Cowhide

The best quality hides are usually presented in their natural colors, which are based on the breed of the bovine.

Among the southern African Zulu people, cowhide was employed in various ways, though it has recently been relegated to ceremonial use.

Cowhide was used to make Nguni shields and the traditional skirt called the isidwaba.

Men wore a calfskin flap, the ibeshu, to cover the buttocks, and the umutsha loin cloth was tied to the body with a cow hide belt.

The iphovela was a headdress made of cow skin, and the ishoba or umshokobezi was a tufted cowtail used as an arm or leg decoration.