Hats of the southern Sotho

HATS OF THE SOUTHERN

SOTHO

The m o d ian ye w e (pi. m edianyew e) is the conical s tra w hat ty p ic a lly connected w ith the S ou th Sotho. Today its tra d itio n a l s ym b o lism is being lost and it is w o rn by anyone and even sold to to u ris ts . But it w a s once the hat of royalty, sym b o lisin g the pow er of the B asotho natio n , and to the tra d itio n a lis t it is s till a very special hat. M o d ia n ye w e m eans "h e w h o executes ju d g e m e n t in c o u r t." It w a s the prerogative of the older men to give ju d g e m e n t in the c h ie f's court, w h ic h they did w ith great eloquence. Therefore o n ly o ld e r m en, c h ie fs and k in g s w o re

m edianyew e. They did not w ear the hat w h ile

g oing about everyday m atters, b u t o nly w hen going to co u rt or a tte n d in g im p o rta n t tra d itio n a l feasts (n a tio n a l feasts). A m an w e a rin g a

m od ian ye w e revealed h im se lf as a tru e M osotho.

It gave him fu ll self-co nfid e nce as a M o so th o m an and the belief th a t nobody could w ith s ta n d his eloquence in the debates of the court. A cco rd in g to T y r r e ll1 the n um be r of "h a n d le s " on the apex of a m o d ian ye w e are said to indicate a m a n 's status, b u t M r E dw in M o h a tla n e , guide- le cturer at the N a tio na l M u se um , has never heard a n y th in g about this.

A " tr u e " M o s o th o d isplays a m o dianyew e p ro m in e n tly in his hom e, in d ic a tin g to all w h o see it th a t he is an uph o ld er of tra d itio n and th a t he acknow ledge his p o litic a l tie s w ith his ch ie f and his bonds w ith his ancestors. It also serves to protect his hom e a ga in st danger and evil in flu e n c e s . For th e se sam e re a s o n s M r M o h a tla n e s fa th e r keeps a m o d ian ye w e on the shelf b elow the back w in d o w of his car.

Today th is hat has an honoured place on the n a tio n a l flag of Lesotho, w h ic h c o n sists of a w h ite m o d ia n ye w e on a blue backg ro u nd w ith red and w h ite strip e s on the left hand side. Lesotho postage stam ps are w a te rm a rke d w ith a repeating patte rn of m edianyew e. A design of the hat is also used to indicate Lesotho on the n u m b e r plates of cars registered in th a t co un try. The B asotho Hat c u rio shop in M aseru is in the fo rm of a m o d ia n ye w e and is the firs t obvious la n d m a rk one sees upon e n te rin g M aseru. A cco rd in g to M r M o h a tla n e the shape of th is b u ild in g sym bolises th a t here one is e n te rin g tra d itio n a l Lesotho.

The o rig in s of m o dianyew e are obscure. A s im ila rly shaped hat w a s once fo u n d am ong the Cape M alays and T yrrell states th a t it is said to have been adopted fro m them . A cco rd in g to A m b ro se 2 the oldest kn o w n records of a

m o d ia n y e w e -shaped hat in the in te rio r is

B urchell 's report of such a hat being made by the B angw aketse of B otsw ana in 1812. A m o ng the B asotho the m o d ian ye w e is as old as anyone can rem em ber. A ccording to M r M o h a tla n e it came in to use at the tim e of the fo u n d in g of the B asotho n atio n , as the hat of ro ya lty and a u n ify in g sym bol fo r the diverse peoples under M oshoeshoe, b u t nobody k n o w s a n y th in g about it before th a t tim e.

The other co m m o n type of h a tfo u n d in Lesotho is the m osetla, (pi. m esetla), a s tra w hat w ith a brim . It has no special sig n ifica n ce . It m ay be loosely w oven w ith holes, to serve as a su n -h a t, or tig h tly w oven as a ra in -h a t. M r M o h a tla n e w as a d a m a n t th a t the co n ica l bat (m odianyew e) is not a ra in -h a t as some a u th o rs m a in ta in . The

m osetla is w o rn by all ages and both sexes, but

M r M o h a tla n e says th a t he has never seen it w o rn by a young w o m a n . O lder w o m e n m ay w ear hats, but young w o m e n tra d itio n a lly go bareheaded to s h o w o ff th e ir fora-m a ng e tse , th a t is the b e a u tifu l designs in to w h ic h th e ir h a ir is plaited. T ra d itio n a lly sekema (w h ite clay) or

letsoku (red ochre) w a s used on the h a ir w h e n

m aking these designs, g ivin g the h a ir a c h a ra c te ris tic w h ite or red colour.

This h a t is co m m o n ly k n o w n as MOSETLA, b u t it is more precisely the w id e r b rim m e d MOKOROTLO.

The m o k o ro tlo (pi. m e ko ro tlo ) is s im ila r to the

m osetla, o n ly fla tte r and w ith a w id e r b rim . The

te rm tsetse is used fo r the b rim of a hat, w h ile

ka tiba (pi. d ika tib a ) sim p ly m eans a hat. The k u w a n a (pi. d ik u w a n e ) is a b onnet-type hat made

from the skin of a w ild cat, and is n o rm a lly o nly w o rn by the youn g er men. The kgaebane (pi.

dikgaebane) is s im ila r to the ku w a n e , but

so m e w ha t larger. It is w o rn by any m an, but m o stly by older men. To s h o w respect to ano the r m an, a m an d o ffs his kgaebane, and if the o ther m an is of h ig he r statu s, he keeps it o ff in his presence. A cco rd in g to M r M o h a tla n e , s tra w hats can be made by anyone, m ale or fem ale, w h o has the necessary skill. V a rio u s grasses, such as teele (w h ic h is also used fo r large g ra n a ry baskets), kg ah la and lethepu can be used, but the m ost co m m o n is lo d i (Cyperus

m a rfin a tu s). M oseha grass is used to s titc h or

bind the lo d i w h ic h u su a lly fo rm s th e fra m e w o rk .

This h a t is co m m o n ly k n o w n as MOSETLA, b u t it is more precisely the wider b rim m e d MOKOROTLO.

A u th o r's note: The scanty references in the lite ra tu re to B asotho hats are both c o n fu s in g and c o n tr a d ic to r y , e s p e c ia lly w it h re g a rd to te rm in o lo g y. Therefore th is a rticle is based a lm o st e n tire ly on in fo rm a tio n provided by M r E d w in M o h a tla n e w h o g re w up a m o n g tra d itio n a lis ts and w a s very c ritic a l of the data in the available lite ra tu re . ©

REFERENCES

1 TYRRELL, B 1 9 6 8 Tribal Peoples o f S o u th e rn A fric a . Cape Town (Books of Africa).

2 AMBROSE, D. The G uide to Lesotho, 2nd ed , Johannesburg and Maseru (Winchester Press).