Baskets

The beginning of the weaving process

Hello everyone!

My name is Brianna , or ka Setswana, “Lorato.” I live in a village called Etsha 13 in northern Botswana, near the Okavango Delta. The Etsha villages (there are 13 of them in succession) produce some of the most beautiful baskets and woven crafts in Botswana.

                                                         The Basket Weavers

Palm fronds dyed and ready to use

The Etsha villages were originally settlements for Angolan refugees in the 1970s and they brought their weaving style and expertise with them. The majority of the basket weavers are women, who have learned to weave thanks to their mothers and grandmothers and are continuing the tradition by teaching their daughters. These days, many women in this region practice the art of weaving baskets for daily use, decorative purposes, and as a source of income.









How the Baskets are Made

My friend Katenya standing with one her beautiful baskets

Women harvest dried palm fronds from young palm trees, often traveling into the Delta risking encounters with dangerous snakes, elephants, and other wildlife to collect the materials. They dye the palm fronds using roots of other plants, creating bright oranges, purples, gold, and black materials. Once the materials are collected, the fronds are soaked in water with the roots until they are pliable. Then, the fronds are woven into tights rounds using a large needle. The core is made first, and the design goes over it. A small, open basket can take as little as a week, but large, complicated, or closed baskets will require months to weave.

Basket Styles
There are a few different types of baskets woven by women in Ngamiland. Flat baskets were traditionally used to sift grain products, while round, open baskets were more commonly used to carry things. Closed baskets were used for storage purposes. The patterns used in the baskets are often inspired by those found in nature. Patterns like “forehead of the zebra,” “guinea fowl,” and “running ostrich” are my favorites.

Closed Baskets

Open baskets- patterns include forehead of the zebra, running ostrich,
and ribs of the giraffe