Amina Isamil Sherif and Basket Making in Harer  Harer is a Muslim city in eastern Ethiopia. Local tradition maintains that it has been in existence for 1,000 years; historical evidence indicates that it has been a major urban center since the mid-sixteenth century. The Hareri are a small ethnic group, numbering no more than 30,000.[1]  Today, due to various social and historical circumstances many Hareri have moved to other parts of Ethiopia and abroad. There are only 8,000 still living in Harer The largest Hareri community is found in the country's capital, Addis Ababa.[2] Many Hareri have emigrated to other countries, especially the United States, Canada, and Australia. This situation has had an impact on many Hareri traditions, including basket making.
Baskets play a number of important roles in Hareri society serving as symbols of social identity for women and the economic and social status of the family. The production and use of baskets are the domain of women. Some mothers still teach their daughters how to weave baskets, but today most Hareri girls are not practicing the tradition. Formerly, girls spent a good part of the day weaving baskets at the moy gar (craft house). Hareri baskets are made using an oversewn coil technique. There are a variety of basket types, each serving a specific function, and a range of decorative patterns, each having a name and meaning. Hareri tradition still demands that a certain number and variety of baskets be prepared before marriage. |
There, a group of friends of roughly the same age and living in the same neighborhood got together, usually at the home of one of its members, to weave baskets and exchange information. Today, Hareri girls like Amina's daughter, Munira, acquire a fuller religious and secular education than their mothers and grandmothers, but the demands of such an education have led to the gradual disappearance of the moy gar.
Special attention is given to the "outside" of the basket, while the "inside" is left roughly finished. These luxurious baskets may serve a utilitarian function as a container or as a cover, but their most important purpose is as display pieces. Most are designed to hang on the walls of the gidir gar, the "grand room" (living room) found in all traditional Hareri homes. The various types of baskets are arranged in specific locations, often in pairs. The proper placement of baskets is important-a woman and her family may be shamed if the arrangement does not follow the accepted rules.
A new wife still must produce a special basket for her mother-in-law within the first year after marriage. However, signs of change are apparent. Some basket-types are getting smaller and fewer baskets are required for the dowry. While the tradition of displaying baskets in the home is still strong, the aesthetic associated with it has changed over the last 40 or 50 years. Enamelware pans, locally referred to as "Japan" (imported from China and India and now manufactured in Ethiopia) are replacing baskets in many homes. Despite these changes and pressures on the tradition, basket making is still a vital part of Hareri culture. Amina related a anecdote about a young woman whose marriage recently had been annulled because she did not bring the proper set of baskets to the marriage. Amina has many commissions for baskets that keep her very busy.