African beaded jewellery is not just a piece of adornment; it's much more than that. Beads are integral to the traditions of many tribes across the continent.
If you live here, then you probably see African beaded jewellery and beadwork in many different forms when you visit a local market or while encountering different tribes. But have you ever wondered what these beads symbolise?
Beads vary in material (bone, glass, horn, seeds, shells, stones and fossilised materials), their significance, colour, size, and their placement on the body or clothing. All these denote and evoke different meanings in different tribes. They have also been used as a form of currency.
Trade beads can be dated as far as the 15th century, when European trading ships would travel to West Africa to draw on resources such as gold, ivory, palm oil and slaves.
The Maasai, Samburu, Turkana and Rendille tribes are highly associated with beadwork in Kenya. They can be found in Kenya’s northern Great Rift Valley. The women in these tribes wear these beaded pieces as a sign of wealth, marital status, health and to denote the number of children they have.
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Symbolism in Maasai Beadwork
For instance, if a woman’s first child is a boy, she wears many earrings. The same applies for women with several male children. Similarly, traditional wedding collars have several beaded strands hanging off them.
Women wear these pieces as a sign of beauty and wealth while men wear beaded pieces and different symbols on different parts of their bodies to mark their achievements. To girls, a crimson collar of beads is given to her by her father which indicates that a husband has already been chosen for her, but she is not yet engaged.
Here's a table summarizing the color symbolism in Maasai beadwork:
| Color | Symbolism |
|---|---|
| White | Represents the colour of milk from cows which provides nourishment. |
| Orange | Represents the colour of the gourds that store milk which is shared with guests, as well as animal skins which are laid out as beds. |
Next time you buy African inspired jewellery you’ll be well equipped to share the meaning behind the colours.
Jewelry has been a cornerstone of human culture for centuries, with each civilization leaving its unique mark on the art of adornment. When it comes to jewelry, Africa has a rich and diverse history that cannot be summed up singularly.
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Jewelry was also commonly used to convey individual status. Certain stones were reserved only for chiefs and other royal figures. Those who knew how to keep secrets used certain gemstone juxtapositions to relay coded messages.In some tribes and communities, jewelry also had practical use.
Amulets and talismans were also common among various tribes and communities for spiritual and religious purposes, many of which were believed to give positive energy to the wearer, while other pieces of jewelry blocked evil juju. Jewelry was also used to store/transport precious metals like gold.
In a traditional sense, African jewelry was worn on the neck, waist, ears, arms, legs, and toes. Jewelry was also worn in the hair and was often pierced, strapped, or sewn onto garments. Popular looks included earrings, nose rings, headdresses, headbands, clasps, corsets, anklets, and more.
Materials used for jewelry depended on what was available locally although trade systems were in place that allowed for outside influence. Nigeria provides one example, utilizing a lost method of bronze casting which was developed by the Yoruba (13th century). To this day, Southern and Eastern Africa have more open cultures in the sense that inhabitants can wear beaded accessories. However, in Yoruba culture, jewelry remains confined to rulers. Ivory Coast jewelry was created from distinct inspiration. Artisans crafted jewelry that depicted local animals. Wrought iron was used to craft Senufo bracelets that resembled sacred pythons. The Ashanti community fashioned helmets made from stiffened hides, decorated with wood adornments and often gold leaves.
Senegalese goldsmiths reached particular heights in their craft, becoming experts in gold manipulation, their creations a fusion of African and European influences. Africa contributed greatly to our rich history of jewelry and accessorizing.
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The African Leather Medallion Necklace was introduced in the late 80s and early 90s, a time in which artists like Afrika Bambaata of the Universal Zulu Nation, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Brand Nubians, were building a movement out of the creativity of a new generation of outcast youths with an authentic, liberating worldview. Knowledge of self meant understanding that all black people originated from Africa and as such, we were to embrace our culture and history with pride and dignity. A symbol of such pride was with the use of the African Medallion Leather Necklace.
The necklace was made of leather, with the shape of Africa carved out of it and typically painted red, yellow, green and black. The African Medallion Leather Necklace replaced fat diamond chains and gold rope chains as a statement to dismiss the glorification of meaningless materialism in hip hop. Today, however many are still woke and although some still believe in meaningless fantasies, the majority do not.
History Of African Beads In 1 minute
The Dark Side: Necklacing
Necklacing is a method of extrajudicial summary execution and torture carried out by forcing a rubber tire drenched with gasoline around a victim's chest and arms, and setting it on fire.
Moloko said her sister was burned to death with a tire around her neck while attending the funeral of one of the youths. Her body had been scorched by fire and some broken pieces of glass had been inserted into her vagina, Moloko told the committee.
However, according to Ball,[11] the first widely reported instance of necklacing was the killing of Thamsanqa Benjamin Kinikini from KwaNobuhle, Eastern Cape, on 23 March 1985.[12] Kinikini, a member of the local town council, was allegedly involved in corruption and violence, and had refused to resign from his position, unlike some of his colleagues. He was also accused of participating in the abduction of United Democratic Front (UDF) youths.[12] Five of his sons and nephews were killed alongside him.[12]
The incident received significant media coverage, including footage by Dutch television showing a crowd chanting and dancing around his burning body. This publicity may have contributed to the escalation of the practice in the following period. Photojournalist Kevin Carter was the first to photograph a public execution by necklacing in South Africa in the mid-1980s. He later spoke of the images: I was appalled at what they were doing. I was appalled at what I was doing. But then people started talking about those pictures ... then I felt that maybe my actions hadn't been at all bad.
Author Lynda Schuster writes: 'Necklacing' represented the worst of the excesses committed in the name of the uprising. This was a particularly gruesome form of mob justice, reserved for those thought to be government collaborators, informers and black policemen. The executioners would force a car tire over the head and around the arms of the suspect, drench it in petrol, and set it alight.
This form of lynching was used in Haiti, where it was known as Pé Lebrun, or Père Lebrun (French), after a tire advertisement showing a man with a tire around his neck. It was used prominently by mobs allied with Jean-Bertrand Aristide to assassinate political enemies. Aristide himself allegedly showed strong support for this practice, calling it a "beautiful tool" that "smells good", encouraging his Lavalas supporters to use it against wealthy people as well as members of the Lavalas party who were not as strong in their fervor.[16][17] Others argue he was actually speaking about people using the constitution to empower themselves and to defend their country against right-wing death squads. Earlier in the speech he is quoted as saying "Your tool in hand, your instrument in hand, your constitution in hand! Don't hesitate to give him what he deserves.
During the 1983 Black July riot against Sri Lankan Tamils, Sinhalese rioters used necklacing.[20] Necklacing was also widely used against Sinhalese youth by government supported paramilitary forces in the second armed insurrection (1989-1991) led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
In the early 1990s, university students in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, were plagued by burglars stealing from their dormitories. The students took matters into their own hands by capturing the alleged thieves, and then executed them by placing tyres around their necks and setting the tyres on fire.
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