Alindi aka Banadiri - Somalia's Traditional Fabric

[Queen Ati]

Honestly who cares though? I wouldn’t worry about it as half of the things we call ours is also borrowed. We wear the khamis which is borrowed from Arabs. We use henna which isn’t native to E. Africa and most likely borrowed from India. Even our direc is most likely borrowed from India since it’s so similar to the sari. The macawis is similar to what Malayasians(or is it Indonesian?)wear. The whole world is one of borrowing from one another. Nothing stays the same. The only way you can completely preserve your culture and fend off any type of cultural appropriation is if you live in remote regions like deep in the amazon forest.

That's exactly it Amirah.. Somalis borrow, we don't rename and steal.
Every country has different ethnic groups with unique identifiers.. Alindi is an ancient Somali fabric, made by Somalis.. other ethnic groups can buy it, they can wear it.. but they must recognise its roots and preserve its name. It's not right for Oromos, Ugandans etc, to take Somali hardwork and put their stamp on it.

 

[Queen Ati]

Somalia's government needs to be made aware of this, we cannot revive the ancient Alindi industry without protecting it legally. Other countries like Ghana have protected and copyrighted their traditional fabric. They are so smart, they even copyrighted their folklore so people can't come in and steal their stories and rebrand it.

Ghana's copyright law for folklore hampers cultural growth

New regulations on the use of folklore are a hindrance to local artists.

theconversation.com

 

[Nabiil]

Masai for example are mainstream in western media and tourism because of their jumping and so called colourful dress. Little do people know they were naked let alone colourful robes.

Before colonialism:

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After:

 

[Gladiolus]

Discussing about this on forums wont fix anything, send this info to the right Ministers who can in sha Allah.

 

[QueenofKings]

I agree they shouldn’t appropriate our cultural attire.

But to go off on a tangent ... it’s also weird we have made the orange Alindi the one and only print for guntiino. It’s relatively new as a print. Whenever you see old fashioned pictures of Somali women in guntiino it’s clear there was some variety in the print. And perhaps even more elegance in a simple white guntiino.

 

[𐒁𐒚𐒒𐒂𐒘𐒂𐒗 𐒎𐒚𐒗𐒗𐒒]

I agree they shouldn’t appropriate our cultural attire.

But to go off on a tangent ... it’s also weird we have made the orange Alindi the one and only print for guntiino. It’s relatively new as a print. Whenever you see old fashioned pictures of Somali women in guntiino it’s clear there was some variety in the print. And perhaps even more elegance in a simple white guntiino.

Yes, there was variety, the article above mentions it. Even today Somalis wear different colours, I've seen green and blue.

 

[one]

Alindi fabric was woven in Banadir by Benadiri people. They should be the ones speaking out about this, not us regular Somalis.

Marna caaya reer Xamarka and say they're not REAL Somalis or indigenous to Somalia, marna take credit for their works like their architecture, Alindi etc.

Dirac is Yemeni, baati comes from the word baatik, googarad & keenshali is Af Hindi. Maxaa hadhayba markaas? Lamagoodles, have some shame and stop the xagxagasho, you didn't invent shit.

The only thing we can "claim" are the 2 white sheets and the white 3 qayd.

 

[Queen Ati]

Alindi fabric was woven in Banadir by Benadiri people. They should be the ones speaking out about this, not us regular Somalis.

Marna caaya reer Xamarka and say they're not REAL Somalis or indigenous to Somalia, marna take credit for their works like their architecture, Alindi etc.

Dirac is Af Yemeni, baati comes from the word baatik, googarad & keenshali is Af Hindi. Maxaa hadhayba markaas? Lamagoodles, have some shame and stop the xagxagasho.

The only thing we can "claim" are the 2 white sheets and the white 3 qayd.

Not all Somalis wore White cotton all the time, ethnic Somalis wore Alindi and other clothes produced in Somalia by Somalis- yes that includes Banadiri people.

Anything that is produced in Somalia by Somali nationals and ethnic Somalis is Somali intellectual property.

Even in the image you shared, 2 people are wearing a variation of Banadiri/Alindi or other woven clothes.

 

[one]

Why are you speaking like someone who is not an ethnic Somali?
Not all Somalis wore White cotton all the time, Somalis wore Alindi and other clothes produced in Somalia by Somalis- yes that includes Banadiri people.

Anything that is produced in Somalia by Somali nationals and ethnic Somalis is Somali intellectual property.

Alindi was produced by foreigners that settled in Somalia. Other fabrics were imported from Yemen, India etc. Excluding the Gabooye community, ethnic Somalis never invented anything.

I saw how Somalis where slandering Oromos for wearing diracs, subeeciyads etc. as if Somalis made it with their own hands, hence my post.

We should stop claiming the minorities in Somalia when it fits our agenda and then turn our back on them a few seconds later. If you're not like that, that's cool, but the majority of Somalis waa qanjidh xun.

I'm a proud(and pessimistic) Lamagoodle. If the occasion calls for it, I only wear the 3 Qayd. I have no need for things made by Cadcads. I'm done here.

 

[Queen Ati]

Alindi was produced by foreigners that settled in Somalia. Other fabrics were imported from Yemen, India etc. Excluding the Gabooye community, ethnic Somalis never invented anything.

I saw how Somalis where slandering Oromos for wearing diracs, subeeciyads etc. as if Somalis made it with their own hands, hence my post.

We should stop claiming the minorities in Somalia when it fits our agenda and then turn our back on them a few seconds later. If you're not like that, that's cool, but the majority of Somalis waa qanjidh xun.

I'm a proud Lamagoodle, if the occasion calls for it, I only wear 3 Qayd. I have no need for things made by Cadcads. I'm done here.

Somalis never invented or created anything?... Somalis handmade boats such as the beden boat which is among the oldest boats in human history..
Somalis handmade swords, clothing, weapons, not to mention own and sold most products and livestock found within the Somali peninsula. Banadiris made clothing? Ok? So what.. Shall we disallow them to claim everything that ethnic Somalis made and own?

Even the dabqaad was made by ethnic Somalis, not to mention all other household items and Somali dwellings, carpets and so forth. Ethnic Somalis have never been lazy or culture vultures.

(Ancient Beden boats- handmade by Somalis from North-East.. Present day Puntland)

 

[one]

Somalis never invented or created anything?... Somalis handmade boats such as the beden boat which is among the oldest boats in human history..
Somalis handmade swords, clothing, weapons, not to mention own and sold most of the found within the Somali peninsula. Banadiris made clothing? Ok? So what.. Shall we disallow them to claim everything that ethnic Somalis made and own?


View attachment 171911

All of the things mentioned were made by the Gabooye, and we all know how the so called "nasab" Somalis treated them.

 

[Queen Ati]

All of the things mentioned were made by the Gabooye, and we all know how the so called "nasab" Somalis treated them.

Gabooye didn't make beden boats nor did they use them to travel in order to trade. If you're Gabooye.. good. We are proud of your people.. but please don't lie about other ethnic Somalis.

What's next? Are you going to tell us that Gabooye made nomadic dwellings? Or the traditional Somali carpets?

 

[one]

If you're Gabooye.. good. We are proud of your people.. but please don't lie about other ethnic Somalis.

See, this is what I was talking about!

 

[Queen Ati]

See, this is what I was talking about!

Please don't derail my topic. If you wish to talk about Gabooye people..open another topic so we can all discuss and learn.

 

[Sloane Ranger]

Alindi fabric was woven in Banadir by Benadiri people. They should be the ones speaking out about this, not us regular Somalis.

Marna caaya reer Xamarka and say they're not REAL Somalis or indigenous to Somalia, marna take credit for their works like their architecture, Alindi etc.

Dirac is Yemeni, baati comes from the word baatik, googarad & keenshali is Af Hindi. Maxaa hadhayba markaas? Lamagoodles, have some shame and stop the xagxagasho, you didn't invent shit.

The only thing we can "claim" are the 2 white sheets and the white 3 qayd.

Somalis back in the day went to india and studied weaving and then brought over their ideas to Somalia and employed Benadiiris to make it. They still largely work in the trade so people on that basis think it it's their invention. But @Factz posted this in a thread but it looks like it's no longer here.

 

[Queen Ati]

@Sloane Ranger - found it!

 

[Sloane Ranger]

Isn't it interesting how it's ethnic Somalis who dominated Somali trade but somehow ethnic Somalis had nothing to do with Alindi..

Somalis need to reclaim Somali history, Somali industries and Somali property. It's getting to the point where our history is being stolen and rewritten.

They were the employers initially but I guess they shifted away from the textiles industry and into other avenues. It's the disrespect that annoys me. It's quite sad to hear fellow Somalis lap it up and say we never accomplished anything when history tells us otherwise.

It's not just the clothing, its everything else they're even going as far as to say we didn't build our own cities.

 

[Queen Ati]

There is a narrative that is being peddled that ethnic Somalis are good for nothing other than livestock herding.. this is why we need to record and compile our history. Soon you will see Somali haters claim that the ancient Cape of Spices trade was dominated by foreigners- or that the Land Of Punt was also foreign.. they will not let us have anything, even the clothing on our backs.

 

[Sloane Ranger]

@Queen Ati interestingly the Land of Punt has been proven to be within Somalia and most of the misconceptions can be debunked with a bit of research.

I've seen more young Somalis take an interest in Somali History so I don't think people will be able to rip off our culture without some backlash. We're also very large on social media lol.

 

[Arabsiyawi]

Somali traders sold Alindi fabric to Uganda and now they wear it also

Ugandans call it KIKOY.. can't Somalis have anything to ourselves


View attachment 171820

Somalis were merchants sxb

it’s mostly Somalis from the south that spread our culture down in South East Africa. Alindi is now one of the main fabrics traditionally used in the Comoros Islands. They have a whole history with the people of Brava, some Comorians even claim to have origins there.