Brown hat of woven fibre with a leather rim and leather rectangular amulets around the sides, a leather circle stitched to the top and two leather tassels hanging from the back.
It is likely that this headpiece belonged to a Bamana hunter as the cloth is in the same colours as the hunters’ shirts – in a dusty yellow that enables the hunters to camouflage themselves in the Sahelian landscape and to hide from the animals. The process of dyeing the cloth uses ngalama leaves, which are mixed with water in which the cotton strips are soaked for 3-4 days to absorb the dusty yellow/ brown pigments. The leather pouches contain amulets to protect the hunter. These are likely to be inscriptions of verses from the Koran wrapped up and held in the leather pouch. Usually the wearers’ marabout (Muslim religious leader or teacher) would have prepared the amulet for the hunter to wear.
