THE CLOTHING RESTORATION PROJECT

“If you look at the geography of Ouidah, it is like an island. There is water and lakes on every side,” said Nadia.

Ouidah was also a tributary state to the Oyo Empire, Yoruba’s ruling elite, and was one of the most politically and culturally important states in Western Africa from the mid-17th to the late 18th century. According toNadia, during this period Ouidah was popularly known for its indigo production and credits Yoruba women for sharing their expertise with the Anyabusi women. To emphasize this relationship,  she told us that in Ouidah, indigo is called by its Yoruba name èlú as a way to honor the Yoruba women originally from Abẹ́òkúta who were masters of indigo dyeing and taught the techniques to women in Ouidah. She also insists that using èlú instead of the word indigo is a rejection of colonialism

Further investigation on our end led to research by Stephen Hamilton tilted Alaro: Indigo and the Power of Women in Yorubaland which states:

“Some of the earliest European descriptions of Yorubaland describe extensive indigo processing practiced by female specialists. Explorer Hugh Clapperton describes the town Ijana in 1825 as having “upwards of twenty vats per house,” “women were the dyers,” and that “the indigo here is excellent and forms the most capital dye” (Lockhart and Lovejoy, 2005; Ogundiran, 2009). As we see from both archeological and eyewitness reports, indigo has a long history in southern Nigeria. Eyewitness reports in Yorubaland from almost 200 years ago attest to this craft being sophisticated, widespread, and female-dominated.”

The expertise of women indigo masters in Ouidah contributed to the high quality and desirability of indigo produced in the region. Their knowledge, skill and craftsmanship with indigo dye elevated the reputation of Ouidah as a center for indigo production.  As a result,  increased competition for trade along the West African Coast resulted in the French, English, Dutch, and Portuguese traders constructing their own forts to tap into Ouidah’s growing markets by transporting millions of masters of the craft, many of them women,  into the Americas to exploit their skills and mastery of the craft.  These enslaved Africans with expertise in Indigo production were spread throughout the Caribbean, and the North American mainland. 

By the late 1600s thousands  of enslaved Africans populated the Caribbean Islands clearing forests for the cultivation and processing of indigo for export. From 1671 to 1684, the number of indigo plantations increased from nineteen to forty in Jamaica alone. In North America, indigo was South Carolina’s second largest export, with 87,415 pounds being shipped from Charleston between November 1749 and November 1750. During the second half of the eighteenth century, indigo production expanded substantially, remaining Carolina’s second-most important export, after rice. (Knight, 2010). Today, little is remembered of the indigo masters forced into slavery in the Americas and their contribution to modern industry. 

Nadia’s vision is to correct the erasure of these indigo masters in conversations about indigo and to remind us that the tradition disappeared in West Africa largely due to the impact of the transatlantic slave trade, and the forced removal of skilled masters from their homes and communities.