercial. And they have establish workshops / stalls in almost all regions in Tanzania with touristic attractions, where they carve and sell their carvings. Tourist sometimes like to watch a Makonde carver at work and take some memorable photos. The Makonde people are also famous for their Tinga tinga paintings,  (As seen here below, one among many Makonde dancing masks) their traditional Ngoma dance.The Makonde people are very cool,polite and humble people but when provoked are people to reckon. The carvers carve decorative, utility  and utility / decorative products which can be used in our homes, offices hotels etc. At Sanaa Zetu you will have the opportunity of sourcing from our wide range of carved ebony products.And we can produce customer designed products.    

Makonde dancing mask

Makonde carver

 

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CHAGGA SOFT WOOD CARVERS AT WORK

Hi! Today i want to show you some digital images of the Chagga soft wood carvers whilst working and i will give you a brief explanation as we go along.

Above Stewart Minja preparing the initial rough stage of the piece wood to be carved. And behind him there is a tray which he has already carved.

                                          Above Moses Mlay carving the inside of a wooden bowl.

               Above softwood carver of Mamba Msae working on the inside of a wooden tray.

                                        Elia Mlay chiselling the inside of musical drum frame.

                       Above Moses Mlay shaving the inside of a wooden tray using a wood shaver.

                        Above Moses Minja doing the finishing touches on a salad server.

Above Gillead Minja doing the finishing touches on a  wooden container for putting small things like jewelry.

Above Mzee Rodrick Minja working on the inside of a wooden container. He is amongst the oldest  few, softwood carvers who still carve.

                           Moses Mlay decorating a carved piece using scorching technique.

                            Above Moses Mlay  scorch decorate a carved musical drum.

                                     Moses Mlay scorch decorate a carved salad server.

Moses Mlay,  scorch decorating a wooden bowl whilst Elia Mlay maintains the fire at red hot, by using a blower made from goat skin. Fire is used for heating scorching tools.

                Elia Mlay doing the finishing touches on a carved wooden musical drum.

       A softwood carver of Mamba Msae doing sanding work on a carved wooden oval bowl.

                                  Elia Mlay doing the finishing touches on salad servers.

                                                   Some of the scorching tools and blower.

                     Blogger Paul Siairuka Njau visiting late Dawson Mboya at his workshop/ home, Mamba Masiha.

                 Blogger Paul Siairuka Njau chiseling on the inside of a wooden musical drum frame, at Mamba Msae softwood carvers workshop.

A British man trying to shave the inside of a wooden bowl at Mamba Msae softwood carvers workshop.

If you are interested to visit soft wood carvers, we can always arrange that for you, i hope you have learnt something from the digital images.

                                                SANAA ZETU

Dealers of : Home Accessories,souvenirs, curios and gift items. 

                                    And it is always there to cater for your needs.
                                                          KARIBU