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EveryParampara

Shuka

The bright wrapped cloth of East Africa, such as the Maasai red blanket and the kanga.

A pattern drawn for this page, not a picture of Shuka.

Also: kanga, kitenge

The shuka is the checked or striped cloth worn wrapped around the body by the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania, in red, blue and other colours. Along the coast of East Africa, women wear kanga, rectangular cotton cloths printed with a border and a Swahili proverb, which may be a message to a rival, a thanks or a joke. Kanga are given as gifts at weddings and births and used as wraps, baby carriers and head scarves. Kitenge, a related cloth, is cut into dresses and shirts. Each cloth is a statement, and its patterns and sayings keep changing.

Region: Sub-Saharan Africa

See also

KenteAso ebiBogolan

Find traditions that mention Shuka

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Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.