1. Spinning cotton thread, Dumboli, 1994

Description:

A woman in Dumboli spins cotton thread. She holds raw cotton fiber in her left hand. She has attached a strand of fiber to her spindle (gԑndԑ in Nafaanra), and she prepares to set it and the spindle whorl (gԑndԑ kaan in Nafaanra) which weights it in motion with her right hand. The whorl spins inside a small white vessel (possibly an animal skull or turtle shell) resting on a basket lid. The woman sits on a low stool. Various containers used in food preparation sit behind her. The basket on which she is spinning is used to store her equipment when not in use. Seeing women spinning in their homes would have been common before the second half of the 20th century. Archaeologists find spindle whorls in houses on sites dating to the later 18th and 19th centuries. In earlier times, however, it appears that thread was primarily made in market centers rather than in households. Two photos. Dumboli, 1994.

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial

Publisher:

University of Victoria Libraries

Location(s) Facet:

Dumboli

Subjects:

Cotton thread; Women's work; Techniques

Subjects Facet:

Handicraft; Spinning; Spindle whorls; Baskets

Identifier:

18

Creator:

Dr. M. Dores Cruz

Contributors:

Dr. Ann B. Stahl

Date searchable:

1994

Date searchable:

1994

Genre:

35 mm slide

Genre Facet:

35 mm slide

Location(s):

Dumboli;8.090342, -2.517137

Date Digitized:

2016

Commentary:

Slide scanned by Veronique Plante

Geographic Coordinates:

8.090342, -2.517137