The Kente Cloth

The Kente is the national cloth of Ghana in West Africa. It is hand woven and is therefore expensive and considered a treasure by those who possess it. The Kente cloth is usually woven in colors of bright yellow, green, blue, and gold with traditional symbols depicted in the designs.

Traditionally the Kente cloth is a festival cloth worn mainly during the annual and seasonal festivals, which are happy occasions. Today they are not only used for festive occasions but also during the rituals associated with the important events of life; for example, marriage, death, and religious worship. Therefore, it is quite appropriate for outsiders to wear it for religious and festive occasions.

The Kente cloth is woven in narrow strips about four inches wide and then the long strips are joined together to make the whole cloth. It is the strip, which has recently captured the imagination of the African-American community and the international community at large. We see it worn by men and women from Hollywood to the Halls of Congress.

There are four basic designs, which together, give the strip of Kente its basic checkered appearance. The four basic designs are:

1. The Adwini, the warp design it is the main and most ornamental design. (In the craft of weaving the word warp refers to the threads running lengthwise in the loom and crossed by the weft).

2. Akyem, weft design on both sides of the Adwini. (In the craft of weaving the word weft refers to the yarns carried by the shuttle back and forth across the warp).

3. Ahwepan, the plain horizontal lines at right angles to the Adwini.

4. At both ends of the strip are the Nkyeretire or Nkyereano, combinations of two or three Adwini with corresponding Akyem designs.

There are several designs and colors, but the following are considered the most beautiful and used often:

1. Sika Futuru (mixed gold), golden yellow in color.

2. Adwiniasa (The Supreme or Ultimate) incorporates all the Kente designs and colors. This is considered the richest and the most beautiful. The name actually means "The Exhaustion of all Designs."

The craft of weaving the Kente was first practiced in the Northern territories of Ghana, and was introduced into the Ashanti Empire by a weaver from the village of Bonwire. Even today the village of Bonwire is best known for its weaving of Kente cloth. According to the oral tradition, the weaver studied at the Art Center of Salaga, a center known for the weaving of the "Fuugu" cloth of Fulani origin. After several attempts to make the cloth, the Ashanti weaver used the fiber from the raffia plant, which is a palm tree. The word raffia can also be described as fiber from the leaves of the raffia plant, woven or used for tying plants. Thus what the weaver first produced looked like a basket and in the Ashanti language it was called "Kenten Toma" (Basket Cloth) from which the word Kente is derived.

Cokesbury is proud to offer a line of Kente stoles, paraments, choir robes, and clergy robes. These beautiful pieces incorporate practically all of the ecclesiastical colors. They are bright, pleasant, and a way of praising God, who made all the colors of the rainbow. God the creator of the rainbow is captured in the free translation of the following African proverb:

"It represents the richness of the Godhead, the creator, who created all things; and therefore knows all."

If you wear the Kente Stole you will always be in vogue since it is believed that no two designs are ever the same.

This commentary was written by the Reverend P. E. Adotey Addo for use by Cokesbury Bookstore in Charlotte, NC in 1994.