Tiv dress and adornment
The black-and-white striped a'nger is now the best-known sign of Tiv identity. Traditional rulers wear robes made from it, couples marry in it, and it appears at every cultural gathering. Yet a'nger is only one of many cloths that Tiv weavers have made, and woven cloth itself came late in Tiv history.
From bark to woven cloth
In the earliest times, according to Akiga Sai's History of the Tiv (1935), men and married women wore cloth beaten from the bark of forest trees. The Tiv then learned to grow and spin cotton, to weave it on small looms into narrow strips sewn together, and to dye the thread with indigo. Cloth became a measure of wealth: five of the great white tugudu cloths were worth a cow, and before money came into use, bride price itself was paid in woven cloth. Weavers in places such as Jechira and Vandeikya still carry on the craft today.
Adornment on the body
Before cloth was common, much Tiv adornment was worn on the skin: red camwood lotion, black designs painted with the dye called maa, and the facial and body marks that once set the Tiv apart from their neighbours. These customs are recorded here as history; most of them have passed out of use.
The articles below draw on Akiga's history and on recent studies of Tiv weaving. Cloth names, patterns and customs differ from clan to clan, so if you know a cloth, a pattern or a way of dressing that is missing here, please share it through the contribution form below.