Kanga
Wandering around the coastal regions of east Africa you would surely spot local women wrapped in two pieces of similar colorful clothing that is absolutely what we call Kanga.
Kanga is the popular colorful patterned cotton garment in rectangular form worn mainly by local women in Zanzibar and other part of African great lakes regions. The size of Kanga is about 1.75 meter wide by 1.25 meter height and is divided into three parts named in Swahili language as:
- Pindo (border) which are four sides.
- Mji (region) which is a central motif
- Jina (subject/name) is a bottom part which bears the message mostly in Swahili.
Kanga are always in pair joined together as a single shawl and referred as “Doti” in Swahili language however should be cut easily to turn into two pieces.
Historically,Kanga has been introduced since 19th century as one of the traditional attires of Zanzibari female society.It is believable that Kanga was brought in Zanzibar and other East African coastal regions by Indian and arab traders around AD 1860.The name Kanga was derived from Swahili noun Nyakanga which means the Chief instructor during girl’s initiation rites or traditional marriages however the other concept claims that Kanga was given the name after a bird known as guinea fowl which means Kanga in Swahili as the bird’s feathers appearance resemble to a first design of the garment but all the two concepts accord with fact.
In Zanzibar Kanga has been through couple of transformations as there was an unbleached cotton cloth imported from the U.S.A named locally as Merikani cloth perhaps that term was due to the struggle of elders to pronounce American as its origin.The popular Merikani cloth was later dyed into blackish and reffered as Kaniki cloth which was then used as slavery attire.Most of Kangas were designed and produced in India and Far east back in 20th century but since the 1950s they have been manufactured in Tanzania and other east African countries.
The Swahili women in Zanzibar wear Kanga as part of the culture and considered as one of the respectful dresses in the archipelago and the entire east African coastal regions.However the Swahili men would also wear it occasionally at home in private with their wives.
Kanga is considered as more colorful and decorative traditional womanly attire with stunning patterns and great value in entire east African coastal regions thus serves as a very special gift to someone you cherish in various occasions.A husband would buy it and offer to his wife as a gift,warning or an apology,the children would do the same to their mothers to show appreciation and care for them.The women can also buy Kanga and offer it as gift or to express their feelings about something to their friends.Kanga also is offered as present during the girl’s initiation rites or during the traditional weddings.
Since Kanga is in pair therefore a woman wraps around from the waist to the legs and another piece from the head to the hands.In many social occasions in Zanzibar, Kanga worn by women as an event uniforms matching the patterns and messages.
Jina is the spotlight of Kanga where the message written thus plays a major role on sending the messages to the community.The type of a message depends on the particular situation and event,for instance political messages are popular during electional campaigns from the followers of one political party to another.However there are also other type of messages based on love,sorrow,warning,mockery,inspiration,educative,wishes,pride and wisdom.For example a local woman can wear Kanga written “Nalidumu letu pendo” which means “let our love stay forever” to send a love message mostly to a husband, another example is “Nitazidi kumpenda mpate kusema sana “which means “keep on talking,the more you gossip,the more I will love him”this is definitely a warning to the gossipers.Kanga is indeed a trustful messenger that can relay your mindset according to your wish.However, in some situation Kanga may lead to misunderstanding due to a message and become a source of dispute and raise quarrels between two women or a social female group.The misunderstanding may occur according to the previous and current relation or selfishness of the victims.In some cases few rude women would use Kanga bearing mockery message as weapon to hurt purposely the feelings of their rivals however it does not happen frequently.”Mgonjwa hupewa dawa mmbeya hupewa nini?”means “If a Patient given the medicines what should a gossiper deserve?,”Mimi ni bata mzoefu wa kupata nikikosa baharini nchi kavu nitapata”means”I am an experienced duck if I fail to get what I want in the water,I wil definitely get it on land”,”Jibu ninalo nakusubiri uropoke”means “I know the truth,I am just waiting you to start blabbing”and “Tutakula nao wenye waume zao”means “We will share their husbands”.These are some of examples of Kanga bearing such messages that may sometimes cause commotion among the ladies.However, there are plenty of Kangas with very decent messages on sell in stone town streets that can be bought as gift with locals and visitors choosing together which create an unique atmosphere.Below are various says of Kanga with meanings:
- Moyo wangu sultani cha mtu sitamani-I am happy with what i have.
- Heshima si utumwa-Respect is not slavery
- Hakuna mkamilifu-Nobody is perfect
- Acheni majungu muogopeni Mungu-Stop spreading rumors, have fear of god.
- Asemaye hajapata aliyepata hasemi-A genuine wealthy won’t flaunt wealth.
Kanga has many other uses but briefly it can be used as a baby carrier, as towel and it can be used to cover the coffin to identify the gender of the deceased as a woman however it can be used also to cover the washed corpse of both genders male and female.
