Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
menu

Headdress (Esidai)

Headdress (Esidai)

A headdress, spear and shield are essential art forms carried and worn by a Massai moran (warrior). They were collected and documented by Kakuta Hamisi--described in his own words below--as part of our museum's exchange with the Merrueschi community. You can also learn more about this collection at the web site: maasai-association.org.

“Women made the headdresses but it is the men’s work to collect the ostrich feathers...According to Maasai people, every man must own a spear from thirteen years of age. Warriors are recommended to carry spears on a daily basis while boys are allowed to carry theirs when herding cattle only...Both the spear and shield are things that I would like to own for the rest of my life. The [shield’s] pigment painting is based on a section, clan, and sometimes region. You have to hold it so a lion can land on it. Then you have to slide the lion over your head, and sometimes the lion weighs about 400 pounds. Do that a few times and you can confuse him.”
Ostrich feathers, leather, beads, black button, white button, and metal chain
32 x 26 in. (81.3 x 66 cm)
General Acquisition Fund
2000.7
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]).

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM