How barkcloth became part of royal regalia
Dec 13, 2007
THE red-brownish barkcloth was discovered in Buganda between 1344 and 1374 during Kabaka (King) Kimera’s reign. It is stripped off the bark of the mutuba tree. Long ago, craftsmen walked through the undulating hills in different counties searching for mutuba trees. barkcloth and animal skin were
By John Kasozi
THE red-brownish barkcloth was discovered in Buganda between 1344 and 1374 during Kabaka (King) Kimera’s reign. It is stripped off the bark of the mutuba tree. Long ago, craftsmen walked through the undulating hills in different counties searching for mutuba trees. barkcloth and animal skin were used to furnish homes.
Planting mutuba became a culture in Buganda. Every totem had a mutuba leader, signifying the importance of the tree.
But things changed when Ssekabaka Suuna died in 1856 and his son, Ssekabaka Muteesa I Mukabya, took over.
Known to be the most progressive Kabaka, Muteesa I permitted his subjects to wear calico, a type of Western outfit and other cotton clothes, which, up to that time, were restricted to the royalty and favourite chiefs.
During the 19th Century, when the Arab caravan traders reached Buganda, they introduced cotton fabrics, firearms and gunpowder in exchange of ivory and slaves.
Muteesa I would send a messenger to a chief with a piece of cotton cloth of about six square inches as a sign that the chief might begin to wear calico. In return, the chief would give the Kabaka many cattle for the privilege. And from that time onwards, chiefs dressed in calico instead of barkcloth.
Meanwhile, in Muteesa’s reign, people began to read the Koran, whereas others read the Bible. This is the period when explorers Hannington, Speke, Henry Morton Stanley, the Church Missionary Society and catholic Missionary White Fathers came to Buganda.
Dr. Venny Nakazibwe, the deputy dean of Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts, Makerere University, says converts were discouraged following the existing tradition of wearing barkcloth. “The coming of Arabs and European missionaries caused a crisis to the development of barkcloth production,†she says.
“
The new ideas and values conflicted with the existing traditional knowledge of barkcloth making and wearing. Despite all this, the making of barkcloth continued because it was rooted in the people’s lifestyle,†she adds.
Ssekabaka Muteesa I did not abolish the traditional practice of barkcloth making. He encouraged people to plant 30 hectares of mituba around Nabulagala, near Kasubi Tombs.
According to oral tradition, one Wamala of Ngonge, invented the skill during a hunting spree in a forest located in Mawokota county. He discovered mutuba, stripping it of its bark and started beating it using a wooden hammer.
Wamala presented his first invention of barkcloth to Kabaka Kimera. Kimera gave the clan of Wamala the power to produce barkcloth for the royal court.
Later, Kabaka Kiggala, who was fond of wearing barkcloth, ordered that two small symbolic royal ivory hammers be made to symbolise the clan’s duty of making the fabric.
Since the 16th Century, at every enthronement of a Kabaka, two miniature ivory mallets and their corresponding wooden versions have been presented to the new Kabaka as symbols for barkcloth making. From this time, barkcloth became one of the main items in Buganda’s royal rituals.
The Ngonge clan craftsmen are the chief custodians and royal producers of high royal quality barkcloth for the Buganda kings, princes and princesses. Currently, they are headed by a hereditary chief craftsman known as Ssemwezi Kaboggoza who lives in Nsangwa on a five-acre piece of land in Mawokota, the birthplace of barkcloth making.
After making barkcloth, Kaboggoza hands over the refined piece to Mugema, who dresses the Kabaka. The wearing of the barkcloth by the Kabaka symbolises unity and identity among the Baganda.
The Nsangwa community,, where Ngonge clan resides, is protected through the Buganda cultural system because of its strong traditional, historical, customary and ritual importance.
On the central government side, the preservation and protection of the object is vested in sections 1, 2 and 5 of the Historical Monuments Act No 22 of 1967 and Culture Policy.
The inhabitants of the area are small scale farmers, who inter-plant their crops with mituba. The clansmen live and work together. This helps to safeguard the land from encroaches.
Barkcloth became a national dress in the 18th Century during the reign of Kabaka Semakookiro. He ordered his subjects to plant mutuba in their gardens. Among the Baganda, the skill of barkcloth making has been more concentrated in the south-western part of Buddu and Kooki.
Albino Kimbowa Ssembajjwe, Kaboggoza’s son, says: “The youth have disassociated themselves from the indigenous knowledge and think of technology.
But we are determined to inherent and revive our culture, since the skills have been passed on to us.†Nakazibwe notes that the disappearance of traditional knowledge has been coupled by the economic hardships.
“The barkcloth makers are highly marginalised in the society and the practice is considered to be for the low communities,†he adds.
At the beginning of this year, Kaboggoza planted about 700 mituba cuttings. In the next four years, he expects to get raw bark when the trees attain a radius of two feet.
THE red-brownish barkcloth was discovered in Buganda between 1344 and 1374 during Kabaka (King) Kimera’s reign. It is stripped off the bark of the mutuba tree. Long ago, craftsmen walked through the undulating hills in different counties searching for mutuba trees. barkcloth and animal skin were used to furnish homes.
Planting mutuba became a culture in Buganda. Every totem had a mutuba leader, signifying the importance of the tree.
But things changed when Ssekabaka Suuna died in 1856 and his son, Ssekabaka Muteesa I Mukabya, took over.
Known to be the most progressive Kabaka, Muteesa I permitted his subjects to wear calico, a type of Western outfit and other cotton clothes, which, up to that time, were restricted to the royalty and favourite chiefs.
During the 19th Century, when the Arab caravan traders reached Buganda, they introduced cotton fabrics, firearms and gunpowder in exchange of ivory and slaves.
Muteesa I would send a messenger to a chief with a piece of cotton cloth of about six square inches as a sign that the chief might begin to wear calico. In return, the chief would give the Kabaka many cattle for the privilege. And from that time onwards, chiefs dressed in calico instead of barkcloth.
Meanwhile, in Muteesa’s reign, people began to read the Koran, whereas others read the Bible. This is the period when explorers Hannington, Speke, Henry Morton Stanley, the Church Missionary Society and catholic Missionary White Fathers came to Buganda.
Dr. Venny Nakazibwe, the deputy dean of Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts, Makerere University, says converts were discouraged following the existing tradition of wearing barkcloth. “The coming of Arabs and European missionaries caused a crisis to the development of barkcloth production,†she says.
“
The new ideas and values conflicted with the existing traditional knowledge of barkcloth making and wearing. Despite all this, the making of barkcloth continued because it was rooted in the people’s lifestyle,†she adds.
Ssekabaka Muteesa I did not abolish the traditional practice of barkcloth making. He encouraged people to plant 30 hectares of mituba around Nabulagala, near Kasubi Tombs.
According to oral tradition, one Wamala of Ngonge, invented the skill during a hunting spree in a forest located in Mawokota county. He discovered mutuba, stripping it of its bark and started beating it using a wooden hammer.
Wamala presented his first invention of barkcloth to Kabaka Kimera. Kimera gave the clan of Wamala the power to produce barkcloth for the royal court.
Later, Kabaka Kiggala, who was fond of wearing barkcloth, ordered that two small symbolic royal ivory hammers be made to symbolise the clan’s duty of making the fabric.
Since the 16th Century, at every enthronement of a Kabaka, two miniature ivory mallets and their corresponding wooden versions have been presented to the new Kabaka as symbols for barkcloth making. From this time, barkcloth became one of the main items in Buganda’s royal rituals.
The Ngonge clan craftsmen are the chief custodians and royal producers of high royal quality barkcloth for the Buganda kings, princes and princesses. Currently, they are headed by a hereditary chief craftsman known as Ssemwezi Kaboggoza who lives in Nsangwa on a five-acre piece of land in Mawokota, the birthplace of barkcloth making.
After making barkcloth, Kaboggoza hands over the refined piece to Mugema, who dresses the Kabaka. The wearing of the barkcloth by the Kabaka symbolises unity and identity among the Baganda.
The Nsangwa community,, where Ngonge clan resides, is protected through the Buganda cultural system because of its strong traditional, historical, customary and ritual importance.
On the central government side, the preservation and protection of the object is vested in sections 1, 2 and 5 of the Historical Monuments Act No 22 of 1967 and Culture Policy.
The inhabitants of the area are small scale farmers, who inter-plant their crops with mituba. The clansmen live and work together. This helps to safeguard the land from encroaches.
Barkcloth became a national dress in the 18th Century during the reign of Kabaka Semakookiro. He ordered his subjects to plant mutuba in their gardens. Among the Baganda, the skill of barkcloth making has been more concentrated in the south-western part of Buddu and Kooki.
Albino Kimbowa Ssembajjwe, Kaboggoza’s son, says: “The youth have disassociated themselves from the indigenous knowledge and think of technology.
But we are determined to inherent and revive our culture, since the skills have been passed on to us.†Nakazibwe notes that the disappearance of traditional knowledge has been coupled by the economic hardships.
“The barkcloth makers are highly marginalised in the society and the practice is considered to be for the low communities,†he adds.
At the beginning of this year, Kaboggoza planted about 700 mituba cuttings. In the next four years, he expects to get raw bark when the trees attain a radius of two feet.