Tonga baskets

Category: Traditional Products & Techniques

The Tonga women of the Southern Province of Zambia are famous for their basket weaving. Tonga baskets have a distinctive design with a square bottom forming the foundation of the basket.

It takes approximately 2 weeks to complete a basket that's about 35 cm in diameter. The baskets are made from the ilala palm (mapokwe in Tonga), which, although growing freely, is also planted by Tonga women for the purpose of basket making.
Traditionally the baskets were (and still are) used for carrying maize or sorghum from the fields and then winnowing the grain. Traditional designs includes stripes, a spider web type pattern and a lightning pattern.