Hammocks woven from bundles of twisted raffia cord. The bundles are laid flat and held in place with bands of three, four or eight pairs of interlaced weft cords, each pair interlaced with two warp cords. In these hammocks, these bands of weft cords are woven at intervals of varying lengths, here seven to 16 inches apart.

The bundles of the warp cords are alternately either natural in color, or dyed with brown or red dyes extracted from various native plants, including from nut husks, tree bark and leaves.

The bundles pass through holes drilled into gently curved wooden yokes at each end. The ends of the bundles then loop back, and the incoming bundles are braided with the outgoing bundles. They pass back through the yokes, forming loops outside of the yokes at each end. Ropes or quenqis pass through all of the end loops. If quenqis are used, they enter the end loops from opposing directions, with grass knots at each end to hold them tightly in place. Whether ropes or quenqis are used, they create a single outer loop that can be affixed to ropes or hooks so the hammock can be hung or carried.

In the photos above, the top hammock uses quenqis, while the bottom hammock uses ropes. Additional quenqis are shown at the bottom of this page.

Chieftans and persons of high status were often carried in these hammocks as a principle mode of transportation. Barbara Johnson, in Four Dan Sculptors, related that Ldamie, the master brass caster of the Dan, became so rich and famous in his later years, that he was carried in hammocks, and "never had to walk again."

Images of high status men being carried in hammocks are included among Ldamie's brass castings.

For comparison, below is a hangmat (hammock) in the collection of the Stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Notice the quenqis at the ends of the hammock.