Jeans Pai Nai, Spotlight on Jeans Fashion
History of Traditional Indigo Dyeing and the Origin of Indigo Dyeing
Though the process is quite arduous, it provided a rich color usually missing in synthetically dyed fabric. The basic methods of dye production are quite similar throughout the West Coast of Africa with some variation. In the present study, however, the process of indigo dyeing was investigated, since only scattered information is available on this intricate and rap idly dying art in Sierra Leone. It was important that we document what remains of the technology before it completely disappears. The investigation involved both field interviews of experienced dyers and a review of the literature on the history, methodology and chemistry of indigo production, and the methods of dyeing fabric with indigo in Sierra Leone.
ORIGIN OF INDIGO DYEING IN SIERRA LEONE
The art of tie and dye using natural dyes is believed to have been practiced
in almost every country in the world, including African countries. It is
thought that the Madingoes and the Susus who migrated from Guinea between
1820 and 1920 and settled in the North and Northwest of Sierra Leone especially
in Makeni, the capital of the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, brought
the art of “gara” 
dyeing with them. This is partly the reason
for the concentration of the trade in this part of the country.
The word “gara” is derived from the term “gareh,” which is the Kuranko (a local language) word for the leguminous plant, indigo; i.e., Indigoferra saffruticosa or Lonchocaipus cyanescens, weedy climbers growing to about 10-15 feet in height. It is from the leaves of this plant that the indigo dye is obtained and used to dye cloth. This plant is ubiquitous in Sierra Leone especially in the Northern Province. “Gara” is also used more broadly to include any cloth dyed with the natural indigo dye, other natural dyes, or even with im ported synthetic dyes. Thus, the plant and the leaves from which the native dye is obtained, the dyed cloths, and the clothes are all known as “gara.”
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