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Belt

National Museums of Kenya

National Museums of Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya

Belt made of cowhide and cowrie shells by women and used a by new grandmother whose daughter has just given birth. Usually a belt with one row of cowries is worn by a girl and a second row added when she gives birth. A new grandmother wears three rows and great grandmother wears four on the birth of her grandchild. Sometimes if the great grandmother had passed on the fourth belt is still added on to her old belt which had been passed on to her eldest son and is kept in his lineage. This belt is hung over the neck of a goat which is later given as a special present to the husbands family. Plain leather belts are worn when a woman is pregnant for one to bless or place a curse by skipping over it when laid on the ground.

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  • Title: Belt
  • Location: Kenya
  • Rights: National Museums of Kenya
  • Medium: Cowrie shells & Leather
  • Photographer: GibsPhotography
  • Local Name: Mamusiet
  • Community: Tugen
  • Collected By: Jean Brown
National Museums of Kenya

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