What is Raffia?
Raffia is the fiber from leaves of a unique breed of palm tree common in tropical Africa. This fiber is plucked off the palm fronds, dried and woven into items such as hats and baskets. This slide introduces you to the various forms of usable products made from raffia.
Raffia Bag 03Original Source: Sierra Leone Heritage
Raffia Bag
An end product of the raffia is bag, which is made by knitted threads of raffia cloth. It has shaped into hand-held bag with a hollow opening and a sling handle. it is used by children in rural Sierra Leone as a school bag. Hunters and warriors also use it during their exploits.
FanOriginal Source: Sierra Leone Heritage
Raffia Fan
Raffia-made products include a local hand-held fan like this one. The wooden handle is made from bamboo cane with the raffia design worn on it. It is used to fan food during mealtime, for chiefs and anybody who find it fashionable for personal ventilation use.
Frame of a large lantern made out of palm pith (1991) by Jennifer OramOriginal Source: Jennifer Oram
Raffia-Made Lanterns
Lanterns characterize popular festivities in Sierra Leone. Some of them are made with raffia made cloth such as this.
Devil Mask
The raffia is fixed into the wooden mask with needle and sometimes wound around it. Masks are considered spiritual figures by many secret societies in Sierra Leone. The female Bondo and Sande Societies usually dress their devil masks with raffia strings.
Raffia Bowl
Unlike rubber bowls and metal bowls, a raffia bowl is usually made not to contain water or any other form of liquid. It is made to carry palm kernels, ground nuts, kola nuts, chilly pepper etc
Goboi HeaddressOriginal Source: Sierra Leone Heritage
A Useful Innovation
Raffia has stood the test of time as it continues to play a key role in the lives of Sierra Leoneans. Such as this devil-mask with a raffia covering with hanging cowrie shells, raffia products have been very integral to the social and economic lives of Sierra Leoneans.
