Belt (Enailianga)

Maasai

This belt is worn by young girls and is the first gift that she receives from her mother. As soon she is initiated, she no longer uses this belt and passes it on to her younger sisters. Girls from all Maasai sections wear similar belts, though every section has its own patterns. For example, the Kaputiei section uses triangle patterns and in Tanzania, the Kisongo use diamond patterns. All sections use the same colors.

To learn more about the unique exchange that inspired this collection, please consult:
https://art.seattleartmuseum.org/objects/26449

Glass beads, leather, and sisal twine

39 x 2 3/4 in.

General Acquisition Fund

2000.12.16

Provenance: Donated to the museum by members of the Merrueshi community in exchange for funding a classroom in 2000, coordinated by Kakuta Maimai Hamisi

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, A Maasai Community Adorns a Bride, May 31, 2001 - Mar. 1, 2005.

Seattle, 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.

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