Aṣọ Òkè Weaving

Aṣọ Òkè na high-class traditional handwoven cloth wey Yorùbá people for southwestern Nigeria dey make. Na men weavers mostly dey weave am on top horizontal narrow-strip loom wey get double heddle. The cloth na long, narrow strip-dem wey dem dey cut and join edge-to-edge sew together take make clothes for special occasion and ceremony. E dey serve as very important way to show big man level, family wealth, spiritual or ritual rank, and fine style for all major life event-dem inside Yorùbá society.

The word aṣọ òkè direct meaning na "top cloth" or "cloth from hinterland," wey historically dey separate the strip-woven cloth from northern and inland Yorùbá weaving centers from goods wey dem import from coast or normal plain cloth wey dem weave for house 12. The work get proper organized technical system, special local raw materials like wild silk and natural indigo dye, and long line of socio-economic family history. This document give complete reference on how dem dey produce am, the three classic main categories of the cloth, known weavers and historical gaps, major museum collections, archaeological and historical argument about where the technology start from, and where matter about returning stolen textiles reach today.

Morphology, Etymology, and Terminological Framework

To properly understand the technical and cultural level of Yorùbá weaving, person must understand the exact local terms well:

• Aṣọ Òkè: E come from aṣọ (cloth, textile) and òkè (hill, upcountry, hinterland, or top). By structure, the name dey talk about the place where the cloth come from for inland city-dem like Iṣẹyin, Ọ̀yọ́, and Ìlọrin when you compare am to the southern coastal areas, and e still mean say na the highest quality and respect cloth inside Yorùbá traditional dressing 24.
• Ọfị: The horizontal, double-heddle narrow-strip loom wey get foot pedal wey men traditionally dey operate 12. The term fit mean the weaving machine itself and e fit still mean the work of weaving narrow strips.
• Kíjìpá: Thick, heavy plain-woven cotton cloth wey women traditionally dey weave on top vertical upright frame loom wey get single heddle 13. Even though e different from narrow-strip aṣọ òkè, kíjìpá na the other home weaving system wey join complete weaving tradition inside historical Yorùbá communities.
• Sányán (or Sànyán): The number one category among the three classic prestige cloth-dem. Na from natural, unbleached silk wey dem harvest from the cocoons of Anaphe caterpillar (Anaphe infracta) dem take dey make am, and e get light brown, khaki, or beige colour 14.
• Àlàárì (or Aláàárì): The second foundational prestige category, wey get bright crimson, magenta, or deep red colour. Historically, the word come from alharini, wey dey refer to imported magenta waste-silk thread wey pass trans-Saharan trade routes come 148.
• Ẹtù: The third foundational category, wey dem dye inside deep natural indigo dye pot with fine white or light-blue checks for both warp and weft. Dem name am directly after the spotted feathers of crested guinea fowl (ẹtu), because the pattern of the cloth look exactly like the bird feather 12.

Loom Technology and Technical Production

How dem dey produce Yorùbá cloth follow clear technical rules wey involve special loom mechanics, work division between men and women, and how dem dey join the cloth together.

       [Drag Weight / Sled (Warp Tension)]
                       |
                       |  (Unwoven Warp Yarns)
                       v
         [Double-Heddle System (Ọfị)]
           |                      |
      (Heddle 1)             (Heddle 2)  <-- Operated by Foot Treadles
           \                      /
            \                    /
             v                  v
               [Reed / Beater]  <-- Clears the Shed & Packs the Weft
                      |
                      v
          [Woven Web: 10–15 cm Strip]
                      |
                      v
             [Cloth Roller / Beam]

The Horizontal Narrow-Strip Loom (Ọfị)

Na almost only men dey operate the horizontal narrow-strip loom 12. E be fast, portable foot-pedal machine wey dem design to weave continuous narrow strips of cloth wey wide reach between 10 and 15 centimeters (about 4 to 6 inches) 1.

The main parts of the ọfị include:

1. The Warp Layout and Tension System: The warp threads dey stretch several meters forward from where the weaver sit down, spread out for open workspace or corridor along the street. The tightness no dey hold by fixed frame, but na heavy drag-weight like stone, wooden sled, or box wey heavy, wey dem put for the far end of the warp 12. As weaving dey go on and dem dey roll the cloth enter the roller beam for front of the weaver, the drag-weight go dey drag slowly on top ground dey come towards the loom.
2. The Heddle Mechanism: The loom dey use two connected heddles wey hang from pulley or rocking lever for up. The weaver dey switch the thread opening (shed) by using wooden foot pedals or cords wey dey between their toes 1. The double-heddle setup dey make am easy to quickly change the shed with steady rhythm, wey dey allow the weaver throw shuttle very fast.
3. The Reed (Beater): One separate comb-like reed wey dem make from cane or small wood strips dey hang, and the weaver dey pull am sharp-sharp every time after the boat shuttle pass, to tighten the weft well-well against the edge of the woven cloth 12.

The Vertical Broad Loom

Differently from the horizontal loom wey men dey use, Yorùbá women traditionally dey use upright frame loom wey dey stay one place, with single heddle, inside compound 12. This loom dey use vertical warp thread wey dey run straight round two horizontal beams, to produce broad, single cloth (kíjìpá) wey wide reach 30 to 60 centimeter 13. Dem dey form the space between the threads (shed) with one single shed-stick and continuous string heddle rod, wey dem dey operate with hand without foot pedal. Work for vertical broad loom dey slow well well pass the horizontal narrow-strip loom, and e dey produce thick, heavy cloth wey dem historically dey use for everyday wrapper for house, work clothes, and special wrappers for ancestral or healing rituals 3.

Structural Assembly and Tailoring

Dem no dey ever wear Aṣọ Òkè narrow strips as single band. Once long strip wey reach the length wey dem want complete, dem go remove am from the loom, measure am, and cut am into equal segments 14. Professional tailors go arrange these segments side by side and use hand stitch dem edge-to-edge to form big, wide sheet of cloth 1.

Dem dey sew these stitched cloth into the main traditional clothes for Yorùbá ceremony:

• Agbádá: Big four-piece flowing gown wey men dey wear, wey get wide sleeves wey dey gather for shoulder and fine chain-stitch embroidery round the neck and chest 14.
• Ìró: Big, rectangular wrapper wey women dey tie well around their waist or chest 13.
• Bùbá: Loose-fitting top or blouse wey get round neck with long or three-quarter sleeves, wey both men and women dey wear 14.
• Gèlè: Prestige strip of aṣọ òkè wey dem no sew or wey get small stitch, wey women dey wrap and style round their head into fine, architectural head-tie 14.
• Fìlà: Soft cap wey get pleats or fold wey men dey wear, wey dem design to match the agbádá 4.
• Ìpèlé (or Ìbòlẹ̀): Narrow prestige sash wey women dey fold put for shoulder or wrap across the waist on top the ìró 34.

The Three Foundational Prestige Varieties

Scholars wey dey study Yorùbá textile recognize three classical types of aṣọ òkè, wey establish standard for high prestige in terms of look and material 124.

Classic Triad of Aṣọ Òkè:
├── Sányán:  Anaphe Wild Silk | Natural Beige / Pale Brown | White Warp Stripe
├── Àlàárì:  Imported Silk / Waste Silk | Deep Crimson / Magenta | Trans-Saharan Origin
└── Ẹtù:     Natural Indigo-Dyed Cotton | Mottled Blue & White | Checked / Speckled

1. Sányán

Sányán na cloth wey everybody for the tradition recognize as the most respected and high-ranking type of aṣọ òkè 14. The main feature wey define the material na the use of wild silk wey dem spin from the group cocoons of the Anaphe caterpillar (Anaphe infracta), one insect wey dey naturally for the savanna and forest border areas of southwestern Nigeria 1.

Anaphe silk different well well from cultivated mulberry silk (Bombyx mori). E get irregular fiber wey slightly coarse, with muted earthy shine wey the color dey range from pale ecru and beige to warm golden-brown 14. To process Anaphe silk, dem must boil the group cocoons inside alkaline water with wood ash to break down the sericin gum, before dem use hand tease am and spin am with drop spindle 1. Because this harvesting and spinning process dey take plenty labor, weavers historically dey weave sányán with white handspun cotton stripe wey dey run along the center of the warp, to make the silk strong and create fine contrast 14. Dem dey reserve sányán clothes for the most important life-cycle events, including high-status funerals, coronation of traditional rulers, and weddings.

2. Àlàárì

Àlàárì dey known for im deep crimson, scarlet, or magenta color 12. Historically, dem no get this rich magenta color from local plant dyes or domestic silk farming, but from unraveled waste silk, wey dem call alharini, wey dem trade cross the Sahara desert from North Africa and the Mediterranean basin 48.

Because imported silk na very expensive luxury item that time, to get and display complete àlàárì attire na clear proof say person get big trading connections and family wealth 4. Dem weave the bright magenta threads carefully into narrow strips, frequently adding supplementary warp floats, openwork patterns, and thin vertical pin-stripes of white or yellow cotton 14. As trans-Saharan trade caravans reduce for late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, weavers replace historical alharini silk with imported machine-spun, chemically dyed magenta cotton, rayon yarns, and industrial synthetic fibers, while dem still keep the original name and look of àlàárì 34.

3. Ẹtù

Ẹtù na indigo-dyed cotton textile wey get fine geometric pattern of thin white and light-blue warp stripes wey cross identical weft stripes, to produce fine speckled grid 12. The name clearly link the cloth to the feathers of the crested guinea fowl (Numida meleagris, Yorùbá: ẹtu), wey get speckled, dark-indigo feathers wey match how the woven cloth look 1.

To get the deep, near-black blue background of authentic ẹtù, dem must soak the cloth many times inside traditional fermented indigo vats (ẹlu) wey specialized women dyers dey manage 1. The white grid lines, wey dem weave from un-dyed handspun cotton, dey remain sharp against the deep blue background. Ẹtù get strong connection with ancestors and traditional law; elders, senior chiefs, and members of traditional governing bodies like am well well, and dem often wear am plain or with simple, quiet embroidery 34.

Mid-Twentieth Century and Modern Innovations

From the middle of the twentieth century, the different styles and ways wey people dey make aṣọ òkè increase well well through technical experiments and as people begin dey use new factory materials wey just dey available 34:

• Lurex (Metallic Thread): From the 1960s go front, weavers begin mix metallic, shining Lurex thread inside both the warp and weft, and this one bring out styles wey dey shine well well wey people dey call ṣiñgíñlú or metallic aṣọ òkè 34.
• Perfore (Openwork / Lace Weaving): Weavers bring out special openwork technique wey dem take purposely separate, group, and pierce warp threads with special wooden needle or bone tools when dem dey weave, to create holes and designs wey arrange well wey resemble factory lace 34.
• Synthetic Yarns and Rayon (Siliki): As cheap rayon and polyester thread wey dem already dye come plenty everywhere, e make am possible to produce different-different bright modern color combinations wey pass the normal classic triad styles 34.

Meaning, Social Function, and Ritual Use

For Yorùbá cosmology and social practice, cloth no be just something to cover body; e be active agent for social personhood, connection with ancestors, and spiritual power 3. As the Yorùbá philosophical proverb talk, Eniyan l'aṣọ mi ("People na my cloth"), wey dey show say social relationships, family support, and respect from community dey inside the cloth wey person wear show for public 3.

Social & Ritual Functions of Aṣọ Òkè:
├── Lineage Solidarity:       Aṣọ-Ẹbí (Uniform family cloth at major rites)
├── Ancestral Mediation:     Wraps for burials, masquerades, and elderly rites
├── Status & Political Power: Regalia for royal courts, installations, and chiefs
└── Economic Store of Value: Inheritable lineage capital and wealth display

Lineage Solidarity and Aṣọ-Ẹbí

One major way wey dem dey use aṣọ òkè for society na through the tradition of aṣọ-ẹbí (wey mean "cloth of the family or lineage") 34. For big life-cycle ceremonies, especially wedding, special landmark birthday, and burial, the host family dey choose particular pattern, color, and weave of aṣọ òkè. Relatives, friends, and different social groups go buy and sew the exact same cloth to attend the celebration 3.

The way everybody dey wear the same aṣọ-ẹbí dey serve several socio-political functions:

1. E dey clearly show family boundary and social alliance among all the people wey gather.
2. E dey work like economic way to reduce the money wey dem spend on ceremony, because the extra gain from the cloth sale dey directly help the host family.
3. E dey show collective solidarity and ancestral power (ọ̀j̀ọ̀) for public space 34.

Ancestral and Mortuary Practices

Aṣọ Òkè, especially the classical types like sányán and ẹtù, get very important role for burial rites and ancestral worship 3. When an elderly, highly respected member of family die, dem dey wrap the dead body with plenty layers of handwoven prestige cloth before burial. The quality, amount, and history behind the cloth wey dem take dress the dead body dey show the respect and financial strength of the children wey remain 3.

The ethnographic work wey Elisha P. Renne do on Bùnú Yorùbá weaving show say people explicitly see handwoven cloth as "cloth wey no dey die" (aṣọ ti kì í kú), wey get long-lasting physical and spiritual connection wey join living children to ancestors wey don die 3. The remaining ancestral cloth wey dem keep for family box, dem dey bring dem out from time to time, check dem, and pass dem down as family inheritance 3.

Aesthetic Criteria and the Authenticity Debate

The way Yorùbá customers, collectors, and master weavers dey judge aṣọ òkè dey follow specific aesthetic rules 14:

• Ìbáradé (Alignment and Rhythm): When dem cut narrow strips and sew dem together with hand, the warp stripes, weft-faced patterns, and openwork holes must line up across the cloth with correct mathematical accuracy. Any small shift or mistake wey dey visible for the lines, dem dey judge am as bad work 4.
• Dídán (Luster and Smoothness): The surface of the cloth, especially for silk and fine cotton weaves, suppose smooth and tight. For olden days, dem dey usually put the cloth on top smooth wooden log and beat am with heavy wooden stick to pack the fibers together and make am shine well well 14.
• Tíki (Density and Weight): Narrow strip wey dem weave well must balance weight and density with soft movement. E must tight reach say e no go sag or tear for where dem join am when dem sew am, but e still suppose soft enough to drop smoothly when dem sew am into flowing agbádá or fold am into strong gèlè 14.

The Scholarly Debate: Authenticity versus Dynamic Innovation

One major academic debate for African textile studies dey focus on the aesthetic status of the new things wey dem start to do for aṣọ òkè around the middle of the twentieth century 34.

• The Traditionalist / Decline Model: Pipo wey observe things during early colonial time, ethnographers, and conservative connoisseurs frequently argue say as industrial synthetic thread, Lurex, rayon, and chemical aniline dye enter, authentic Yorùbá material culture start to decline. For inside this framework, as weavers comot hand from Anaphe wild silk wey dey take plenty labor and natural indigo vats, dem frame am say the craft don lose purity and culture don spoil 3.
• The Dynamic Continuity Model: To counter this decline narrative, scholars like Elisha P. Renne and Duncan Clarke argue say as weavers dey add modern and imported materials, e dey show the vitality and adaptive continuity of Yorùbá artistic practice 34. From history, Yorùbá weavers and customers don always welcome new luxury trade goods wey dey available, like trans-Saharan magenta silk for eighteenth century, to show level and prestige. The way dem strategically use Lurex, perforated openwork, and bright synthetic colors dey show ongoing aesthetic negotiation with modernity and global trade, no be cultural dilution 34.

Production Centers, Lineages, and Named Makers

For history, aṣọ òkè production concentrate mostly inside major city weaving centers across northern and central Yorùbaland, wey get support from strong farming communities, solid indigo dyeing business, and wide regional trade connections 24.

Historical Regional Weaving Centers:
├── Iṣẹyin:  Premier production hub; lineage-based narrow-strip guilds (ọfị)
├── Ọ̀yọ́:    Royal court patronage; classical Sányán and Ẹtù production
├── Ìlọrin:  Northern frontier; synthesis of Yorùbá, Nupe, & Hausa techniques
└── Òṣogbo:  Center for natural indigo dyeing vats (ẹlu) and textile trade

Major Historic Production Centers

• Iṣẹyin: Pipo widely recognize am as the main historical center of narrow-strip weaving for southwestern Nigeria 247. Weaving for Iṣẹyin mix deep-deep into the city socio-economic life, wey dem organize through lineage compounds where male family members dey learn the work as apprentice from childhood 47.
• Ọ̀yọ́: Because e tie closely to the historical palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, weavers for Oyo specialize in high-prestige sányán and complex openwork cloth wey dem design for royal and aristocratic regalia 12.
• Ìlọrin: As e dey for the language and boundary border between the Yorùbá world and northern kingdoms, Ìlọrin serve as massive commercial and textile center, famous for producing strips with complex supplementary-weft and float patterns wey combine Yorùbá, Nupe, and Hausa design vocabularies 248.
• Òṣogbo: Famous mainly for its plenty natural indigo vats, Òṣogbo supply dyed cotton yarns to weavers all through the region, and still maintain its own active strip-weaving compounds 12.

Lineage Organization and Historical Silences

For history, narrow-strip weaving dey organized within patrilineal family compounds and guild-like associations, no be solo artist dey practice am 47. Weaving knowledge, loom construction techniques, and trade secrets pass down patrilineally from father to son.

Because of this one, majority of historical aṣọ òkè cloth for inside museum collections no get individual makers credited to dem. Colonial collectors, anthropologists, and colonial trading officers routinely buy textiles from open-air markets or through trade middle-men, and catalogue the specimens under generic town or regional labels (like "Oyo," "Iseyin," "Yoruba") while ignoring the names of the master weavers and tailors wey make dem 124.

Documented Masters and Contemporary Practitioners

Late twentieth-century ethnographic research start to document individual master weavers and workshop leaders systematically:

• Alhaji Raimi Akande of Iṣẹyin: As documented for the field research of Duncan Clarke (1998), Akande work as prominent master weaver and workshop head for Iṣẹyin, dey direct multiple looms, train apprentices, and drive structural design innovations for openwork and motif layout 4.
• Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye: An internationally acclaimed Yorùbá textile artist and founder of Nike Art Centres, Davies-Okundaye play major institutional role to train modern generations of weavers, revive historical natural indigo dye vats, and carry aṣọ òkè and àdìrẹ enter global gallery spaces.
• Tunde Owolabi: A contemporary Nigerian artist and designer wey his studio work dey reinterpret traditional aṣọ òkè weaving as fine-art installations, documenting historical patterns of Iṣẹyin while exhibiting handwoven cloth inside international fine art contexts.

Chronology, Origins, and Historiographical Debates

To establish rigid archaeological chronology for how aṣọ òkè take emerge hard well-well because of West Africa climate and soil conditions, wey dey quick spoil plant and animal fibers 16.

Chronological & Archaeological Context:
├── 9th–13th c. CE:   Archaeological textiles at Igbo-Ukwu & Benin (Evidence of regional weaving)
├── 11th–13th c. CE:  Tellem Cave textiles, Bandiagara Cliff, Mali (Earliest narrow-strip finds)
├── 15th–16th c. CE:  Established narrow-strip weaving in Yorubaland (Oral history & European records)
└── 19th c. CE onward: Dominant representation of Yoruba textiles in global museum collections

Archaeological Context and Comparative Dating

The earliest direct physical evidence of narrow-strip weaving for West Africa come from the dry microclimates of Bandiagara Cliff caves for Mali, where Rita Bolland catalogued extensive fragments of strip-woven cotton and wool textiles wey relate to Tellem culture, wey dem securely date between eleventh and thirteenth centuries CE 6.

For southern Nigeria, direct archaeological cloth remains from places like Igbo-Ukwu (wey date back to around the ninth century CE) and Kingdom of Benin confirm say high-level cloth making don dey the region for over one thousand years, even though say these early archaeological pieces show broad-loom or non-narrow-strip technology instead of the documented ọfị strips 12.

As dem use oral traditions, family history, and early European coastal travel records, Venice Lamb and Judy Holmes date the continuous weaving of established Yorùbá narrow-band traditions to at least the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries CE 2. Most of the historical samples wey still remain wey dey inside museum collections date from mid-to-late nineteenth century go front 125.

The Scholarly Debate on Where Loom Start and How E Spread

One major debate for African art history dey touch on how the horizontal double-heddle loom take enter and develop historically for southwestern Nigeria 12478.

• The Northern / Mande Diffusion Thesis: Scholars like C. B. Dodwell (1955), together with comparative analysis from Lamb and Holmes (1980), argue say people no invent the double-heddle narrow loom by demsef for Guinea forest belt. Instead, dem talk say the technology start among Mande-speaking peoples of Western Sudan and spread go south through trade routes, enter northern Yorùbá centers through Nupe and Borgu kingdoms 27. This argument depend well-well on how West African narrow looms resemble each other for structure and how trade materials like unraveled alharini magenta silk take move cross Sahara 8.
• The Autonomous / Polycentric Adaptation Thesis: On the other hand, scholars like John Picton and Duncan Clarke emphasize say as narrow weaving enter deep inside Yorùbá rituals, worldview, language, and the use of local plants, e show say na deep local development 14. Even though dem agree say centuries of regional trade and exchange happen between ethnic groups like Nupe and Hausa workshops inside Sokoto Caliphate area 48, this position maintain say the specific technological and structural design of the Yorùbá ọfị loom, the special tensioning system wey e get, and the special wild-silk industry (sányán) show say na independent regional development, no be say dem just copy technology from elsewhere 14.

Museum Collections and Dem History

Plenty historical nineteenth- and twentieth-century aṣọ òkè dey under the care of big international ethnographic and art museums 15.

Major International Museum Collections:
├── The British Museum (London):        Charles A. Beving Collection (1934); 19th/20th-c. textiles
├── Smithsonian NMAfA / NMNH:           Venice and Alastair Lamb Collection (>1,500 West African textiles)
├── Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM):      Historic wrappers, agbádá robes (Aso Oke Exhibition 2023–2024)
└── Royal Ontario Museum (ROM, Toronto): Global Fashion and Textiles department holdings

• The British Museum (London): Get plenty classic Yorùbá narrow-strip cloths, including early sányán, àlàárì, and ẹtù prestige cloths. Big part of these materials enter the museum through donations from colonial period and commercial archives, especially the Charles A. Beving Collection wey dem acquire for 1934, wey get complete samples of West African textiles and trade cloths 1.
• Smithsonian National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) & National Museum of Natural History (Washington, D.C.): Two of dem together hold pass 1,500 West African textiles from the Venice and Alastair Lamb Collection, wey dem collect through decades of field research across Nigeria, Ghana, and Mali. Peggy Stoltz Gilfoy document this collection for her catalogue Patterns of Life (1987), and e dey among the most properly organized reference archives for Yorùbá strip-weaving for North America 5.
• Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM): Dey take care of important collection of nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century aṣọ òkè complete sets, wrappers, and well-embroidered agbádá robes. The museum showcase these items for their special exhibition wey dem call Aso Oke: Prestige Cloth from Nigeria (2023–2024).
• Royal Ontario Museum (ROM, Toronto): Dey keep important historical Yorùbá strip-woven prestige wrappers, tailored robes, and head-ties for inside their Global Fashion and Textiles department.

Gaps for Provenance and the Restitution Matter

The institutional history of African textile collections get big gaps on top where the items come from (provenance) and questions about the ethics of how colonial masters take collect dem 149.

Provenance & Restitution Overview:
├── Historical Anonymity:    Absence of weaver names; colonial records list only towns or white donors
├── Market-Based Acquisition: Collected via commercial middlemen, colonial officers, and expeditions
└── Restitution Status:      No formal Nigerian state claims for textiles (focus remains on Benin Bronzes),
                             yet emerging provenance ethics increasingly question colonial textile archives

The Problem of Provenance: Commercial Middlemen and How Information Take Lost

Unlike palace regalia or wood carvings wey soldiers sometimes carry by force during documented military attacks (like the 1897 British invasion of Benin), historical aṣọ òkè textiles enter Western museum collections mainly through government administrative networks, missionary donations, colonial exhibitions, and commercial trade agents 145.

Bikọs European collector dem bin dey look textile dem primarily as ethnographic specimen or trade sample instead of authored work of fine art, institutional register dem systematically record only di name of di European donor, di geographical region, or di town wey dem buy am 15. Di historical record almost quiet totally about di identity of di master weaver dem, apprentice guild dem, specialized dyer dem, and patron dem wey dey involved for creating dis textile dem. Dis structural anonymity dey present ongoing challenge dem for provenance researcher dem wey dey try reconstruct artist workshop dem and compound lineage dem 4.

Restitution and Contemporary Ethics

For di international discourse wey dey surround di restitution of African cultural heritage, wey di 2018 report by Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy push forward, formal state-level claim dem wey Nigeria submit bin focus mainly on looted royal palace treasure dem, especially di Benin Bronzes and sacred religious sculpture dem 9. Till today, di historical record show say no formal, state-level restitution petition dey wey specifically demand di repatriation of aṣọ òkè textile collection dem from European or North American institution dem 9.

Even so, modern textile scholar dem and African museum curator dem dey argue say ethnographic textile collection dem still fall inside wider ethical framework of provenance reappraisal 9. Dem acquire many historical textile under force for colonial market condition or without di clear consent of lineage elder dem wey hold di cloth dem as ancestral property wey person no fit transfer. As a result, modern provenance initiative dem dey put eye well well on digital repatriation, collaborative cataloguing with source community dem for Iṣẹyin, Oyo, and Osogbo, and di ethical re-evaluation of institutional acquisition history dem 49.