Jamaica · Palm-fiber weaving and hat-making
Jippa-Jappa / Jippi-Jappa
The hand-weaving of hats and baskets from cured jippa-jappa palm straw, a craft centered in Glengoffe, St. Catherine, and sustained by one of the most unusual living institutional connections in this archive: Westwood High School in Stewart Town, Trelawny — founded 1882 — is the only school in Jamaica whose students still wear a jippi-jappa hat as a distinguishing part of their uniform, with the entire supply of student hats documented as sourced from Glengoffe artisans. The craft's full preparation process — cutting, cooking with salt, and curing the raw palm before weaving — is intensive and demanding, and named contemporary practitioner Diane Sutherland has spoken publicly about the underappreciated labor behind the finished product.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not Applicable — no UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription exists for this craft at time of writing; the craft has, however, been documented by Jamaica's National Library as part of the country's intangible cultural heritage
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