RITUALS AND SYMBOLISM OF INDIGO TEXTILE DYEING TECHNOLOGY
PRODUCTS IN OSOGBO, NIGERIA
BY
OWOEYE OMOTAYO IDOWU OKE
SUPERVISORS
PROFESSOR O. B. LAWUYI
PROFESSOR D. A. AREMU
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
In today’s world of indigo dyeing, very few locations or even none has its oral history
linked to its establishment in Nigeria except Osogbo popularly called “The Home of Dye”. The
indigo dyeing market in Osogbo may not be as pronounced as Abeokuta where there is a
recognized international market for dyed products (Owoeye, 2010) or the dyeing pits of Kano
that is mainly male dominated. Despite the inconspicuous dyeing market in Osogbo, there is a
subtle and salient uniqueness in the quality of its products and the natural aesthetics on the dyed
textiles. Osogbo’s textile dyeing technology and industry is also perceived cultural connection as
a reflection of the annual Osun-Osogbo festival. Another unique characteristic of the Osogbo
indigo textile dyeing technology and the product is the communicative power of the technology,
which reflects the culture and beliefs of the environment especially of the Yoruba people as
observed by Owoeye (2010). This reinforces some cultural facts in the environment. However,
the curiosity behind this research was fired up when the researcher raised questions concerning
the whats and hows of the indigo textile dyeing technology industry on the issues of rituals and
symbolism in the technology of the indigo textile dyeing in Osogbo. The curiosity is based on
what determines the production of the dyed textiles and their effects on the market? How the
indigo textile dyeing industries synchronize their visions at each stage of the production? How
does the industry interpret colour symbolism knowing there is blue-black coloration in indigo
dyeing and the proverbs used by the industry and consumers in Osogbo? How are the artistic
matrix expressed by the components and motifs on these dyed textiles? These questions have led
to the curiosity to embark on an in-depth and thick descriptive study of the rituals and symbolism
in indigo textile dyeing technology industry in Osogbo, Nigeria.
Although, African textiles had been admired for a long time, dating back to the Greek
and Roman times. The precise origin of cloth production in Africa is however inexact,
archaeological findings indicated some earliest sites. For instance, the drawings of looms in the
tombs and linen remnants can be seen in the ancient Egypt, and this dates back to at least 2000
BC and 5th century AD respectively. Archaeologists have also discovered cotton cloth remnants
in the 5th century AD, woven fibre pieces in Nigeria, and this was as far back as 9 th century AD.
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There had been evidence of woven cotton cloth and loom in Mali and in Mauritania about the
11th century AD.
Of course, human beings have created and manufactured textiles of different kinds
depending on climate, available materials, the need to protect themselves from weather and the
environment. In addition to satisfying human needs for covering and adornment, textiles and
clothing provides an avenue for aesthetic expression for weavers, tailors, cloth designers and the
productive forces in the indigo textile dyeing technology. This is not neglecting the use of
textiles and clothing as status symbols. There is also the dimension of the technology and
business, expressed either in its production or consumption, as a lucrative venture. Any person
can go into the business. The rationale is that there is always a ready market for clothing and the
indigo-dyed textile in particular. The growth of the indigo-dyed textile is, hence, determined by
the expertise of the productive forces, the entrepreneurial orientation and intelligence of the
productive forces. But marketing is determined primarily by the functions the indigo-dyed textile
perform either as a status symbols, communication symbols or power symbols due to the motifs
on the textiles which are an extension of symbolism and ritualism ranging from social to cultural
differentiation.
From all indications clothing in Africa had experienced different evolutions. The
technology is becoming more and more complex, though the use of ever increasing materials
fabricated for the purpose of adornment rather than simple covering of man’s nakedness. For
centuries, the textiles and garments have been produced domestically for household and village
community (Bowie, 1993 and Khaminwa, 2010) and commercially for bartering or sale.
Although, the earliest cloth was made primarily of local fibres, today’s African textiles and
clothing incorporate a wide variety of materials and styles.
This evolution of textile and clothing tradition is the cumulative consequence of human
desires to create a symbol of their image and represent different realities of their environment on
textiles as much as technological innovations permit. The word ‘technology’ conjures different
images in the minds of different people. Mojola (1988) stated in broad terms that technology si
any practical art which utilizes scientific knowledge however this definition is a mechanical
definition. Fadahunsi (1986) as quoted by Okpoko (1999; ) has defined technology as a scientific
knowledge aimed at satisfying the basic needs and objectives of man. Technology is, hence, part
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culture, and if we were to accept Tylor, Kroeber and Leach’s views, the textile production is a
product of symboling. Every indigo-dyed textile may be a cultural product. It is also a product of
a society where there are many productive forces and group behind its emergence, production
and marketing. It is a societal product that involves social relations, the consolidation of ties and
the expressions of power; stylistically it is connected to political and economic shifts (Schneider,
1987). The critical question thus, is about the rituals and symbolism that the productive forces
behind indigo textile dyeing technology have created through their products in Osogbo, Nigeria.
The Yorubas of Nigeria prepare indigo-dyed cotton called adire eleso. The artists sew
finely detailed patterns onto the cloth using raffia or cotton thread, then take the cloth to a dyer
known as alaro, who is said to work under the protection of the Yoruba spirit; Iya Mapo. This
may be a contestable fact among other groups. Nonetheless, the Yoruba women cloth dyers,
known as aladire, use resist dye to make adire eleso. They use cassava paste to paint or stencil
repeated symbolic abstractions of animals, plants, events onto the cloth. After dyeing the cloth
indigo blue, they beat it with a wooden stick until it attains a bright glossy sheen.
Recent observations in the technology of adire making indicate that despite impact of
foreign influences, and a dwindling economic condition and Yorubas have incorporated imported
material textiles and styles into the mainstream of their indigo textile dyeing traditions. The
technology and its products are deeply ingrained into the Yoruba culture through a complex
symbolic syntax. But then, for our research, why are they created? And what do they mean?
What are the rituals associated with production and consumption?
Through evolution, man has acquired the capacity to use symbols to connote concepts
and once man has formed a symbolic concept of a thing or a process, we can play with it in our
imagination. And a symbolic concept can be related to another concept and thereby extending
our understanding of reality at a symbolic level. The use of imagination expresses this process of
symbolization or symbolism which is not an illusionary escape from reality (Castoriadis, 1975).
The use of symbols has created a language that transcends differences in culture, place and time.
Human beings appear to have a symbolic capacity to express ideas, and an understanding of life
through the language, art, crafts and technology. This means that language, arts, crafts and
products of technology could go into extinction if there were not a symbolic function.
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This thesis focuses on an ancient and still vital art of indigo-dyed textile technology
industry in Osogbo and examines the products in terms of the rituals and symbolism. It attempts
to identify the communicative intension of the productive forces, the dynamics involved in the
production and consumption of the textiles and the social relationships created for the productive
forces.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The production and consumption of textiles are major creative activities in West-African
cultures especially among the Yorubas. The underlying concept of this study is not hinged on the
techniques of indigo textile dyeing technology which has been researched and discussed by
Owoeye (2010) and Eicher, (1975) but the symbolic syntax, rituals and functions attached to the
production of the indigo textile among the people of Osogbo, Nigeria.
As a major trade item, textiles are a form of barter money. Dyed fabric has additional
value (Marietta, 1978; Owoeye, 2010; Eicher, 1975; Khaminwa, 2010 and Roberts, 1984)
because the process of extracting indigo from plants is a highly labourious process involving the
transformation of substance. The overall complexion has one identifiable feature: the massy of
clearly visible, countable units culminating in fabrics of great monetary worth and high aesthetic
value. The patterns which emerge in indigo cloth often incorporate a symbolic language that
communicate or announces social facts.
Man creates a symbolic universe to intermediate between him, nature and society which
are the source of his control over nature and over his social destiny. The creation of symbols is
the capacity of man to transform his natural, objective reality into a special universe that he
constitutes from within himself (Ellul, 1978). No wonder White (1962) stated that there is a
fundamental difference between the mind of man and the minds of all other species. Only the
mind of man has the ability to originate and bestow meanings upon things and events and to
comprehend such meaning bestow by others. Ellul confirmed that symbolism is characteristic of
Homo sapiens but it is also the key to his success. But what are symbols? Symbol is an image
which acquires symbolic values through the emotions and the feelings it evokes in man. At the
same time, it cannot be consciously inverted like a mathematical or a chemical formular
(Spottiswood, 2008). Jung described symbolic meaning as a symbol that points to more than our
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consciousness can know and in symbolic images can create a bridge between the known and the
unknown. It is something unconscious becoming connected with the conscious thereby creating
the understanding of new and deeper meaning (2010).
Most scholars have discussed indigo-dyed textile as man’s avenue to meet his aesthetic
needs, dominate his environment and express and communicate social facts (Marrietta, 1978;
Owoeye, 2010; Eicher, 1975; Patrick, 2008). But they have not realized that in order to
accomplish the transformation of a cloth into a dyed-textile, it is necessary that the cloth become
other than a simple piece of cloth and be symbolized as something else. According to Ellul
(1978), if man transforms the real into a universe in which he has power, which is the power he
bestows upon and attributes to himself then he can conceive that he is also capable of dominating
the real world.
This development might have influenced Renne and Agbaje-Willliams (2005) connection
of cloth to religious practices among the Yorubas. The focus range from white clothes to hand-
woven cloth among Islam, Christians, traditionalists and cult groups. Attention was called to the
use of the indigo-dyed textile among the people of Owo as a ritual cloth to perform ero rituals.
Only men who have acquired sufficient wealth and stature could afford to organize the rituals.
Their study neglects the focus of our own orientation, the rituals and symbolism of the dyed-
textile. Eicher (1975) also discussed the history of dyes, the emergence of other natural and
synthetic dyestuffs, and the wide variety of domestic sources of dye and neglected the rituals and
symbolism involved. But in the work of Schmidts (1997), there was a focus on rituals of iron
smelting in East Africa. His approach is adopted here.
The research questions of the study borders upon the intension of the productive forces: is
it for profit, mere consumption or is there any other motive other than the aforementioned? What
are the social relationships created among the productive forces? How do the products of the
technology mobilize the productive forces and synchronize the vision of the productive forces at
each stage? How do the indigo textile dyeing technology products affect market dynamics of the
products’ market? How has colour symbolism affected the production of the indigo textile? How
are the artistic matrix expressed by the components and motifs on these dyed textiles? The study
adapts the use of interpretive method and cognition to create the symbolism and rituals
performed in the course of production and marketing.
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AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The fundamental aim of this study is to understand how indigo-dyed textile is a symbol
that creates and perpetuates natural facts and influences the traditional thought system of the
Yorubas. The study anticipates issues of how technology enables and disables situation. It
intends to indicate how the productive forces synchronize their visions and how the energy they
generate is sustained. The specific objectives of this study are:
i. To explain the factors determining the production of the dyed-textiles and their
effects on the market;
ii. To appraise the methods adopted by the productive forces to synchronize their visions
at each stage of the production and how their energy is generated and sustained;
iii. To observe and interpret colour symbolism and proverbs used by the productive
forces and consumers in Osogbo
iv. To highlight and describe the rituals associated with the production of indigo-dyed
textile in Osogbo and;
v. To identify the aesthetic matrix expressed by the components and motifs on these
dyed textiles.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This thesis focuses on an ancient and still vital art of indigo-dyed textile technology
industry in Osogbo and examines the products in terms of the rituals and symbolism. It attempts
to identify the rituals and symbolism in the technology of indigo textile dyeing and the dynamics
involved in the production and consumption of the textiles and the social relationships created
for the productive forces.
Symbolism and ritualism has been a subject of epistemological discourse among several
scholars and writers for ages. Since the early period of Greek philosophy, epistemological
problems have been concerned with the relation of particular to universal, sense-perception to
form. Several scholars such as White (1962) and Wilhelm (1964) tried to balance the definition
and description of the concept of symbolism but Firth (1973) claimed that most anthropological
treatment of symbols have focus on the interpretation of the relationship between symbol and the
object symbolized. Several studies have looked at clothes and textile objects in several societies
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from the ‘what’ angle of exploring the symbolic object, on the whole. But this study is an
attempt at ethnographic exploration of what and how the symbolism and rituals in indigo textile
dyeing technology.
This study is an input that will be beneficial to the anthropological inquiry, field work on
place-making. It is an attempt to examine how the productive forces of indigo textile dyeing
technology create a significant and meaningful symbolic universe. And how the symbolic
universe is communicated and ingrained in the culture and consciousness of the people as well as
the construction of peoples’ everyday experience.
The study is to direct Government to the need for appropriate investment in the
indigenous technologies as an avenue to proper and right development and the alleviation of
poverty. Instead of the adoption of foreign alleviation programme that can never be sustained.
This study will give intellectual fulfillment and satisfaction to the discourse on
symbolic/interpretive anthropology concerning rituals and symbolism in indigenous technology.
It is also to prove that the study of culture is predicated upon the distinctive trait of man that he is
a creator and user of symbols. And that he has speech to express the excellencie of mind over
other creatures.
SCOPE OF STUDY
The study principally reflects on the symbolism and rituals in indigo technology products
among productive forces and consumers in Osogbo, Nigeria. It purposively focuses on the
intension of the productive forces in producing the indigo-dyed textile. It relies mostly on data
gathered through qualitative methods.
The advantage of adopting a good and quality descriptive study for the research in rituals
and symbolism in indigo textile dyeing technology industry is the ability to focus on the issue
without dissipating one’s intellectual energy, resources especially finance and time. Therefore,
this research is limited to the rituals and symbolism of indigo textile dyeing technology industry
in Osogbo, Nigeria in order to examine what, how and why they create a significant and
meaningful universe of the environment.
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Although, the synthetic dyeing technology which is an imported technology is endowed
with several colours, this study is limited to interpreting the symbolism of the blue-black colour
in the indigo dyeing technology and proverbs. However, the technology has been linked to the
Osun-Osogbo festival, which is a religious festival but this research is focused on how cultural
beliefs are constructed in motif forms thereby creating a consciousness among the people
concerning their identity, status and values. This extends to peoples’ attitude to the symbols as of
merely intellectual and emotional symbols communicating and shaping any action or a mere
creative expression.
The study adopts the use of metaphoric analysis of Schmidts in of the gender
relationships in the alkaline production, this also extends to the relationship between the dyers,
dyeing industries and the society and the expertise needed to manage the transformations
involved in indigo dyeing technology. These endowments of the indigo dyer and the indigo
dyeing industry and their activities have not been the subject of ethnographic inquiry as dyer,
designer, creative artists and social reality constructor which, this study is limiting its scope.
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CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
Several scholars in the academic discipline around the have written on the subject of
symbolism and ritualism, few on the symbolism and ritualism in indigenous technology and
scanty works or non-existent works on the symbolism and ritualism of indigo textile dyeing
technology products. This chapter reviews the relevant literatures, papers, articles relating to the
core of this thesis. The review of this literature is organized under the following issues:
I. The interrelationship among the concepts of technology, symbolism and ritualism
II. The history of natural indigo plant
III. The indigo textile dyeing technology
IV. The productive forces involved in indigo textile dyeing technology
a. The productive force and the vision of the production process; Profit or Production
b. Socioeconomic and Socio-political relationship
c. Means of mobilizing production forces (the organization of production forces)
d. Gender relations
V. Market dynamics in the production of indigo textile dyed products
VI. Indigo textile dyeing technology as an art and value systems
VII. Symbolism and ritualism in indigo textile dyeing technology and its products
1.1 THE INTERRELATIONSHIP AMONG THE CONCEPTS OF TECHNOLOGY,
SYMBOLISM AND RITUALISM
The state of the art in the whole general field of practical know-how and tool used at any
particular historical period is referred to as technology. It ranges from arts, crafts, professions,
applied sciences, and skills to any systems or methods of organization which enable such
technologies, any field of study which concerns them, or any products which result. It is also a
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collection of techniques which leads to the development of the current state of humanity's
knowledge of how to combine resources to produce desired products, to solve problems, fulfill
needs, or to satisfy wants; it includes technical methods, skills, processes, techniques, tools and
raw materials (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2007; Wikipedia, 2010). Technology can therefore
be both material and immaterial, created by the application of mental and physical effort in order
to achieve some value. This can be perceived as tools and machines that may be used to solve
real-world problems and when combined with another term, such as "indigo textile dyeing
technology" it refers to the state of the indigo textile dyeing technology as a field of knowledge
and the tools.
Several authors and writers have given their descriptive and definitive thoughts on
technology. Schatzberg (2006) in the 1930s referred technology not as the study of the industrial
arts, but as the industrial arts themselves. This may seem confusing but in the same era, Red
Bain; an American Sociologist in 1937 stated that technology includes all tools, machines,
utensils, weapons, instruments, housing, clothing, communicating and transporting devices and
the skills by which we produce and use them. Bain's definitional perspective remains common
among scholars today, especially social scientists. Ursula (1989) claimed in her lecture that she
views the concept of technology as a practice, the way we do things around here. Stiegler (1998)
described technology in two ways: the pursuit of life by means other than life, and an organized
inorganic matter. Among all these definitions of the concept of technology, not one of them suits
this thesis as the one given by Borgmann (2006) that technology is an activity that forms or
changes culture. Therefore it can be claimed that technology is the application of arts and science
for the benefit of life.
Technologies, therefore significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability
to control and adapt to their natural environments. The human species' use of technology began
with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the
ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel
helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Technology has affected
society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped
develop more advanced economies. Various implementations of technology influence the values
of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. This led Fubini (2010) to
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conclude in his discourse that the human goal has been the fundamental driving force behind any
change culturally and technologically throughout human history. The innate human ability for
abstract thought has made man able to project a plan for his own future. Originally, man’s
foresight has been directly affected by his own survival instinct, making his way to the next
meal, and this is continuously intertwined with his interaction with and relationship to his own
environment. The living environments that we experience include the places where we live,
those that we visit, and anything else that constitutes what we may see or do. Therefore our
relationship to the environment which we experience is very location-dependant in terms of
resources and environmental factors.
The location-dependant factors has led to the development of many different human
cultures all over earth, and have had varying effects on the development of culture and
technology. These different cultures provided different goals for each society that motivated
technological innovations at different time and for different reasons and the advent of technology
has greatly affected our living environment (Fubini, 2010). While there are many examples
where cultural needs drive technological change, and inspire innovation. In many cases the most
fundamental need of any human culture is the need to know what happens after we die, or the
need to answer questions about things that happen outside of our control. Humans have used
religion to help allay some of their fears of the unknown, and to help to explain why things are
the way they are Ehrlich (2000). This has resulted to the creation of culture to explain why things
and situations are the way they are in a particular environment.
Culture according to Onyewuejeogwu (1992) is a man-made product and from the
foregoing discussion, the need of any human culture is to observe the environment and know
what happens in the environment or the things outside of human beings’ control. All these
cultures are all a product of symbolism and maintained by ritualism. Symbolism has made the
production of culture possible by enabling the human society unique and different from the
animals’ species. And from the argument of White (1962), man is the only living species that has
culture and culture depends on symboling because man only has the ability to originate and
bestow meanings upon things and to comprehend such meanings bestowed by others.
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White (1962) has defined a symbol as a thing or event, an act or an object, upon which
meaning has been bestowed by human beings. And a thing is a symbol when it is significant in
the context of symboling which involves originating and bestowing non-sensory meanings, and
in comprehending such meaning. And he also stated that the meaning of symbols can be
comprehended but not perceived. This kind of behavior has been attributed to human beings who
have been linked with the application of arts and science for the benefit of his life which is the
main goal of every human being. Firth (1973) also voiced his opinion which underpinned
White’s argument that man does not live by symbols alone, but man orders and interprets his
reality by his symbols, and even reconstructs it. These arguments have further proved that man
innovates and creates technology in order to survive; he also develops culture which includes
arts, crafts and technologies in the most acceptable definition and complete definition of culture
by Edward Tylor in 1871. Tylor in his book “Primitive Culture” (1871) defined culture to
include socially acquired knowledge, beliefs, art, law, morals, customs, and habits. And since
culture is symbolic by nature and culture cannot exist without symbolism, it is not striking to
note that technology and culture share some distinguishing characteristics according to Microsoft
Encarta (2008):
1. They are based on symbols. They are abstract and tangible ways of referring to and
understanding ideas, objects, feelings, or behaviors. And the ability to communicate
with symbols using language and materials.
2. They are shared. People in the same society share common behaviors and ways of
thinking through culture and technology.
3. They are learned. While people biologically inherit many physical traits and
behavioral instincts, culture and technology are socially inherited. A person must
learn culture and technology from other people in a society.
4. They are adaptive. People use culture and technology to flexibly and quickly adjust to
changes in the world around them.
The establishment of these conceptual interrelationships among the concepts of
technology, symbolism and ritualism is imperfect without today’s anthropologist’s simple
categorization of culture into four categories which are significant in pointing to the relevance of
symbolism and ritualism in this thesis of the technology of indigo textile dyeing. The categories
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are: material, social, ideological and the arts. Material culture includes products of human
manufacture, such as technology. Social culture pertains to people’s forms of social organization
—how people interact and organize themselves in groups. Ideological culture relates to what
people think, value, believe, and hold as ideals. The arts include such activities and areas of
interest as music, sculpture, painting, pottery, theater, cooking, writing, and fashion. This thesis
will study the symbolism and ritualism in the indigo textile dyeing technology, which includes
the culture of the indigo textile dyeing technology in the study area. This will extend to the
social, economic and political organization surrounding the technology of indigo textile dyeing,
the ideological issues in the arts and other aspects of arts such as the process of producing the
products.
A symbol represents something but there may be several levels of meanings involved
Firth (1973). This thesis is also concerned about the levels of meanings that are involved in the
technology of indigo dyeing and its products. It could be in terms of behavior, if not devoid of
meaning according to Firth. The study of symbolism and ritual of technology in this thesis is
informed by the ability of an anthropologists to link the occurrence and interpretations of
symbolism to social structures and social events in specific conditions in a comparative,
observational, functionalist and a relatively neutralist perspective. Victor Turner was quoted by
Firth (1973) that the anthropological approach to the study of symbolism and ritualism is a
demonstration of the use of rite and symbol as a key to the understanding of social structure and
social process. Therefore, an anthropologist is concerned primarily with the public use of the
symbols, and his aim is to separate symbol from referent so that he may describe the relation
between them.
One of the objectives of an Anthropologist is also to grapple with the basic human
problem which is usually a gap between the overt superficial statement and behavior and its
underlying meaning. Therefore, the basic aim of the anthropological connection between
symbolism, ritualism and technology in this thesis is to provide a systematic description and
analysis of symbolic act in its verbal and non-verbal aspects; to distinguish those parts of the
technological action of producing indigo-dyed products held to be significant from those which
are incidental; to mark the routine, ritual or standard elements as against those which are
personal and idiosyncratic, to get elucidation from actor/dyers, participants and non-participants
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of the meanings they attach to the act and to set the technology and its products in a conceptual
and institutional framework, in the more specific framework of the statuses and group
relationships of the people concerned.
But questions may arise concerning the identification of a technology or its process as
symbolic. And according to Firth (1973) whom the researcher also agrees with that whatever we
observe consequences possessing it is symbolic. Therefore, anything that has consequences can
be studied in a symbolic manner, because it has earlier been stated that culture is a creature of
symbols and without symbols culture cannot be created. And since it has been agreed and
concluded that anything that has consequences can be studied symbolically and ritually;
technological products being part of culture can be studied symbolically and ritually.
1.2 OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF NATURAL INDIGO PLANT AND INDIGO
TEXTILE DYEING TECHNOLOGY
Historically, indigo is extracted from plants, and this process was important economically
because blue dyes were once rare. Nearly all indigo produced today worth several thousand tons
each year is synthetic. Indigo is among the oldest dyes to be used for textile dyeing and printing.
Many Asian countries, such as India, China, Japan and South East Asian nations have used
indigo as a dye (particularly silk dye) for centuries. The dye was also known to ancient
civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Britain, Mesoamerica, Peru, Iran, and
Africa (Wikipedia, 2010 and Owoeye, 2010).
According to Kriger & Connah (2006) and Wikipedia (2010) argued contrary to Owoeye
(2010) that indigo was used in India, which was also the earliest major center for its production
and processing. The Indigofera tinctoria variety of Indigo was domesticated in India. Indigo,
used as a dye, made its way to the Greeks and the Romans, where it was valued as a luxury
product. India is believed to be the oldest center of indigo dyeing in the Old World. It was a
primary supplier of indigo to Europe as early as the Greco-Roman era. The Romans used indigo
as a pigment for painting and for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. It was a luxury item imported
to the Mediterranean from India by Arab merchants. In Mesopotamia, a Neo-Babylonian
cuneiform tablet of the 7th century BC gives a recipe for the dyeing of wool, where lapis-colored
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wool (uquatu) is produced by repeated immersion and airing of the cloth. The association of
India with indigo is reflected in the Greek word for the dye, indikón (ινδικόν, Indian), which
means a product of India. This is somehow a misnomer. But the Romans latinized the term to
indicum, which passed into Italian dialect and eventually into English as the word indigo.
Rembert (1979) stated that in Japan, indigo became especially important in the Edo period when
it was forbidden to use silk, so the Japanese began to import and plant cotton. It was difficult to
dye the cotton fiber except with indigo. Even today indigo is very much appreciated as a color
for the summer Kimono Yukata, as this traditional clothing recalls Nature and the blue sea. In
colonial North America there were three commercially important species: the native Indigofera
caroliniana, and the introduced Indigofera tinctoria and Indigofera suffruticosa. The demand for
indigo dramatically increased during the industrial revolution, in part due to the popularity of
Levi Strauss's blue denim jeans. The natural extraction process was expensive and could not
produce the mass quantities required for the burgeoning garment industry. And due to its high
value as a trading commodity, indigo plant was often referred to as Blue Gold
Kriger & Connah (2006) later in their article agreed with Owoeye (2010) that in West
Africa, indigo was the foundation of centuries-old textile traditions. From the Tuareg nomads of
the Sahara to Cameroon, clothes dyed with indigo signified wealth. Women dyed the cloth in
most areas, especially among the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Mande of Mali particularly well
known for their expertise. Among the Hausas, male dyers are prominently working at communal
dye pits was the basis of the wealth of the ancient city of Kano, and they can still be seen plying
their trade today at the same pits.
In the past as stated by Owoeye (2010), the only way that colours were applied to the
cotton fabrics was either by smearing the cloth with a red substance obtained from camwood
(baphia nitida) or by dyeing the fabrics in vegetable indigo dye obtained from the various
species of lonchocarpus and indigofera known in Yoruba as “ Elu”. Indigo, or indigotin, is a
dyestuff originally extracted from the varieties of the indigo and woad plants. Indigo was known
throughout the ancient world for its ability to color fabrics a deep blue. The dye can be extracted
from several plants, but historically the indigo plant was the most commonly used because it is
was more widely available. It belongs to the legume family and over three hundred species have
been identified. In ancient times, indigo was a precious commodity because indigo plant leaves
15
contain only about small amount of the dye. Therefore, a large number of plants are required to
produce a significant quantity of dye. Indigo plantations were founded in many parts of the world
to ensure a controlled supply (Wikipedia, 2010 and Owoeye, 2010). They also confirms Jean
(2005) argument that true indigo comes from plants belonging to the legume genus indigofera, a
subtropical shrub that grows to around 4-6 feet tall, creeps, twists, turns, and seeks support of a
stronger tree and whose leaves contain the chemical components necessary to produce a fade-
resistant blue dye. The species indigofera tinctoria, native to Asia, has always been the most
valuable indigo species traded. Indigofera arrecta is the most common variety in Africa, but
indigofera tinctoria may be found in Senegal and indigofera hirsuta in Madagascar. Indigofera
hirsuta, now considered a nuisance plant or weed, is native to northern Australia and Africa.
Central and South America also have native indigo species, indigofera suffructicosa and
indigofera arrecta.
The versatility of indigo plant and dye in the technology of indigo textile dyeing was
confirmed by Owoeye (2010) when he stated that indigo plant and dye are the major raw
materials used in the art, the wild nature of the indigo plant and the current act of cultivating
indigo plants today. Though, Owoeye (2010) did not discussed the other sources of dyes except
the synthetic dyes with different shades of colour but Eicher (1975) other sources of dyes. This
thesis is focused on the symbolism and ritualism of indigo textile dyeing technology which
extends to the cultivation of the indigo plants in the study areas.
1.3 THE INDIGO TEXTILE DYEING TECHNOLOGY
The development of dyeing with plant colours evolved hand-in-hand with the arts of
ceramics and metallurgy from the most ancient times and many discoveries have been made
concerning the dyeing craft. The dyes were obtained from animal, vegetable or mineral
resources, with no or very little processing. The greatest source of dyes has been from the plant
kingdom, notably roots, berries, bark, leaves and wood, but only a few have been used on a
commercial scale (Wikipedia, 2005; Owoeye, 2010; and Leuchtendgruen, 2005).
A brief review of the historical context of dyeing was identified in Oguntona’s text
“Basic Textiles: Designs Concepts and Methods” (1986). He recognized that the art of dyeing
was extensively practiced in many parts of the world with a variety of natural colouring matters.
16
The art of dyeing is an ancient craft as old as the history of man itself. Evidences abound
concerning man’s usage of pigments of dye to stain his body, to colour the skins and other
objects around him. With time, however, new substances for colouring were discovered, so the
practice of dyeing, staining and printing increased. As a result of modern technology, variety of
colours came into the market and thereby almost every object whether of personal adornment,
decoration or utility is coloured. Makinde (2002) on the other hand showed the dynamism and
the position of adire to be versatile among Africans including the Southwestern part of the
Yorubaland. Other areas the art of dyeing is commonly found in Africa are the Bambara of Mali,
Bakuba of Zaire, Baule of Cote-de-voire, Senegalese, Gambians, the Berber of Morocco, and
among the Fulani of Northern Nigeria. But it was observed by Ogunduyile (2001) quoting
DeNegri (1966) that the art of dyeing may have been brought by ancient immigrants from
decaying empires of the desert such as Mali where large-scale cotton industry existed in the 14 th
century A.D which cannot be verified.
It has been stated earlier that there was a foundation of centuries-old indigo textile dyeing
technology tradition which disputes some authors’ argument as that indigo textile dyeing
technology was imported. And Picton (2005) noted that the adire techniques date back to only
about a hundred years ago. It was developed when factory-produced cotton for shirts became
widely available and affordable. The finer, more even structure of cloth allowed women to
experiment with stitching and tying before dyeing the textile. In Abeokuta and Ibadan, adire
artists developed the use of starch for strengthening the cloth material. Although, several cities
are involved in the technology as noted by Owoeye (2010) but contrary to this observation it has
been stated by Picton (2005) that Abeokuta and Ibadan are two cities that became the centers of
adire production, with Ibadan especially noted for free-hand starching. Oguntona (1986) stated
that eventhough by the 1960s, adire production was common all over Nigeria; the production has
slowly used family dye pots and lay out the finished fabrics on wooden frames installed in the
courtyards. It is a sort of co-operative venture in which every female member of the family
participates. The Yoruba method of dyeing differs in several ways from that of the Tivs and
Hausa of the northern Nigeria. Oguntona (1986) and Owoeye (2010) with a graphic description
also reported that dyeing industry is widespread in Sokoto, Kano, Zaria, Maiduguri and Benue
provinces. Dyeing is done mostly by men in the Northern Nigeria because their religion forbids
the public appearance of young married women mostly involved in the technology. Dyeing with
17
indigo has become a legacy of Nigerian craftsmen although; other natural and synthetic dyestuffs
are adapted into the technology. Indigo cloths with intricate patterns stand out vividly as a
Nigerian contribution to textile arts and will be given most attention in this thesis. However,
because of their decline of imported cloth and increasing poverty, adire is now produced by both
men and women since the traditional division of labour no longer exists.
The technology of indigo textile dyeing has been a traditional method for a very long
time and it highly labour intensive. Other authors such as Eicher (1975) discussed indigo textile
dyeing technology but not as Owoeye (2010) discussed extensively and researched on the
technology. Owoeye (2010) in his findings discovered that some dyers still adhered to the raw
materials used in the past for the indigo textile dyeing while some other dyers changed their raw
materials due to the adoption of imported raw materials to speed up the process of indigo dyeing.
He identified and had a comparative analysis of the raw materials and other aspects of the
technology among some Yoruba towns. He revealed that the raw material such as the indigo
tender plants’ leaves; the major raw materials used in the art of indigo textile dyeing according to
Owoeye (2010) respondents. Although, other towns such as Itoku in Abekouta have synthetic
dyes prominently adopted for textile dyeing. The process of extracting the indigo blue-black
colouration was also documented. This is pounded with pestle and mortar and later moulded into
balls and dried in the sun or smoked in the fire. The price of dried indigo balls varies seasonally
as it is more expensive in the raining season than in the dry season because of the availability of
plenty of sunshine. Then the production of alkaline water was also revealed in order to produce
the indigo dye solution.
Owoeye (2010) and Eicher (1975) discussed thoroughly the tying and dyeing patterns but
Owoeye (2010) further examined the comparative analysis of the technology of indigo textile
dyeing outlining the materials used in different towns among the Yoruba textile indigo dyers.
Even though the indigo dyeing technology is prominent among the dyers, there was also the
emergence of contemporary indigo textile. The historical background leading to the emergence
of the contemporary indigo textile dyeing in Nigeria was investigated by Eicher (1975) and
Oguntona (1986). It was stated that the contemporary indigo textile dyeing came into existence
during the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1969) when the Federal Government banned the
importation of printed textiles. This ban left the public with no option than to direct its energy to
18
the development of the popular “adire” fabrics in order to supplement the locally textile
producing industries. According to Oguntona stated that the name “Kampala” fabrics was
another name given to batik-wax resist technique type of dyeing, which the great demand
coincided with the Peace Talk that was being held in Kampala, Uganda by the two conflicting
sides in the Nigerian Civil War, hence the locally-made fabrics were christened “Kampala”. This
led to the influx of petty traders, labourers, farmers, clerks, and the jobless to become kampala
dyers and merchants and lot of employment avenues were created through the batik-wax resist
making.
This could also be one of the reasons the originally family and women dominated
technology has been flooded with men and women since the traditional division of labour is not
in existence anymore (Owoeye, 2010). Oguntona (1986) also made known the application of
motifs along with the materials needed to achieve it, though this was not different from
Owoeye’s (2010) account but Owoeye never studied kampala, which Oguntona stated that it is a
multi-coloured fabric that uses wax repeatedly to preserve each motif area. The current discourse
of this thesis even though concerned with the technology of indigo textile dyeing discovered that
other authors have discussed the technology without their research beam light focusing on
symbolism and ritualism in the production of indigo-dyed textile.
1.4 THE PRODUCTIVE FORCES INVOLVED IN INDIGO TEXTILE DYEING
TECHNOLOGY
1.4.1 The productive force and the vision of the production process; Profit or Production
Commercial textile and clothing production has a long history in some parts of Africa but
the precise origins of cloth production in Africa is lost in time, but archaeological findings
indicate some of the earliest sites. In Tunisia, weavers and dyers as early as the tenth century
C.E. organized guilds in order to protect their business. By the fifteenth century, the dyeing pits
of Kano in northern Nigeria were renowned as far north as the Mediterranean coast. They are
still in operation today. In Kano as in many other precolonial centers of commercial textile
production, the city's political elite were among the weavers' and dyers' most important clientele.
Royal patronage fostered the development of special luxury cloths. The court of King Njoya of
Baumun in present-day Cameroon, for example, produced especially fine examples of raffia-
19
stitched tie and dye. The Asante court in Kumasi (in present-day Ghana) supervised the
production of silk kente cloth Khaminwa (2010).
For centuries, textiles and garments have been produced domestically for households and
village community members and commercially, for bartering or sale. This confirms Roberts
(1984) argument concerning the Maraka indigo dyeing textile industry. Although the earliest
cloth was made primarily of local natural fibers, today's African textiles and clothing incorporate
a wide variety of materials and styles. Khaminwa (2010) and Owoeye (2010) stated that
traditions of cloth production and design bark cloth, or cloth made from tree bark, predates the
development of woven textiles in most parts of Africa. Although Africa's weavers produce a
wide variety of patterned, colored fabric, they also weave plain cloth. Common fabric-decorating
techniques include appliqué designs, sewn on in contrasting fabrics; embroidery with brightly
colored threads; and dyeing. Two of the most popular dyeing techniques in Africa are tie and dye
and resist dye. In tie and dye, designs are first tied or stitched into the cloth, using cotton or raffia
threads. In resist dye, dyers draw on the cloth using an impermeable substance, such as candle
wax or paste made from cassava, a tuber. They then dip the fabrics into solutions typically made
from vegetable dyes, which color all but the covered areas. Indigo plants are used for deep blue
dyes, while reddish brown dyes are extracted from cola nuts, the camwood tree, and the redwood
tree. Greens, yellows, and blacks are prepared from other sources.
Indigo cloth-dyeing has greatly changed from that time until today. The early cloth-dyers
found all their raw materials in the surrounding area. The first cloth-dyers of the city of Labé,
from 1940 onward, also used exclusively local inputs. It was by imitating these first cloth-dyers
that many women from Labé and from the neighboring town of Pita took up cloth-dyeing as a
principal moneymaking activity. There followed a period of competitions organized for weavers
and cloth-dyers in the Centers for the Promotion of Women. This was during the time of
Guinea's First Republic. During this time traveling merchants would also export cloth to markets
like Lomé, in Togo.
Today we find that cloth-dyeing is the most important way that Labé women earn money.
Up to 5,000 women are involved in some part of the process. In one of Labé's neighborhoods,
nearly everyone is involved in cloth-dyeing, even the men and the children. In the past 5 to 10
20
years, the cloth-dyeing sector has begun to operate on a new and larger scale. Along with these
changes, most dyers have switched to supplementing the local inputs with manufactured inputs,
including industrial indigo, caustic soda, and sodium hydrosulfite. These inputs were imported
through Liberia before the Liberian civil war, but now are imported principally from Banjul in
the Gambia. The sheer volume of production made supplementing local inputs with imported
inputs necessary, if only to keep from destroying the supply of local inputs. However, most cloth
dyers agree that the best results are obtained by maintaining their dye barrels with a base of the
local ingredients and adding imported ingredients as necessary. This indicated that as much as
Labe women are concerned about the profit, their aims also not to undermine the traditional
quality of their products by neglecting the local ingredients.
Owoeye (2010) discussed indirectly profit-production dichotomy in his comparison of
indigo textile dyeing technology as practiced in some selected Yoruba towns but he only stated
the common sources of economic income observed for the dyers and those involved in processes
of indigo textile dyeing: the cultivation of indigo plants, harvesting and preparation of indigo
balls, professionalism of the dyers, selling of the textile dyed products as wholesalers or retailers,
apprenticeship in terms of knowledge acquired, served as sources of bringing in foreign
exchange earnings in the country. In his comparison, he also identified some towns where pots
were still being used and other economic gain is financial income to potters. Some dyers
provided additional income for themselves during traditional festivals such as the Osun-Osogbo
festival. In some other towns due to the change in some raw materials, economic gains observed
were for those involved in the sale of iron or steel drums for dyeing, sale of cement, art of
bricklaying, sales of caustic soda, chemicals used for synthetic dyestuff, plastic bowls sellers,
iron pots makers and sellers of firewood.
From the ongoing discourse, it is revealed that most of the authors did not discuss the
profit-production dichotomy but Owoeye (2009) who pointed to this subject discussed from the
managerial point of view. Owoeye (2009) discussing about the intentions and objectives of
indigo dyers in the entrepreneurial orientation of indigo textile dyeing operators stated that some
dyers sometime would start an indigo dyeing business in order to survive in life, it was stated
that they do not have or know any other business in their family except indigo dyeing and it has
been in the tradition in their family. They do not try to do things due to the monetary value
21
attached to it but usually do things because there is no other thing to do in their family tradition.
It was observed among the dyers that their attitude differs with their location or environment.
The dyers located near a metropolitan city prioritize monetary value more than those in the rural
areas. The dyers in the rural areas stated that their desire is to see the survival of the family
tradition but they are also faced with erosion of the tradition with the effects of globalization and
education growing stronger every day. These factors have led the growing generation in the
family to seek after white-collar jobs. They also sometime do things because their fore-parents
have done it, established it and succeeded in it. This has paved way for others in the business
today. But some established indigo textile dyeing centres did not go into the business to survive
in life and does not try to do things due to the monetary value attached to it while other dyers
entered the business to survive and do things due to the monetary value attached to it. This shows
in the description of their centres and how they started their textile dyeing business.
This dichotomy is unsettled and not universal typology because Owoeye (2009) stated
that some dyers rarely copy what other dyers are doing due to the fact that they want to achieve
uniqueness in the promotion of purpose, culture and production of the products while others
usually do things because others are doing it and succeeding in it.
Another aspect related to this discourse of profit or production dichotomy is the effect of
competitive aggressiveness stated in Owoeye (2009). It was observed that the current
competitiveness aggressiveness in business today has influenced some dyers’ intentions and
objectives. And it has been observed that the reviewed works in this section has not been able to
justify if the indigo textile dyeing technology is primarily for profit or just for production
purpose. The authors have discussed the intentions and objectives and other factors that could
affect the profit or production dichotomy of the dyers and disregarding the other processes and
productive forces involved in the indigo textile dyeing technology. But this research will
examine this gap among all the productive forces involved in indigo textile dyeing in Osogbo.
1.4.2 Socioeconomic and sociopolitical relationship among the productive forces
Most of the reviewed articles on no account discussed the socioeconomic and
sociopolitical relationship existing among the productive forces involved in the indigo textile
dyeing technology. Several authors have focused on the socioeconomic and sociopolitical
environmental influences on the technology of indigo textile dyeing and its operators especially
the dyers only.
22
Owoeye (2010) discussed the socio-cultural, political and religious significance of indigo
dyed products in some Yoruba towns where indigo dyeing is prominently practiced. He stated
the major difference between the products among the dyers in different locations which were
basically the decorative motifs with their symbolic meanings and names. The practice of indigo
textile dyeing technology had been pushed to the rural areas and the hinterlands of Nigeria due to
the importation and establishment of modern textile industries. And it was observed that the
dried indigo balls are mostly produced in the hinterland. But, the survival instinct of the craft
showed the peoples’ strong interest and desire in indigo textile dyeing technology which allowed
the local industry play a great role in the socio-economic life of the people.
This also led to the effects of political events on the socioeconomic aspect and lives of
the technology and the dyers in the indigo textile dyeing. Owoeye (2010) gave further evidence
which is clearly an outcome of political rancor during the 2008 gubernatorial elections in Ogun
State at the dyed textile international market at Itoku, Abeokuta. This aided the economics of the
indigo dyed textile during the period because of the new motifs that were invented. Other authors
such as Eicher (1975) discussed generally on cloth production with little emphasis on indigo
textile dyeing technology and relationship among dyers which was discussed by Owoeye (2010).
And Roberts (1984) discussed the Maraka textile industry noted the socioeconomic and political
relationships between the male and female in the households where there is a dichotomy in the
production of white plain clothes by men and consumed by the household members and the
indigo dyed clothes by the women consumed by the community as luxury item. This article
focused on the power play and political economics between them. Although, the indigo textile
dyeing technology practiced by the Maraka women according to Roberts (1984) was a major
craft affecting the cloth production and the relationships within the households especially among
the genders.
According to a website named tk-designs (2010) there are issues raised that influences
the contemporary African governments and political leaders over popular clothing styles. Many
African anticolonial movements of the 1940s and 1950s made elements of traditional clothing
symbolic of their campaign toward independence. Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta wore a beaded ogut
tigo hat and a beaded leather belt, while Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah encouraged educated
nationalists to wear the fugu, a waist-length tunic worn by the common man. At independence,
many new republics designed a national dress, intended to unite the diverse peoples within their
23
borders. In the former Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko's authenticité
campaign urged Zairieans to return to "authentic" African clothing styles. After Thomas Sankara
came to power in Burkina Faso in 1983, he declared locally woven cotton the national fabric and
required civil servants to wear it. In southern Africa, men's "Kaunda suits" are named after
Kenneth Kaunda, the former president of Zambia. In South Africa, Gatsha Buthelezi, head of the
Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party, encourages supporters to wear the skins and headdresses
of Zulu warriors at public events. South African President Nelson Mandela's taste in brightly-
colored shirts has made them newly fashionable.
But the work of Tntindigo (2010) on the Labe’s dyeing women in Guinea indicated that
the establishment of associations and other guilds and groups of cloth-dyers created a lot of
changes in their operation and during this entire period with all its changes, the cloth-dyers
always enjoyed a close relationship with the weavers of Popodara, Dionfo, Pita, and elsewhere,
with the weavers producing for the cloth-dyers according to their tastes and preferences.
Therefore, this research will focus on the relationship among the productive forces from
the socioeconomic and sociopolitical viewpoints because reviewed papers did not discuss the
other productive forces in the technology.
1.4.3 The mobilization and organization of productive forces in indigo textile dyeing
technology
Indigo textile product is a highly developed textile art found among the Yoruba of South
western, Nigeria. It has been a traditional method amongst the Yoruba for a very long time and is
highly labour intensive according to Patrick (2008).
Indigo textile dyeing technology was originally controlled by women and this has been
confirmed by several authors (Owoeye, 2009, 2010; Eicher, 1975, Patrick, 2008; Oguntona,
1986; Roberts, 1984). Johnson (1921) also confirmed the argument while discussing the trades
and professions of the Yoruba people. He outlined the principal occupations of men which
include agriculture, commerce, weaving, iron-smelting, smithing, tanning and leather workings,
carving on wood and on calabash, music, medicine, barbing and other minor employments. He
also outlined the occupations of women which indigo dyeing craft is one of their major
occupations. However, due to the decline of imported cloth, increasing poverty and
unemployment rate in the society, it is now made as widely as it used to be in the olden days.
24
The technology has also led to the production process to involve men and women since the
traditional division of labour no longer exists according to Patrick (2008).
The area of mobilizing and organizing productive forces in the technology of indigo
textile dyeing has not been discussed by authors except by Owoeye (2009 and 2010) who was
also dyer-centric, neglecting the other productive forces involved in the technology. Owoeye
(2009, 2010) stated that the dyers that possess indigo textile dyeing technology as family
tradition and craft mobilizes females and wives in the family compound to participate in the
dyeing process. The women married into such families give instruments of the dyeing
technology as they are accepted into the family. But this has accounted for some families’ degree
of revealing their trade and technology secrets. He further explained that some dyers especially
those in Kemta, Abeokuta do not like revealing their technology secrets because it is their family
trademark and copyrights. The was a difference among the Ede dyers who are willing to reveal
their trade secrets due to their open-hearted and influence of the metropolitan city.
Dyers with recognized centres and possessing educated leadership created a more
organized mobilization and organizational procedures. They adopt the use of trainees,
apprentices and short term employments. But Owoeye (2009) expanded the frontier of this
discourse by throwing light on the management of human resources among the dyers he
investigated. He observed the influence of environment, education and intentions of the dyers on
the mobilization and organizing methods.
Tntindigo (2010) discussed the mobilization and organization of the women productive
forces in indigo textile dyeing technology and it stated that the cloth-dyer and the other women
of her family are usually involved in sewing or tying the designs into the cloth. Any cloth-dyer
with a sufficient volume of orders also subcontracts out this work to other neighborhood women.
The number of people who benefit from the cloth-dyeing is much greater than the number of
cloth-dyers. It includes many women who do not have the capital to begin dyeing themselves,
the desire to devote themselves to all the tasks involved, or the willingness to live with the dyed
hands that mark the cloth-dyer. The cloth-dyer takes responsibility for preparing the dye mixture.
She also usually does the dyeing. However, quite often she does the work with other women who
have come to her to learn the process. They consider themselves her apprentices. Unless the
25
work volume is such that she cannot take care of all the work herself, the cloth-dyer and her
family do the tasks of removing the threads and pressing the cloth themselves. However, it is
nonetheless quite common for this work to be subcontracted out as well. But all these references
neglected the focus of this thesis which is the holistic study of all productive forces in the indigo
textile dyeing technology.
1.4.4 Gender relations among the productive forces in indigo textile dyeing technology
In many African societies, men and women are responsible for different stages of cloth
production. The gender division of labor, however, varies widely by region, and in many places
has changed over time.
Makinde (2002) discussed the dynamism and the position of adire which he established
to be versatile among Africans including the southwestern part of the Yorubaland. Other areas
the art of dyeing is commonly found in Africa are the Bambara of Mali, Bakuba of Zaire, Baule
of Cote-de-voire, Senegalese, Gambians, the Berber of Morocco, and among the Fulani of
Northern Nigeria. Picton (2005) stated that by the 1960s, adire production was common all over
Nigeria, since then, production has slowly used family dye pots and lay out the finished fabrics
on wooden frames installed in the courtyards. It is a sort of co-operative venture in which every
female member of the family participates. The Yoruba method of dyeing differs in several ways
from that of the Tivs and Hausa of the northern Nigeria as observed by Oguntona. Oguntona's
work reported that dyeing industry is widespread in Sokoto, Kano, Zaria, Maiduguri and Benue
provinces. Dyeing is done by men in those areas unlike in the south. The men do the dyeing
because their religion forbids the public appearance of young married women.
The technology of indigo textile dyeing has been a woman’s craft but due to the changing
socio-economic conditions such as high unemployment rate and the decreasing space in the
gender of the dyers especially in Nigeria, indigo textile dyeing technology has shifted from a
female craft to all genders’ craft (Owoeye, 2010 and Patrick, 2008).
Owoeye (2010) discovered in Ede and Abeokuta that indigo textile dyeing practitioners
were women. He stated that among the Akoda’s and Akodabi’s family, there was a custom that
every woman married into the family must be endowed with all the instruments and raw
materials of indigo textile dyeing. Although, in recent times, there were changes in the custom
because some of the newly married women did not stay in the Akoda’s and Akodabi’s family
26
compound and younger women in the family quarters were educated women with their
individual career unlike the old women and wives that were not educated. The case at the
Akodabi’s family was that most of the women at the centre were not educated except for few of
them but their children that were educated join them in the dyeing business in addition to their
schooling. This may be due to the indigo dyed textile market that booms in Abeokuta than Ede.
But in Osogbo among the dyers, the production does not have any gender basis both male and
female participate in the craft’s process as long as the person is passionate about the business.
Most of the literatures such as Owoeye (2010), Patrick (2008), Eicher (1975) and
Oguntona (1986) among others agree that the dyeing technology is mostly practiced in Yoruba
towns and villages and the large dye pots of earthenware are a characteristic feature of every
family compound indicated the craft to be controlled by women. And the women have developed
the craft to a state of excellence. This is quite different from that of the Tivs and Hausas that
restrict the women from textile dyeing due to their traditional and religious practices in northern
Nigeria. The dyeing is done by the men in large dye-pits which are cemented right from the
bottom to the top. All these were discovered to have been ingrained in their religious beliefs
which are predominantly Islamic people. The southern women has been discovered to practice
indigo dyeing using family pots and place their finished fabrics on wooden frames installed in
the courtyards. It is a sort of co-operative venture in which every female member of the family
participates.
The household social relations in the Maraka textile industry of the 19 th century was
discussed by Roberts (1984). Though, his work showed the fitful and uneven social and
economic that took place during the 9th century in the area of the Western Sudan that is now part
of Mali but he also dwelt on the social and economic history of the West African interior. The
Maraka textile industry revealed two superimposed systems of production based on gender
which came into increasingly into conflict. This article’s line of discourse was on the production
process based on gender basis which by no means was incompatible. The productive forces of
the Maraka indigo dyed textile industry were basically women in individual households
according to Roberts (1984). He continued that dyeing in Western Sudan was traditionally
women’s work. In 1796, Mungo Park remarked that women dyed cloth blue. In 1910, Fernand
Daniel was more precise when he noted that in the Middle Niger Valley, dyeing was dominated
27
by Maraka women. The origin of women’s control over the dyeing remains unclear, although the
tasks involved were similar to women’s usual domestic chores. Dyeing consisted of gathering
wood, pounding, drawing water, tending the fire, and washing clothes. While these tasks may
have resembled the labour women customarily provided the household, indigo dyeing among the
Maraka people differed because of the gender-property relationship. Dyeing does not only add
value to cloth, and not even restrict to aesthetic value but also possess market value. And it was
probably through dyeing that women came to control the indigo plant, although the plant was not
traditionally women’s property. As long as women did not produce marketable quantities of dyed
cloth and as long as market demand for the cloth remained relatively constrained, indigo as a
factor of production, had no commercial value.
But it is a different gender-relation in Baraweli, indigo was a principal commercial crop
and directly under the control of the household head. The women’s access to indigo plants
depended upon their husband’s sources. The patriarchs’ control over the household social product
was complete. Women continued to dye, but the proceeds belonged to the head of the household.
Husbands in return gave their wives jewelry, but this was now compensation for their services-
the inverse of the customary Maraka model. Expanded commodity production was a dynamic
force in the social transformation of the essentially fragile household economy, which had
evolved during the era when market forces were not well developed. And one needed to point to
out that as the Maraka textile industry demonstrated the social complexity of change the
technical character of production remained the same, and as Roberts indicated other studies like
this current one needed to consider the very different consequences of the varying development
patterns within indigenous technology such as indigo textile dyeing in Osogbo. Because in the
great Central Sudanese emporium of Kan, dyeing was rationalized and conducted on an
industrial level using dye pits and numerous male workers. But among the Maraka textile
production remained a cottage industry, despite increases in the scale of production achieved
through slave labour.
Roberts (1984) further discussed the form of production in existence among the Maraka
which designed for commerce and accumulation and only when such production for the market
altered the established organization of labour and the customary division of the social product
within the household did these changes lead to both real and perceived social tensions. It was
28
important to note that there were two types of cloth symbolic of the struggles between Maraka
men and women; the plain white and indigo dyed. The white cloth was destined for home
consumption and for trade on the edge of the desert while the dyed cloth catered to luxury
consumers. The two cloth represented divergent yet interrelated processes of production. And the
white cloth was the result of collective enterprise under the direction of the male household head;
indigo dyed cloth was women’s work.
The plain white was said to have underscored the complimentarity of the household as a
production and consumption unit because most of the cloth produced by a household was worn
by its members and the men were the producers of the plain white cloth because of their power
over the cultivation of cotton, but when the indigo dyed cloth began to have a market value, it
threatened to destroy the reciprocal economy of the household. The production process of cloth
among the maraca required the coordinated labour of the entire household, in which gender-
related tasks were complementary. The ideology of reciprocity appeared underlie the smooth
operation of the Maraka household economy, and it continues to influence the historical
consciousness of the Maraka people but this ideology thinly disguised the growing tension
between men and women over the control of the finished product of this coordinated household
labour. Indigo, traditionally a woman’s crop, was by the end of the century cultivated on large
scale by slaves belonging to the male household heads. Other factors of production of indigo
dyed cloth such as labour, thread, dyeing and weaving became commodities outside of the
household production unit. The resultant effect of this gender-related tension is that the long-
established gender-division of labour with its attendant control over the social product was
eroded through male usurpation of the factors of production.
Therefore, this study will examine the relationship among the genders in the
technological process of indigo textile dyeing technology. This study is not only limited to dyers
only but it extends to those that are engaged in the indigo cultivation and other process leading to
the final products of the technology.
1.4.5 Marketing dynamics in the production of indigo textile dyed products
Wikipedia (2010) defined market dynamics deals with price movement and motion
characteristics of traded equities. It has a range of applications, including calculating expected
price movements, identifying price support or resistance levels, or determining other motion
29
attributes of an equity or aggregate market index. It was further defined by Business Dictionary
(2010) as the interaction between forces of demand and supply and the pricing signals they
generate. In most free (open) markets any significant part of market dynamics is beyond the
control of any firm or group. But it can simply be stated as the process by which market
adjustment takes place.
The marketing dynamics in the production of indigo textile dyeing technology could be
traced to the period of interest in the African cotton resources. Eicher (1975) stated that Europe
took a sporadic interest in the African cotton resource due to the reduced cotton export from the
United States being pest-stricken, disease and war. But the stability in the United States after the
war led to the dwindled interest in African cotton. The slave trade was also stated to be a
contributory factor to the sporadic export of Nigerian cotton. Even though the issue of cotton
may seem to be a misfit in this discourse but one of the main raw materials in this technology is
the production of cotton which affects the market dynamic in the production of indigo dyed
products. This could be noticed in the discussion of Roberts (1984) concerning the effect of
production of cotton for the households and the production of indigo cloth which is a derivative
of cotton production for luxury consumers by the female members of the households among the
Maraka people in the Maraka textile industry.
The colonial period is a period of great production and marketing dynamics with the help
of British Cotton growing Association by Eicher (1975) that supported the development of
cultivation of cotton in Nigeria, that cotton industry started to flourish. But, weavers and dyers in
the villages of different ethnic groups usually establish the fact that imported cotton is used, but
Eicher could not confirm the proportion of imported domestic fibre in use. But the locally
produced handspun and hand-woven cotton has had a high prestige value and it is also general
knowledge that imported muslin was and is sought by the Yoruba for their resist dyeing.
It is also noted that these cotton and other raw materials cause the prices of the dyed
products to fluctuate. The cotton products according to Owoeye (2010) never discussed the
marketing dynamics except for the kind of cloth used in indigo textile dyeing which may be of
white cotton materials, ordinary guinea, or guinea brocade. The entire aforementioned are
exported cotton materials. He further stated that the dyers in the akoda’s family also used “Teru”
a cotton cloth with a strong he power. Some salient points were revealed which directly affects
30
market dynamics of the indigo dyed textile such as those that patronize the dyers’ product; the
politicians and their political parties. This made some dyers’ products more expensive due to
their combined nature of tourism and other indigenous technologies. He also stated concerning
the buyers in Abeokuta who are mainly wholesalers and retailers especially from the commercial
city of Lagos State.
Other factors affecting the marketing dynamics of the technology’s product are the other
productive forces which Owoeye (2010) never stated how they affect market dynamics such as
the indigo plant cultivators, the producers of the indigo balls, dyers involved in the production of
alkaline water, cotton producers, pots, steel drums, motifs appliers, bricklayers and other raw
materials producers. The value placed on the indigo textile dyeing technology and its products
also affect market dynamics because Owoeye (2010) stated that there was a high premium and
value placed on the technology. And Owoeye stated that another factor in the market dynamics
of the technology is how the dyed products are marketed. Some dyers established galleries
around Nigeria and outside Nigeria while some dyers market their products at the textile market
such as Itoku. This study will examine the effects of the relationship of the productive factors,
location of the dyers, personality of the dyers and the consumer on the market dynamics of the
indigo textile dyeing technology.
Eicher (1975) and Owoeye (2010) stated that varieties of indigo plants yield dye after
stem s and leaves are processed for fermentation to extract the dye. The fact that there are
variations in the process of extracting the dye makes market dynamics real in the technology. In
Northern Nigeria, earth which contains lime is massed, made into balls and burnt with chaffs and
grasses to produce lye (alkaline solution of wood ashes and water used in soap making). Other
places used cakes from special woods and goat dung chaff or bulrush millet are made and burnt
to an ash after being placed in a hole in the ground along with indigo stems and dye pit sediment.
The Nupe men put indigo powder made from dried and decomposed into grasses with ashes in a
sieve-like basket. Water is poured into the basket and filters through the indigo and all mixture,
dripping directly into a dye pit while the Nupe women uses a similar method of the leaves from
an indigo tree and prepare their dye in pots. The indigo cakes are placed in a pot which is
underneath another perforated pot which contains ash. Water poured into the top pot filters
through the perforated holes into the bottom pot and fermentation occurs slowly.
31
The varieties of products that can be dyed with indigo is another indication that where
could be a strong market dynamics because specialization will emerge. Shea (1975) mentioned
that the indigo-dyeing industry in Kano in the 19 th century was extremely responsive to the
changing economic conditions. He never discussed the market dynamics but economic
conditions. But those economic conditions could be indirectly or directly responsible for the
market dynamics. I response to the 19th century conditions in Kano, Owoeye (2010) researched
on entrepreneurial orientation of indigo textile dyeing operators in some selected areas of Yoruba
land discovered that the entrepreneurial spirit of some locations dictates the market dynamics in
the location while others have a very low or zero dynamics others have high market dynamics
due to the socio-economic and socio-political conditions of the location. Some of these factors
are the internationally supported festivals such as Osun Osogbo Festival and of an internationally
recognized indigo textile market such as Itoku Adire Market. The social, economic and political
conditions helped the dyers in terms of the innovation, risk taking, proactiveness, autonomy
which helps independence and lack of family control, the intensions and objective of the dyers
and their competitive aggressiveness all combined to dictates the market dynamics. All these
reviewed literatures have pointed out market dynamics directly or indirectly of the indigo textile
dyeing technology from the view of the end producers but neglecting all other productive forces
in the whole technology such as the indigo cultivators to the motif designer. This study will
endeavour to investigate of other factors of production, productive factors and the consumers of
the end products of the technology affect the market dynamics for the dyed textiles.
Owoeye (2010) discussed several issues indirectly connected to the marketing dynamics
in the indigo textile dyeing technology. He observed the significance of indigo dyed products in
relation to the cultural, political, religious and social values among indigo dyers in Yoruba towns
known for dyeing of textiles. This marketing dynamics he observed was dictated by the
decorative motifs along with their symbolic meanings and names. Another assumed factor that
Owoeye (2010) noted was those that patronize the dyers’ products. It was observed that some of
the dyers have luxury buyers as their clients. These include Presidents, Ministers and Governors
among others. Some buyers go for retail buying and others for wholesales. Tk-designs (2010)
discussed that another factor closely related to those that patronize the dyed clothes but the
website focused on cloth in general. The website stated that the economic conditions and
32
changing technologies also influence African clothing styles which also influence marketing
dynamics. Currency devaluations carried out under the structural adjustment economic reform
programmes have made imported materials and clothing more expensive, but markets for used
clothing remains consistently strong.
Owoeye (2010) also mentioned that the value placed on the indigo textile products and
the marketing of the dyed products affect the marketing dynamics. He stated that there was a
high premium and value on the indigo textile dyeing technology in towns known for the
technology in Yorubaland. Some of the dyers have been in the forefront of preserving the
technology’s knowledge from being extinct. The range of prices of their products varies
periodically. The price and the market dynamics is high during the festive period like the Osun-
Osogbo Festival. And the marketing of the dyed products differ due to locations. The marketing
of the end-products are highly lucrative in some towns than the others. Some towns have an
established international market for dyed clothes such as the Itoku market in Abeokuta and
popularly called “The Home of Kampala”.
Firey (1945) stated that the systematization of ecological theory has proceeded on two
main premises regarding the character of space and the nature of locational activities. The first
premise postulates that the sole relation of space of locational activities is an impeditive and
cost-imposing one. The second premise assumes that locational activities are primarily
economizing, “fiscal” agents. And the discourse by Firey stated that from the two premises the
only possible relationship that locational activities may bear to space is an economic one. And in
such a relationship each activity will seek to so locate as to minimize the obstruction put upon its
functions by spatial distance. The acquiring of an indigo textile technology economic ecology
has had an adequate explanation in describing market dynamics. Although Firey (1945)
discussion was hinged on certain features of land use in central Boston, his discourse was a
major lead in the effect of locational activities and its effect on market dynamics.
The indigo dyeing industry in Kano in the 19th century was extremely responsive to the
changing economic conditions according to Shea (1975) and this could a factor in marketing
dynamics of the indigo dyed products. Shea (1975) stated factors such as the productive forces in
the dyeing process, the policies and dyeing tax imposed on the dyers. The new centres of
specialized dyeing and beating grew up to satisfy the post-jihad demands for the shiny beaten
33
turban called ‘Yan Kura. The marketing dynamics were influenced by the establishments of new
dyeing centres around the centres of immigration: to serve the increased trade with Borno
stimulated by the Kanuri immigration, for the new Nupe weaving centres in the Emirate, to
satisfy the Tuareg immigrants and traders who longer went toward Kano, and to take advantage
of the labour of the increased number of travelling Quranic students. And the government of the
Emirate realizing the expansion of the industry did not impose taxes on any craftsmen except the
dyers.
The Kano dyers were able to have an advantage of the large quantities of dyed cloth at
lower cost which gave the Kano dyers a great advantage over their Nupe, Kanuri, and Yoruba
competitors. This was clearly a contributing factor in the rise of the importance of the Kano dyed
cloth in the Western and Central Sudan in the last century. This led to an advantageous large-
scale production and the increased scale of production led to an attempted increase in their scale
of their production not only through changing their technology, but also by increasing the size of
the dyeing centre. All the increased scale of production of dyed cloth necessarily involved
increased capital outlays. This Shea stated led to a clever dyer who manages to increase his
capital outlay in order to purchase or build a number of pits, using the labour of his sons or hired
workers or even slaves to produce the dyed cloth. And due to the clever dyers’ control of
marketing and their near-monopoly of the woven cloth, they frequently managed to gain control
of the dyeing industry in certain centres and to re-invest in new pits, in beating huts and logs, and
in greater amount of woven cloth. Therefore, Shea (1975) concluded that in many specialized
dyeing towns the entire industry from the purchase of the woven cloth through the stages of
dyeing, beating, and marketing was in the hands of a few important firms owned by the fatoma.
This highly organized system of fatoma to make well-informed investment decisions and to
make quick decisions in response to changing market conditions.
While clothing or indigo textile dyed products represents something very intimate and
personal, it is also obviously an important consumer product. The marketing and spread of West
African textiles all over the globe is well documented by the sheer number of websites now
available advertising ‘ethnic’ art and clothing as well as an increasing number of books
highlighting the aesthetics of Africa. Domowitz (1992) stated indirectly the effect of naming of
cloths has an important economic implication on the marketing dynamics. He studied the
wearing of proverbs but because consumers of these cloths in Akan society or Anyis are mostly
34
women, they often consider the social appeal of the cloth’s name to be more important than its
pattern or colour. Corroborating what other scholars have observed (Cole and Ross, 1977), that
consumers purchased certain cloths because of their proverb names, not their design. Conversely,
consumers will not buy a cloth with an ugly or uninteresting name. When given a new label, a
cloth that was not selling well might suddenly be in great demand. Toure (1985) explained that it
is the wholesalers, usually women entrepreneurs, who name the textiles they sell.
This marketing dynamics has not observed the effect of the indigo plant cultivators, dried
indigo balls producer, motif appliers and motif naming and the worth of other productive forces
in the technology which this study will be examining.
1.4.6 Indigo textile dyeing technology as an art and value systems
Social systems exist to realize their core values, and values explain why different actors
make different choices even in similar situations. Value system according to Parsons’ as quoted
by Swidler (1986) is a cultural tradition that provides value orientations; he also defined value as
an element of a shared symbolic system which serves as a criterion or standard for selection
among alternatives of orientation which are intrinsically open in a situation. Therefore, culture
affects human action through values that direct it to some ends rather than others. But just as
cultures emerge from symbols and they possess values so also do symbols have values and these
values dictate the lives of the people in that ecological region.’ Patrick (2008) mentioned that in
the last few decades, just as there has been a dawning of new interest and legitimacy in African
arts, there has also been increasing interest and focus amongst anthropologists on the subject of
clothing and its enmeshment with the African cultures in which it was created. However, prior to
the mid 1970s, there had been little focus on clothing.
Anthropologists studied language, tools and customs but in barely any previous
anthropological texts were mention made of importance of clothing in regards to culture. And as
widely discussed symbolism was in the discourse of Firth, there was no mention of clothing of
any kind in relation to culture and value systems. Some authors such as Hendrickson (1996)
focused on body treatments discussed on body, be it clothed or unclothed, as being the meeting
place of history and modernity. He examined textiles of West Africa, the wearing of Kente or
Bogolon examples of the meeting place of the traditions of the past with current modern views
35
and fashion trends. Some clothes were said to be important in the royal courts that it was unheard
for the ‘common’ person to wear such a cloth.
Clothes though serve several functions. Cloth acts in different ways in the cultures in
which it is created. It is viewed as an art/technology, the textile traditions of most cultures,
including those of West Africa are passed down through the generations and while tradition and
culture tend to dictate the kinds of cloths that are produced, the individual artists also have their
own personal and distinctive style. And therefore this section discusses literatures concerning the
various symbols, patterns, colours and motifs are applied to the indigo textile dyed products.
This is to review the interrelationship between tradition and the skillful artists’ aesthetic
preferences. African societies have long incorporated imported materials, textiles, and styles into
their own clothing traditions. The colonial periods encouraged Africans to adopt ne ‘western’
clothing styles and this is still evident throughout Africa today. This is not to neglect the
influence of contemporary African governments and political leaders and parties over popular
styles of clothing and value systems in the societies. For instance, Thomas Sankara declared after
he came to power the locally woven cotton to be the national fabric and required government
workers to wear it. In South Africa, men’s “Kaunda suits” are named after Kenneth Kaundda, the
former president of Zambia. In South Africa, Gatsha Buthelezi, head of the Zulu-dominated
Inkatha Freedom Party, encourages supporters to wear the skins and headdresses of Zulu
warriors at public events. And Nelson Mandela’s taste in brightly coloured shirts made them
fashionable when he served as the country’s president from 1994 to 1999 (Patrick, 2008). But
nothing was mentioned about the use of indigo-dyed textile by contemporary government, except
Owoeye (2010) that discussed the cultural and political significance of the dyed products among
the dyers in some selected Yoruba towns. This also has been discovered to be locationally
dictated such that metropolitan cities have more political influence on their products than those
in the hinterland which are influenced by cultural issues.
Anthropologists have likened the strip weaving process to the beat of African music,
where the ‘syncopated’ look on the interweaving of the threads simulates the notes and harmony
of African music. The messages that cloth sends through symbolism can only be understood if
there is common knowledge about what these symbols, colours and patterns all mean. This is
essentially what constitutes ‘culture’ (Microsoft Encarta, 1998). And Patrick (2008) has also
stated the use of cloth in general and not indigo dyed clothes sending certain messages. For
36
instance, certain kinds of Kente were once only worn by Asantehene. The message this conveyed
to everyone else was that if they dared to wear these cloths, they would be challenging the
authority of the king. Textiles also frequently integrate religious meaning and are used in
religious ceremonies that pervade many African societies. For example, before making the Adire
dyed cloth, the Yoruba women of Nigeria perform a sacrifice to the patron of dyeing known as
orisha. And this study would be examining the practice if it is still inexistence or it has been
replaced by something else performing those symbolic rites. Similarly, mud cloth in Mali is used
as a spiritual protection during the vulnerable times of a woman’s life. Kente is occasionally used
at shrines as a symbol of respect and dignity for the god being revered at the particular shrine.
The use of cloth as a religious meaning was documented by titled “Yoruba Religious
Textiles” by Renne and Agbaje-Williams (2005). They discussed the primacy of cloth among the
arts from differing perspectives; this analysis covers the Yoruba textiles and clothing expressing
the philosophical, religious, and aesthetic expressions of their makers and users. And a part of
the value system of the traditional Yoruba thought system is that cloth symbolizes
‘deathlessness’ or ‘immortality’. This has not been mentioned by any work in indigo dyed textile
except which this study intends to examine. Renne and Agbaje-Williams and he contributors in
the book discussed extensively on the religious functions of clothes among the Osugbo, Ogboni,
Reformed Ogboni Fraternity, Sango and Osoosi cults, Ijebus, Christians of different
denominations among others. But the similarity of the articles discussed in the book and this
study seemed related to the indigo dyed cloths when Akinwumi focused on the men’s and
women’s religious textiles in the town of Owo. He examined the men’s ritual known as ero,
which is performed by Owo men who have acquired sufficient wealth and stature in the
community to become elders. Although, this may be related or indirectly pointing to the earlier
fact in the traditional Yoruba thoughts of cloth being deathlessness or immortality in terms of the
elders wise words. But Akinwunmi investigated in his study the ritual which is marked by the
use of indigo-blue-black cloths, specifically, girigo and igbero cloths which only those who have
performed this ritual may wear. And these cloths are woven by the initiate’s daughter, suggesting
or symbolizing interdependence between generations and genders.
Owoeye (2010) discussed further on the issue bordering on cultural significance which
could also be linked to the value system because of the elements that constitutes value system are
the art and thought of the people being studied. These thoughts are presented in the form of
37
adage, descriptive words and proverbs. Value system has been defined as a set principles and
standards. Some of the value systems were represented by motifs and as discussed by Owoeye
(2010), the motifs had figures that could be identified with the culture and value system of the
environment. Some of the motifs had two large bats hung symmetrically side b y side; in
between them hangs the smaller sized bats with a rounded body but the same attributes. The
value system derived from the motifs was interpreted by a Yoruba proverb that says “baa k’oba ti
adan, a fi oobe se bo which literally means that ‘if you can’t find the adan, you can always use
the oobe”. This figuratively means that when you do not get what you want, you make do with
what you have. These motifs revealed the symbol of opportunity inscribed on the cloth through
the indigo-dyed textile. Another motif called “Abule Agbo le”; Compound is an illustration of
the circular arrangements of houses in the traditional Yoruba settlements. This represented a
compound where males and their wives and unmarried children live. This includes the extended
family living in family compound. Domowitz (1992) investigated Anyi of Eastern Cote d’Ivoire
on wearing proverbs. She said that the art of public speaking is central to the art of public
speaking. Proverbs are drummed as well as spoken, and she focused on the integration into the
Anyi lefe the use of names for pets, jewelry, hairstyles, and cloth. It was stated that the
relationship between the visual and the verbal in on e of the cornerstones of the Anyis aesthetics.
Cloth had served as a means of communication. Domowitz stated that by wearing a
specific named cloth, a woman can insult he co-wife, complain to her husbands, or console a
bereaved neighbours. She said both men and women are familiar with the proverb names and can
decode the messages sent by particular cloths in this widespread strategy of discourse. Proverbs
names for cloth are not a recent development among the Akan. In the days before these
commercially printed textiles were widely available, all the various patterns of traditional
handwoven cloth had names derived from proverbs, individuals, or events. The names often
denote who could or could not wear a specific pattern. These handwoven patterns and their
names have been extensively documented (Rattray, 1927). This study will investigate how the
productive forces generate the names given to the dyed cloth products. It will also examine the
extent of indigo dyed cloth as an environmental determinant of value system and give a
representation of the productive forces’ background and value system and how they influence the
names given to the dyed textile products.
There are several advantages of speaking through cloth. One of the principal advantages
38
is that one’s opinion can be conveyed with satisfying impunity, just like songs, funeral laments,
folktales which are not overtly addressed to any particular person. In theory, no one may take
offense at a proverb, any more than at a folktale or song. Proverb cloth offers an accessible
public voice to those who are constrained to silence. And Domowitz added some gender related
effects of inaccessible to the public space by most women. Since the opportunity to speak out
are limited. It was mentioned that men also resort to communicating through cloth. Such as a
man who had endured many hardships looked forward to buying a cloth named “someday I’ll sit
down under a tree and say everything I have to say”. This explains the proverbs that ‘in a family
or in a marriage, you can’t say anything”. Cloth names associated with politics are necessarily
ephemeral but they serve as an important channel through which one may comment on current
events.
Communicating by means of cloth offers an additional advantage. Unlike spoken or
drummed communications, which are limited in duration, proverb cloths are like billboards
whose message is repeated and reinforced as long as the cloths are seen and decoded. Domestic
strife and co-wife rivalries are not the only topics addressed by proverb cloths. Suffering and
injustice are also common subjects. Many names seem to refer to situations where the individual
is essentially powerless to act or to speak openly. Gossip, in Africa as elsewhere, is one of the
scourges of village life, and verbally rebutting it only seems to give it added vitality. Wearing a
cloth with this or similar message, however, is a way of fighting back without making oneself
vulnerable.
Proverbial name for these commercial cloths are a dynamic and significant part of Anyi
oral tradition. The phenomenon is not limited to the Anyi, but is an important part of popular
culture throughout West Africa. The power of the word in Africa is highly esteemed: here is
enormous importance attached to “speaking well” in oral cultures. Also these cloths is
advantageous when one can neither speak nor act directly, a cloth with a proverb name can be a
public voice, a risk-free way to communicate. Anyone can insult, warn, complain, ridicule,
console, or editorialize by wearing these printed factory textiles and not indigo dyed textile
which is the focused of this study. Patrick also confirmed the use of cloth very often, kente cloth
to symbolize some kind of proverb which in turn can give some interesting cultural insights
Arewa and Dundes (1964) examined proverbs and the ethnography of speaking folklore
that proverbs may serve as impersonal vehicles for personal communication. Proverbs are also
39
most apparent in the African judicial processes in which the participants argue with proverbs
intended to serve as past precedents for present actions while in European courtrooms, lawyers
cite previous cases to support the validity of their arguments. They both admitted that proverb is
used primarily as a means of communication, and this study focuses on it as a means of
communication in indigo dyed textile technology. They studied varied proverbs and their
meaning but their focus was mainly passed across in this statement that “I know the proverbs,
but i don’t know how to apply them”. This does not actually transmit directly the essence of this
particular study but the researcher would like to examine how the motif appliers, dyers and other
productive factors or forces apply proverbs to the indigo-dyed textile which Arewa and Dundes
(1964) never studied. But as the authors have concluded, if folklore is communication, then the
ways it is used as communication must be taken into account. Therefore in this study, focus is on
the study of the proverbs and how it is used on the indigo-dyed clothes.
Rowlands (1967) discussed in his work extensively about illustrating a Yoruba proverb
especially one that points to a person’s actions, particularly if they are evil. His discourse hinged
on the review of an essay subject in a Yoruba examination paper and the answers the candidates
who chose this subject providing some interesting materials for the study of Yoruba folklore. But
as other discussed authors on proverbs, he agreed that the association of proverbs and moral tales
is, in fact, very close in the Yoruba tradition, a proverb being normally used to round off and
drive home the point made in a tale. And his work pointed to a very strong decline in the use of
proverbs in our environment today. This confirms Owoeye (2010) points on the naming of
clothes among the dyers and as Rowlands (1967) stated that it is remarkable how much of our
oral tradition is retained.
In the work of Schmidt (2009) who studied symbolism with focus on the iron smelting
technology. He stated that the many of the African iron smelting furnaces were socially
constructed as human female bodies, offer insights into the rendering of human forms into clay –
much like figurines of lesser scale. His work discussed the value system of the art and the human
female bodies such as the breasts, vaginal openings, testicle-like bellows, and penis-like pipes
which are part of a culturally constructed reproductive system using the female body and parts of
the male anatomy. It also discussed ritual embodiments using potent tropes, body gestures and
sounds transform furnaces into human bodies. His discussion though not in the light of indigo
dyed textile but his line of thought on human bodies and the value system surrounding it could
40
also be in existence in the technology of indigo-dyed textile.
Heath (1992) examines the cloth tradition in Senegal. She stated that the last decade has
seen the emergence of anthropology of cloth (March, 1983; Messick, 1987; Schneider, 1980,
1987; and Weiner and Schneider, 1989) but she quoted Gamble (1967) that for the Wolof of
Senegal and The Gambia, cloth has traditionally been symbolically significant in the ceremonies
marking passage through life-cycle. This article focuses on the language of dress among women
in the urban Senegal and on the social uses of cloth that it entails. She examined the social
construction of hegemony using Bakhtin’s notion of heteroglossia, as an organizing concept.
This was carried out as manifested in the practice known as sanse, dressing up and dressing well.
The study included the social practices of dress and the production of decoration of textiles
embodies a dialogue between dominant and subordinate or oppositional vices and between what
Bakhtin called centripetal and centrifugal impulses. She only discussed sanse, a type of cloth that
Senegal and Gambia women are involved in the production and use neglecting the core of this
study indigo-dyed textile. Although, her focus on the sanse will be used in this study to examine
the existence of any social construction of hegemony in the technology. And eventhough, the
study of the Maraka textile industry reveals some value system construction among the
household in terms of their social relations by Roberts (1984), he never focused on indigo-dyed
textile and it was examined focusing on the systems of production which came increasingly into
conflict. The thesis will examine the value system concerning the social relationship not only
among the productive forces but also between men and women involved in the technology and
how it represents the society at large.
The work of Bowie never discussed the issue of value system one can relate to the
discourse on the effect of cloth weaving on the value system and class system of the 19th century
Northern Thai Kingdom. Although, this thesis is focused on indigo-dyed textile technology,
Bowie described how the textile consumption in the 19 th century showed the cultural material of
class. It was stated that the one’s level in the social structure of the society dictates the textile
consumption of the people. The dress ordinary villagers were very simple with men wearing a
kind of loincloth (phaa toi) and women wearing a tubular long skirt (phaa sin; pha means
“cloth”). These are worn on a daily basis. But the aristocracy’s most luxurious clothes were not
likely to serve as daily casual wear. Textiles were used not only for dress but also for a variety of
household items and on various ritual occasions. Such uses of textiles also revealed considerable
41
difference according to wealth. But beyond dress, cloth and clothing played an important role in
ritual prestations. One of these rituals was the offering of articles of clothing to parents,
grandparents, and other elderly and the villager’s one felt indebted. Another very significant
village ritual in which cloth played an important role was the ordination of the Buddhist monks
especially a dyed cloth. There were other essentials of cloth such as that which is used in the
lives and rites of the elite (Renne and Agbaje–Williams, 2005). Another aspect related to this
thesis was the production of textile which indicated the fabrication of the social class. The article
was able to state that those involved in the cultivation of cotton. The villagers Bowie said that
unlike the villagers, who had to weave, trade for or buy their clothing, the ruling lords were able
to extract raw cotton, woven cloth, and dyestuffs as tribute. Bowie focused on social structure
and the effect of the textile production and consumption on the political economy among the
Thais. The article clearly described the historical context and social context of textiles production
and consumption. The article by Bowie further gave an understanding of the social process of
textile production and the concentrated meaning. And it showed an understanding of a society’s
political economy can provide an independent means to assess the opinions of outside observers
of indigenous societies.
Olaoye (1989) stated that through ages, cloth has always been used as protective material
for the body. Cloth covers up our skin from direct effect of the sun. Besides the value of cloth as
wearing apparel and soft-goods, cloth also reflects the identity and status of men and women all
over the world. Nweke (1987) stated that the way a Nigerian woman arranges her headtie or ties
her wrappers, summarily highlights the social chasm between hawker and a lawyer. While
clothes can indicate who you are, they also reveal what you think and believe in such as a
reverend father, ulama, and traditional cults. The social values of a people have always been
influenced by clothes. Events such as marriage, wake-keeping and house-warming are usually
marked with choicy clothes. Olaoye (1989) though did not focus on indigo dyed textile as this
study does; he noted that the social significance of clothes in most parts of the world cannot be
over-emphasized. Nweke (1987) also noted the different way different women depending upon
their status differentiate them in the society.
Another factor that relates to symbolism and ritualism in indigo textile dyeing technology
is colour because colours also tend to set the mood or tone in clothing. Patrick (2008) stated that
in the Akan culture, Kente is a remarkable meeting place of colour and pattern as there is a
42
significant symbolic relationship between the patterns and motifs. Some Kente cloths comprise
many colors, while in others; only two colors may be used such as the beautiful blue and white
cotton Kente. This is typically an Asante’s made cloth influenced by the blue and white weaving
of the ancient kingdoms of Western Africa where indigo was prevalent. The pattern and
technical composition resemble cloths found in the Bandiagara Cliffs in the ancient kingdom of
Ghana (Barnard and Adler, 1995). A weaver’s decision about which colors to use depends on
several factors which is often dependent on the demands of the market and also on the occasion
the cloth is being made for. Traditional factors are taken into consideration, for instance,
traditional colors for women include the lighter and softer colors like pinks, purples, yellows,
silver. Men’s clothes on the other hand have traditionally tended to contain the darker colors
such as blue, green, black, red and orange. An Ewe cloth made in Kpetoe, Ghana using bright
colors. The use of pinks and yellows suggest a more female essence.
Schneider (1987) not only reviewed the role of cloth in the consolidation of social
relations and assessed its capacity to communicate social identities and values. He illustrated the
paths taken in terms of major variables in cloth styling especially the problem of colour. He
stated that both pattern weaves and post-loom decoration usually, although not always, depend
on variations in colour to achieve their effects. Colour, in turn, depends on the availability of
dyestuffs, mordants, and skilled dyers and on the chemistry of fibres and not until the European
as invention and manufacture of the coal tar in the second half of the 19th century, dyeing was
arduous and easily monopolized. But in this thesis, colour is examined in terms of value system
and its symbolic application.
Ryan (1976) examined the notion of colour and colour symbolism in Hausa literature
which as important but neglected aspect of Hausa studies. In his discourse, Ryan would be
thought to discuss all colours both the primary and secondary colours in Hausa literature. But he
narrowed his analysis to the importance of three colours; white, black and red and the wide range
of associations attached to them. His analysis neglected the blue indigo dyed clothes which is
called Shudi in Hausa literature meaning cloth or thread dyed blue or prepared in indigo plant.
Although Ryan’s discussion never considered blue or blue-combination of indigo dyed
clothes which is the main context of this thesis but he did justice to symbolism of the white,
black and red colours in Hausa culture. He also related it to the myth, poetry and proverbs in
Hausa culture.
43
The symbolism of colours investigated by Bridgett (1883) among the Christian church
especially the catholic and Anglican as opposed Ryan (1976) who studied colour symbolism in
Hausa literature which are predominantly Moslems.
Bridgett (1883) stated that symbolism of colour is founded on the nature of the
impressions universally produced, and is, therefore, of all times and countries. The meaning
attached to colour is more or less conventional and varies. It was observed from her article that
most of the clergies and choristers wore red, black and white symbolizing during a particular
feast such as Martyrs’ day, Ascension, Virgin’s Day and other festival days. This was also
confirmed by Gage (1988) when he stated that the black-white-red triad reappears as the only set
of colours for liturgical use in specific offices in the early Christian church, where white was
adopted for feasts of virgins, black for Advent and Lent, and red for feasts of martyrs. But Gage
(1988) focused on the dimension of a particular realm of symbolism which is in the context of
language and perception. The only difference between Bridgett’s and Ryan’s analysis is that
indigo was stated along with purple and dark blue by Bridgett (1883) and neglected by Ryan
(1976). Bridgett (1883) further her argument that, though they are not prescribed, but were usual
in Lent and Advent, on ember days and vigils. With this analysis, what the colour symbolizes
among Christians was neglected.
The authors who delved into the colour blue such as Jacobs and Jacobs in their article
“The Colour Blue: Its Use as Metaphor and Symbols” (1958) quoted Morgan (1661) who stated
the various significance of blue as a colour with divine contemplations, godliness of
conversation, it is also the colour of the air, attributed to celestial persons, whose contemplations
have been about divine things. Several authors were observed by Jacobs and Jacobs but the most
observed significance of blue was its symbol of royalty, loyalty, steadfastness, constancy and a
man of fixed principle. They went further in stating that the costliness of blue may have given its
first significance but what contributed to its economic as well as symbolic worth was the fact that
the blue dye was a fixed, immutable colour not easily changed by external elements. But in the
course of the discussion, blue became associated with black. This union according to Jacobs and
Jacobs (1958) may have caused the general unpopularity of colour blue; it probably had much to
do with determining the sensations and moods of feeling associated with it. Darkness and
blackness are linked with gloom and melancholy and inevitably with moral blackness.
This study will examine not only the meaning of the colour blue or blue-black
44
combination of the indigo dyes and the symbolic meaning among the productive forces of the
technology but also in the study area as a whole. It will also investigate the use of the colour
among the productive forces in relation to the prevalent myth, culture, poetry and proverbs of the
Yoruba people in Osogbo.
2.7 SYMBOLISM AND RITUALISM IN INDIGO TEXTILE DYEING
TECHNOLOGY AND ITS PRODUCTS
The study of symbols has occupied the minds of writers belonging to different disciplines
for over centuries stated Onwuejeogwu (1997). The study of symbols may be regarded as one of
those inter-disciplinary themes, which has been spontaneously pursued by scholars from various
disciplines. Few or no writer has researched into the symbolism and ritualism in indigo textile
dyeing technology. Several authors have defined symbols which have earlier been stated in this
thesis and this work further discussed the divergent approaches in the study of symbolism in the
discipline of anthropology.
Onwuejeogwu (1997) discussed the concept of sign and symbol which was also
discussed by White (1962) in “Symboling: A kind of Behaviour” but Onwuejeogwu (1997) was
in Nri kingdom as a tool employed in organizing their theocratic state and hegemony and
constructing social reality. The article focused on the Afa as a system of symbols and not on any
technology as focused upon in this research.
The work of Beidelman (1964) attempted to have a descriptive account of the complex
system of symbols and values operative in female initiations ceremonies practiced by the Ngulu
of East Africa. The study described the Ngulu matrilineal society, the relationship between the
mother and child, father and child and his kins. The subject of sterility and impotency was
discussed to an extent and in relations praises given to women who desire many children in the
Ngulu society. But the Ngulu does not represent this desire for power or security instead it is
conceived as the women wanting to perpetuate her matri-clan, the sexual voraciousness and
promiscuity of the woman, even the women in the society share this perception. This was
concluded to be related to men’s hostility and insecurity toward women. Even though,
Beidelman (1964) account for the Ngulu society on sexual symbolism and ceremony which was
given a detailed description. It covers the women’s initiation to adulthood, menstruation. It gives
a view of the relationship that would be examined in this thesis concerning the production of
alkaline water. The ceremonies of Mkumbulu (porter’s head-pad) and Kizelu (ashes) is useful in
45
conceptualizing cognitively the sexual symbolism in the production of alkaline water in the
indigo textile technology.
Further in the discussion of water symbolism the work of Tuzin (1977) concerning the
region of Sepik of New Guinea. He stated that two types of symbolic meaning must be
conceptually distinguished concerning water images. These questions delved into ‘what does
water mean?’ and the status of ‘cultural meaning’ as it is apprehended and created as a result of
the interplay of cognitive and affective processes.
His focal point was to symbolize physical water as an accumulated substance: a life-
supporting medium. He connected the water symbolism to several areas of the Arapesh such as
the life and death and the female womb-vagina. Although, Tuzin (1977) gave a perspective of
symbolizing water cognitive, this study will also examine using cognitive and affective processes
to the reflection on the production of alkaline water symbolism.
Another work on symbolism was he Yam symbolism in the Sepik by Tuzin (1972). His
discussion was not far fetch from his works on water symbolism. He argued the questions of
what yams are, what the characteristics which make yam a singular item in the local culture. This
led to the consideration of an elaborate set of beliefs which has evolved around yam which
include a range of symbolic identifications which are manifest at different levels of individual
awareness. Tuzin postulated in is work that the yam is symbolically having many values and
meanings with regard to ‘male pride’, ‘body’ and ‘penis’. Tuzin’s work may lack the focal point
of this thesis which is the symbolism and ritualism in indigo textile dyeing technology but it will
direct the thesis to discover the symbolism in the technology using the cognitive and affective
processes.
Some authors conducted research that studied based on indigenous technology. And
among the authors is Peter Schmidts. Schmidts (1997) enunciated in-depth about the technology
of iron in Buhaya district, East Africa from the perspective of symbolism, science and
archaeology. He discovered invaluable observation elucidating behavior and beliefs being linked
together though distantly and through the lens of much culture change to a precolonial tradition.
He also viewed the political value of iron symbolism. And the works of Schmidts was one of the
works that stimulated this research on symbolism in indigo textile dyeing technology.
Schmidts (2009) pushed the frontiers of his work further in symbolism when he
researched into the largest baked clay figure in Africa which is an iron smelting furnace. He
46
conducted an anthropological representation elucidating the culturally constructed reproductive
system using the female body and parts of the male anatomy. He thickly described the ritual
expressions, shedding new light on previously dichotomous categories of male and female in
iron smelting and creates a more complete understanding of the materiality of the female body in
baked clay furnace. As much as Schmidts (2009) work was much appreciated, it neglected the
indigo textile dyeing technology which is the main focus of this thesis. This thesis will examine
the male and female sexual relationships using the production of alkaline water using the 2 pots
(perforated and unperforated pots) in indigo textile dyeing technology.
He also linked the issue of technology and environment together where he stated that
cultural change in the Buhaya region has led to the extinction or near extinction of traditional
economies. As Schmidts (1997) noted that the strongest sectors of the productive economy other
than agriculture were formerly steel production and its attendant industries such as forging and
wire drawing. It is a different case in Nigeria and Osogbo the study area, where the strongest
sector of the productive economy is the Oil and Gas and its attendant industries. While the
indigenous technologies others are led into extinction or near extinction especially the
indigenous technology and economies.
Olaoye (1989) is another writer on indigenous technology but worked on the 20 th century
weaving technology in Ilorin, Nigeria. He stated that the call for modernization of traditional
crafts as a means of developing indigenous technology has rather been persistent and he
attempted to make further contributions.
He furthered his arguments when he stated the value of traditional crafts which includes
indigo textile dyeing technology. But he veered into the concern of this study with a narrow
perspectives o general cloth making; he discussed the organization and the production
technology of the Ilorin weaving. His work never suffice for the discourse on the symbolism and
ritualism in indigo textile dyeing technology though helpful in having a clear picture of an aspect
of indigo textile dyeing technology covered in Ilorin and not in Osogbo which is the study area
of this thesis.
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CHAPTER THREE
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
This study would be presenting in this chapter the theoretical and conceptual frameworks.
The data would be clarified within the theoretical framework of symbolic/interpretive
anthropology of Clifford Geertz.
3.1 THE ROOTS OF SYMBOLIC/INTERPRETIVE ANTHROPOLOGY
Colby et al (1981) stated that symbolic/interpretive anthropology has its roots in the
classic studies of the 19th and early 20th centuries which sought to understand how and what
social situations and life experiences were represented in ritual events, giving meaning to these
experiences and providing orientation and commitment to social interaction.
Symbolic Anthropology according Colby et al (1981) argued that it was foreshadowed by
Fustel de Coulanges (1956) when he showed interest in the way hearth and commensal rituals,
both familial and communal, expressed and ordered human relationships at various evolving
levels of La Cite Antique. Also related to the emergence of the theory of symbolic anthropology
is Robertson Smith (1956) who studied the way sacrifice brought into communion and thus
reinforced the social bonds of a group of worshippers and Mauss’s (1954) study of the way
social obligation was represented in The Gift, are essentially symbolic in orientation. All the
earlier discussed figures prefigure Durkheim because they dealt with the Durkheimian problem
of how people experience their collective identities and responsibilities in the presence of
representations who moral power “obliges them to submit to rules of conduct and of thought
which they have neither made nor desired and which are sometimes contrary to fundamental
inclinations and instincts”. And Durkheim continued that without symbols social sentiments
could have only a very precarious existence and social life in all its aspects and in every period
of its history is made possible only by a vast symbolism”. But one could deduce that the
symbolic approach of these figures was based on the constraints symbols had on individuals and
collective behaviour bound up in symbols. And their forms of symbolic anthropology may not be
recognized as the appropriate roots for the theory.
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Most anthropologists according to Jon and Warms (2004) stated that the theoretical
school of Symbolic Anthropology assumes that culture does not exist beyond individuals.
Rather, culture lies in individuals’ interpretations of events and things around them. With a
reference to socially established signs and symbols, people shape the patterns of their behaviors
and give meanings to their experiences. Therefore, the goal of Symbolic Anthropology is to
analyze how people give meanings to their reality and how this reality is expressed by their
cultural symbols.
They further their arguments that Symbolic Anthropology emerged in the 1960s and is
still influential and this is contrary to the earlier quoted historical version by Colby et al (1981).
Symbolic Anthropology does not follow the model of physical sciences, which focus on
empirical material phenomena. The Symbolic Anthropologists view culture as a mental
phenomenon and reject the idea that culture can be modeled like mathematics or logic. When
they study symbolic action in cultures, they use a variety of analytical tools from psychology,
history, and literature. Therefore, Jon and Warms (2004) stated that the current approach and
development of Symbolic Anthropology may have been influenced by the relativistic approach
of Cognitive Anthropology who forced anthropologists to have a rethink on their traditional
ethnographic methods.
The Symbolic Anthropology adopted in this thesis according to Hammerstedt and
Loughlin (2010) can be divided into two major approaches. One is associated with Clifford
Geertz and the University of Chicago and the other Victor W. Turner at Cornell. David
Schneider was also added as a major figure in the development of Symbolic Anthropology but
does not fall entirely within either of the above schools of thought. It is essential to note that all
the three were all at the University of Chicago briefly in the 1970s. Orthner (1983) and Handler
(1991) stated that the major difference between the two schools lies in their respective
influences. Geertz was influenced largely by Sociologist Max Weber, and concerned with the
operations of “culture” and not with the ways in which symbols operate in the social process. He
focused on much more on the ways in which symbols operate within culture; how individuals
“see, feel and think about the world”. Turner was influenced by Emile Durkheim and was
concerned with the operations of “society” and the ways in which symbols operate within it. He
49
reflected his English roots by investigating whether symbols actually functioned within social
process in the ways that other symbolic anthropologists thought they did.
3.2 RATIONALE FOR INTERPRETIVE ANTHROPOLOGY
Symbolic Anthropology can be considered as an antiphon to the structuralism favoured
by Levi Strauss among other theorists. The displeasure with structuralism was clearly stated in
Geertz (1973) that Levi Strauss focus on meaning as established by contrasts between various
aspects of culture and not on meaning as can be derived from the forms of symbols alienated the
symbolic anthropologists (largely American). It was also stated that Structuralists focused on
actions as being separate from actors while symbolic anthropologists believed in “actor-centric”
actions according to Orthner (1983). Prattis (1997) also stated that the reactions were not limited
to the above against Structuralism because it utilized symbols only with respect to their place in
the “system” and not an integral part of understanding the system.
Symbolic Anthropology is also a reaction against materialism and Marxism. Materialists
define culture strictly in terms of overt, observable behaviuor patterns, and they share the belief
that technoenvironmental factors are primary and causal according to Langness (1974) while
symbolic anthropologists view culture in terms of symbols and mental terms. According to
Sahlin (197 and Spencer (1996) the reaction against Marxism was that his theory was based on
historically specific western assumptions about material and economic needs and thus cannot be
properly applied to non-Western societies.,
The major focus of symbolic anthropology is studying the ways in which people
understand and interpret their surroundings as well as the actions and utterances of the other
members of their society. These interpretations form a shared cultural system of meaning which
involved understandings shared, to varying degrees, among members of the same society (Des
Chenes, 1996). And Spencer (1996) stated that symbolic anthropology studies symbols and the
processes such as myth and ritual by which humans assign meanings to these symbols in orders
to address fundamental questions about human social life.
According to Geertz (1973) man is in need of symbolic sources of illumination to orient
himself with respect to the system of meaning that is any particular culture. This shows the
interpretive approach to symbolic anthropology while Turner (1967) stated that symbols instigate
50
social action and are determinable influences inclining persons and groups to action. This shows
the symbolic approach to symbolic anthropology. Therefore, Spencer concluded that Symbolic
Anthropology views culture as an independent system of meaning deciphered by interpreting key
symbols and rituals (1996).
3.2.1 Assumptions of Symbolic Anthropology
There are two major premises governing symbolic anthropology
a. The first is that “beliefs” however unintelligible, become comprehensive when understood as
part of a cultural system of meaning
b. The second major premise is that actions are guided by interpretation, allowing symbolism to
aid in interpreting ideal as well as material activities.
According to Des Chene (1996) traditionally, symbolic anthropology has focused on
religion, cosmology, ritual activity, and expressive customs such as mythology and the
performing arts. Symbolic Anthropologists also study other forms of social organization that at
first do not appear to be very symbolic, such as kinship and political organization. Therefore, this
gives researcher the opportunity to study the role of symbols in the everyday life of a group such
as the productive forces in the indigo textile dyeing technology in Osogbo, Nigeria.
This study is thereby adopting Clifford Geertz’s approach of Symbolic Anthropology to
guide the conduct of this research, analyze the interrelated concepts and determine what things to
measure or observe in the course of the research. The rationale behind Clifford Geertz’s
approach was based on his use of Interpretive method in is inquiries.
3.3 INTERPRETIVE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CLIFFORD GEERTZ
Cliiford Geertz studied at the Harvard University in the 1950s and strongly influenced by
the writings of philosophers such as Langer, Ryle, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Ricouer, as well
as by Weber, adopting various aspects of their thinking as key elements in his interpretive
anthropology. He stated his observation and thoughts in his compilations of essays titled “The
Interpretation of Cultures” (1973). Geertz believes that an analysis of culture should not be an
experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning. Culture is
51
expressed by the external symbols that a society uses rather than being locked inside peoples’
heads. He therefore defined culture as a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in
symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men
communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and their attitudes toward life.
Geertz sees symbols as vehicles of culture which Ortner (1983) stated that symbols should not be
studied in and of themselves, but should be studied for what they can reveal to us about culture.
To further buttress Geertz’s argument was also the summation of Colby et al (1981) that
symbols shows the realities of the internal individual and the external realities of communal
order. And Munn (1973) showed the power of symbolism when he termed it a “Switch point”
which Colby et al (1981) stated as the act between the external and the internal and the way in
which symbols as outward and visible forms implants themselves directly into individual
experience while individual experience finds itself transcended, identified with external
collective representations. This was confirmed by Firth (1973) when he stated that there are two
fairly clearly recognized domain in Interpretive Anthropology. In one, symbols are taken as
being characteristics of sets or groups of people, of institutions, or of types of situation. So, we
discuss symbolism of the Nyakusa or Ndembu; the symbolism of sacrifice. The second domain is
the broad psychological domain in which the study is made not exclusively but basically of
symbolic forms presented by individuals often not shared with other people, and corresponding
essentially to personal interests, claims, stresses. This domain Firth continued is autologic to a
considerable degree; it is concerned with the political function of symbols. He quoted Cohen
(1969) who argued that there can be no science of symbolic behaviour in any general sense.
Symbolic forms are the product of creative work and all social behaviour is couched in symbolic
terms. But since nearly all social behaviour has a power dimension, the symbolization of power
relationship is an exceedingly important feature of social life.
Geertzian tradition claimed that interpretive anthropology must be a critical anthropology
which Parker (1982) stated is a self-reflective process and acknowledge nature of its own
existence as the product of a particular culture at a specific point in time. Therefore, in studying
the symbolism and ritualism of indigo textile dyeing technology among the Osogbo people of
Nigeria.
52
Most of the analysis that the Geertzian tradition has been utilized for were not concerned
with any technology safe for the Schmidts’ (1997 and 2009) worked on symbolism in iron
technology and also when he researched into the largest baked clay figure in Africa giving the
anthropological representation elucidating the culturally constructed reproductive system using
the female body and parts of the male anatomy which is an iron smelting furnace.
53
3.4 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
FIG 1: Conceptual Framework showing the correlation between symbolism, ritualism and indigo
textile dyeing technology and symbolism and the use of cognition to elicit images of sexual
relationship in the society
The productive force and the vision of the production process; Profit or Production
Socioeconomic and Socio-political relationship among the productive forces
Means of mobilizing production forces
Gender relations
Market dynamics in the production of indigo textile dyed products
Indigo textile dyeing technology as an art and value systems
Indigo Textile Dyeing Technology
Symbolism and Ritualism
Interpretive Method and Cognition
Metaphoric images (tropes) of sexual relationship symbolism from the alkaline production using perforated and unperforated pots
Interpretive Method and Cognition
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3.5 CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION
The conceptual framework in Fig. 1 above shows a relationship between symbolism,
ritualism and indigo textile dyeing technology. It follows that there are symbols and rituals in
indigo textile dyeing technology using the interpretive method in symbolic anthropology. The
conceptual framework indicated the notion of Cohen (1974) when he argued that on a higher
level of abstraction the four institutional spheres: economic, political, kinship and ritual can be
classified into two categories. In is analysis, the political and economic form one category their
common denominator power relationships. This is clearly shown in the intervening variable in
the above conceptual framework. Kinship and ritual form the second category, their common
denominator being symbolism. Cohen’s work never pictured his work being applied to any
indigenous technological knowledge but this study will adopt Geertz’s symbolic metaphoric
method where he views cultural forms as self-interpretation, as a meta-social commentary where
cognitive and interpretative examination is carried out on the production of alkaline water in the
indigo textile dyeing technology in Osogbo.
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CHAPTER FOUR
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study is a multi-sited ethnography because the data for the study will not be gathered
from a single location but under the same organization in Osogbo. A pre-field study to the study
location indicated that the organization has several branches where indigo-dyed textile in
produced and market to the consumers. These areas have different cultures and specialization
due to the political economy in existence in the location. The common denominator among these
locations is in its ownership and control by the founder of the organization.
4.1 RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design in any study has important consequences for convincing other
scholars of the validity of interpretations of the research data. The research design adopted for
this study is the exploratory ethnographic study design. This study design enables data to be
collected on the research field qualitatively. The exploratory nature of this research will allow
the researcher to discover the symbols and the rituals involved in the technology of indigo textile
dyeing among dyers in Osogbo using Nike Centre for Arts and Culture as a case study.
Philliber et al (1980) stated that the distinguishing characteristic of a case study is that
there is a sample size of one. It could be one person, one organization, one society to name only
a few examples. The example of Malinowski’s study of Trobriand Islanders allows Malinowski
to have an increased knowledge and understanding of the social functions served by ritual and
magic. The case study design enables the researcher gain more depth and detail than otherwise
be possible. The limitation of case study may be that of a definite limitation of generalization.
The important point to note is that in the field of anthropology and qualitative data, the aim is to
be able to explore as much as possible a case for better descriptive purpose and documentation of
record and data.
4.2 DESCRIPTION OF STUDY LOCATION
The study location for this research covers Osogbo. This is because according to
Connolly (1998) qualitative researchers and research of this nature typically do not make
external statistical generalizations because the goal of a qualitative research usually is not to
56
make inferences about the underlying population, but to attempt to obtain insights into particular
educational, social, in this case a technological and familial processes and practices that exist
within a specific location and context. And an interpretivist study as symbolism and ritualism of
indigo textile dyeing technology in Osogbo intends to study the phenomena in its natural settings
and strive to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena with respect to the meanings people
bring.
This choice is influenced by the strategic position and history of Osogbo. According to
Oyebanji (2004) Osogbo possess Osun River which has a significant relationship with the oral
history of the people of Osogbo and linked to the indigo textile dyeing technology and tradition
in the town.
Osogbo is the capital of Osun State in southwestern, Nigeria. Osun state was created and
Osogbo as its state capital on the 29th of August, 1991. It has two Local Government
Headquarters in the capital city namely Osogbo-South and Olorunda (Osogbo-North) local
government areas with a size of 10,456sq kilometers. And based on the 1991 census provisional
result, Osogbo has a population of about 280,000 people
Osogbo is mainly a Yoruba speaking community or town. It is about 88 kilometres
northwest of Ibadan by road, 100 kilometres south of Ilorin by road and 115 kilometres
northwest of Akure by road. It is situated on the latitude 90.7/N and on the longitude 40.5/E.
Osogbo is within the climatic and rainfall region that favours the cultivation and growth
of indigo trees. The mean annual temperature is highest at the end of harmattan; averaging 28 0C,
that is from the middle of January to the beginning of the rainy season in the middle of March.
And average temperatures during the rainy season are between 240C and 250C while the annual
range of temperature is about 60C
The rainfall in Osogbo is between 1000mm and 1500mm, this is the rationale behind the
highly reduced production of indigo textile dyeing during the rainy season. Osogbo has an
annual mean rainfall of about 0.6 metres (50-60 inches). Osogbo shares two major seasons as
other towns in southwestern Nigeria which are wet and dry seasons occurring between May and
September, and October and April respectively.
57
Osogbo was originally tropical rain forest vegetation but the activities of annual bush
burning, farming, logging, and industrialization has led to the emergence of secondary forest.
The trees common to Osogbo are mahogany, iroko, obese, indigo plant and so on. The study will
also examine the effects of climate, rainfall and vegetation on the technology of indigo textile
dyeing and the symbolism and ritualism.
4.3 HISTORY OF THE STUDY LOCATION
Oral history declared that Osogbo popularly referred to as the “home of dyeing” was
founded around 400 years ago according to ICOMOS (2005). Osogbo was part of the wider
Yoruba community that was divided into 16 kingdoms, which legends stated were ruled by the
children of Oduduwa, who lived in Ile-Ife, Southeast of Osogbo.
The oral tradition and myth confirmed that Osogbo emerged as an establishment of two
wandering hunters who were brothers. As they got to their first site near Osun River where they
were cutting some trees, they heard a voice that cried out saying “Oso-igbo o, ikoko aro mi ni
iwo ti fo tan yi” meaning “wizard of the forest, you have broken all my dyeing pots”. Oyebanji
(2004) stated that Osogbo thereby derived its name from the cry against the breaking of indigo
pots.
The earliest settlement in Osogbo according to ICOMOS (2005) seems to have been in
Osogbo grove near River Osun and it included a palace and a marketplace. The population
expansion led to the movement of the community outside the grove and settled in the nearby
community of Osogbo city.
The people of Osogbo are traditionally farmers. They are involved in the cultivation and
planting of indigofera as a commercial plant on a small scale. They are also engaged in
traditional cloth weaving, cloth dyeing, embroidery, pottery and blacksmithing. The arrival of the
railway system in 1907 converted the town into a commercial city.
Osogbo like any other Yoruba towns have some recognized traditional festivals such as
Ifa (oracle) festival, Ogun (god of iron) festival, Egungun (masquerade) festival and so on. An
internationally recognized traditional festival which made Osogbo town or city famous was the
annual Osun Osogbo festival and the art of indigo deyd clothes. The Osun Osogbo festival
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regularly attracts thousands of tourists and citizens from within and outside of Nigeria either for
relaxation purposes or the religious rites purposes.
4.4 SELECTION OF STUDY AREA
The anthropological discourse and research is more concerned about depth than how
wide a research can cover. Therefore, Osogbo possesses several art centres where textile dyeing
and indigo textile dyeing technology is practiced some of the art centres include Artists
Kooperative Training Centre, Iyabo Art Centre and Nike centre for Arts and Culture Gallery.
The Nike Centre for Arts and Culture Gallery was selected for this study because of the centre’s
focal point and emphasis on indigo textile dyeing technology and the possession of two acres of
land utilized for the cultivation indigo plant along Iwo-Ibadan road.
The Nike Centre for Arts and Culture is noted for the private workshop on indigo textile
dyeing. The centre was established in 1983 by Chief (Mrs) Oyenike Omoyinka Davies-
Okundaye. The centre is located on old Ede road, Osogbo and the centre is also famous for
training in various crafts.
Apart from the Osogbo gallery, the centre has displaying galleries in Victoria Island,
Lagos where a new and the second gallery was opened earlier in 2010, other branches of the
centre that combines gallery and workshop together are located in Piwoyi Village in Abuja and
New York in U.S.A. The centre actually started in Ogidi-Ijumu in Kogi state where Mrs Davies-
Okundaye hails from and learned the technology of indigo textile dyeing from her great-
grandmother who nurtured her after he mother and grandmother’s death. And in Ogidi-Ijumu,
the centre is close to the nature and the villagers where there is indigo dyers’ association whose
head is Mrs Davies-Okundaye’s Great-grandmother.
Nike Centre for Arts and Culture Gallery is a centre that provides training for hundreds of
aspiring young artists and craftsmen. It is involved in teaching indigo dyeing, wood sculpture,
relief carving, painting, beadworks, mosaic and batik. The centre has permanent staff members
who are involved in both local and international exhibitions, teaching and presentations. The
centre is also involved in cultural tourism
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4.5 SAMPLING SCHEMES, DESIGN AND TECHNIQUES
Sampling is an essential step in the qualitative research process and this involves the
choosing of sampling scheme and sampling design. Sampling scheme and sampling design are
two concepts under the concept of sampling with different meaning and functions.
Sampling scheme is an important consideration that all qualitative researchers should
make as stated by Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2007). The qualitative researchers have many
sampling schemes as argued by Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2007) and backed by the works of
Patton (1990) and Miles and Huberman (1994) that identified 24 sampling schemes available to
qualitative researchers. In view of all this schemes, they have been classified as representing
either random sampling schemes or non-random sampling. This study is therefore adopting the
non-random sampling scheme otherwise referred to purposive sampling scheme as that deals
with non-probabilistic sampling. This sampling scheme has been chosen because the goal of this
research is not to generalize to a population but to obtain insights into the technology of indigo
textile dyeing. Therefore, the non-probabilistic sampling scheme adopted in this research is
called internal statistical generalization which involves making generalizations or inferences on
data extracted from one or more representative or elite participants to the sample from which the
participant(2) was drawn (Curtis et al p. 1002 as quoted by Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2007).
4.5.1 Sampling design and technique
The sampling design chosen for this study is within-case analyses. This design has stated
by Miles and Huberman (1994) involve analyzing, interpreting, and legitimizing data that help to
explain “phenomena in a bounded context that make up a single ‘case’- whether that case is an
individual in a setting, a small group, or a larger unit such as a department, organization, or
community”. This design and the researcher share the same goal of not to compare cases but to
explore and describe the symbols and rituals in indigo textile dyeing technology in Osogbo.
The sampling technique the researcher is adopting for this study is purposive sampling
technique which involves selecting certain units or cases based on specific purpose rather than
randomly (Teddlie and Yu, 2007). The researcher has chosen the Nike Centre for Arts and
Culture purposively for this study because of the widespread knowledge and activities of indigo
textile dyeing technology the centre is involved. The rationale for this sampling technique is to
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generate a sample that will address the research questions of this study which focuses on
symbolism and ritualism and to achieve representativeness of the broader group of cases closely
as possible. The centre has also been chosen because the researcher can learn the most and
discover the answers to the research questions from the centre. And this will throw light on the
depth of information generated by the centre which will be a narrative data.
The Nike Centre for Arts and Culture was selected through snowballing sampling
technique which involves locating one or more key individuals and asked them to name others
who could be likely candidates for the study. Bernard (2000) stated that the snowballing
sampling techniques is used in studies of social networks, where the objective was to find out
who people know in certain craft such as indigo textile dyeing technology and how they know
each other. The technique is also applied in studies of difficult-to-find populations.
The key informant for the study will be the Proprietor of Nike Centre for Arts and
Culture. Other informants will be recruited from the organization’s main gallery and branches in
Nigeria, and those involved with the technology that the centre does transact with on a daily
basis.
4.6 DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES
The nature of this research which is based on anthropological study requires the
researcher to conduct a fieldwork on the technology of indigo textile dyeing. There were various
methods to be adopted for the success of this research in the course of the fieldworks. The study
will involve staying with the productive forces involved in the technology of indigo textile
dyeing at the centre and at the natural setting of other productive forces outside of the centre’s
gallery or workshop.
The data collection period will involve gathering data on the myth behind the indigo
dyeing technology and the Osogbo city, the productive forces involved in the technology, the
marketing dynamics in the technology, the technology as an art and value systems and the use of
trope in the technology and its products.
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4.6.1 Key Informant Interviewing: This data collection technique helps researcher to recover
vital information concerning any aspect of culture the informant was knowledgeable about the
area of study through an in-depth interview.
Key informants are knowledgeable about the technology of indigo textile dyeing, the
dyers being studied and history of the craft. And without the key informants, contacts and access
to the raw materials and the process of dyeing and other knowledgeable informants in the
technology will be impossible and frustrating.
The key informants in Osogbo; Nike Centre for Arts and Culture was discovered through
lecturers in the department of Fine Arts and I had conducted a research at the centre prior to this
research. The edge of this centre above others is the centre’s involvement with cultural festivals
in Osogbo such as Osun-Osogbo festival and the centre’s connection to the international
community via tourism and the conduct of seminars and workshop on indigenous technologies.
Other key informants will be the other productive forces outside the production process
of the centre such as the indigo ball producers, the indigo plant’s cultivators and so on.
4.6.2 Participant Observation: The art of simply observing phenomenon, most
anthropologists believed cannot make a researcher to fully understand another culture. The term
participant observation therefore entails that the researcher participate in such other culture as
well. The researcher observes and records as much behavior that seems relevant in the
technology of indigo textile dyeing of the people and participates in as many activities as
opportunity affords.
The support of the key informants and the in-depth interview will be valuable in
explaining the details in the process of the technology. This will enable the researcher to discover
the symbolism and ritualism in the technology of indigo textile dyeing in Osogbo.
4.6.3 Structured Interview Schedule: The Structured Interview Schedule involves exposing
every respondents or key informants in the study to the same preset questions in order to get the
informants’ or respondents’ responses so that the validity of their responses can be verified. The
questions will be set to bring out the required information and achieve the set objectives of the
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study. The technique will help in having a good knowledge of the technology of indigo textile
dyeing in the study area.
The data will be collected using Yoruba language and data will be recorded using
audiotapes while the processes in the technology will be video recorded using a camcorder.
Journals will also be used for good data management. This involves using field notes because it
will be easier to see connections in everything, addition, subtraction and rearrangement of
documents can be done. This will help in the reflectivity of the researcher while investigating the
recorded data.
4.6.4 Life Histories: This will involve the narration of experience by the dyers in addition with
the structured and unstructured interview. This will give an in-depth meaning to the symbols and
rituals performed in the production of indigo-dyed products.
4.4.8 Audiotape recorder and Photography: Although stated earlier concerning the use of
audiotape recorder and photography in the extracting details of the interview and capturing the
body language of the dyers thereby creating a foundation for the virtual data and conversation
prompter. This is a key aspect of the dyers’ process of symbolization and ritualization of the
indigo-dyed textile technology.
4.7 DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION
Data analysis involves organizing what has been seen, heard, and read so that sense can
be made of what is learned (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992). Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2007) stated the
argument of Miles & Huberman (1994) that stated that since analysis takes place throughout the
entire research process, a study is shaped and reshaped as a study proceeds, and data is gradually
transformed into findings because each qualitative study is unique, the analytical approach will
be unique. The data analysis method to be adopted in this research will be the content analysis
The content analysis technique in this study will be used by the researcher to display data
to provide evidence for claims in a format readers will easily access. Patton (1990) stated that
content analysis technique is a process of identifying, coding and categorizing the primary
patterns in the data. The technique will enable the researcher to organize and analyze data into
topics and files in order to highlight the contents and observations made on the field.
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Other qualitative technique to be adopted in the data analysis is the narrative method to
be adopted in reporting the observation and the data gathered. Spradley (1980) stated that writing
forces the investigator into a new and more intensive kind of analysis. And in a qualitative
research of this nature, the researcher will make a detailed description of the case and its setting
because Wolcott (1990) stated that description is the foundation upon which qualitative data is
built. This allows the researcher to be a storyteller, inviting the reader to see through their eyes
what they have seen and observed, and then offering an interpretation.
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