Headrest


A wooden pillow? This may sound quite different from pillows we are used to seeing, but wooden pillows have been common in East African pastoral communities for many generations.  The reasons for using wooden pillows are twofold. First, having one’s head elevated with sleeping is an important way of keeping their hairdos from being roughed on the ground. In Pokot communities, once young men have been initiated into adult-manhood, wear painted mudpack hairstyles. These hairstyles indicate that they have become a full adult. As men age and aquire new status in their communities, they will take on different hairstyles as further indication of status. 





Resources

Resource 1

Black Panther's Costume Designer Breaks Down T'Challa's Entrance Scene- Vanity Fair

Ruth Carter breaks down the various visual traditions which she combined in the costuming of Black Panther. Drawing from cultures and ethnic groups across Africa, Carter shows have traditions of hairstyle and attire have been used to create the distinct visual culture of Wakanda. Specifically, she notes the isicholo worn by T’Challa’s mother and its importance in Zulu society.  

Resource 2

Zulu Marriage Hat- Eskenazi Museum

In many African cultures, hats represent an extension of traditional hairstyles and can signify cultural, social, and personal meanings. The form of the isicholo, or married woman’s hat, developed out of a 19th-century conical hairstyle that was worn as a sign of respect to one’s husband and his family, in addition to serving as a public symbol of married status. In the early 20th century, a removable hat like this one replaced the hairstyle.