Cowrie shells, small, glossed, porcelain-like shells typically light beige, hold significant spiritual and monetary value in traditional African culture. These shells, with their gentle oval structure and a ventral aperture that splits the shell in half, are more than just a fashion statement. This article delves into the history of the cowrie shell in Africa, exploring its cultural importance and modern-day appeal.
Cowries (Cypraeidae), a taxonomic family of sea snails, live throughout the world. However, the species with the most relevance to the 1700s reside in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly in the waters around the Maldives. They include Monetaria annulus (alt. Cypraea annulus, Annulus Linnaeus) and Monetaria moneta.
Monetaria moneta
History of the Cowrie Shell in Africa
Cowrie shells were traded for goods and services throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania, and used as money as early as the 14th century on Africa’s western coast. These durable and lightweight shells served as excellent currency due to their portability and the difficulty in counterfeiting them. They appeared in standard weights, making them ideal for trade.
Centuries before the 1700s, West Africa thrived as a region of independent kingdoms and tribes. With these groups engaged in trade, they required a shared currency that served as a medium of exchange and a store of value. In choosing cowries as currency in the fourteenth century, West Africa continued a long history of groups throughout the world using shell money. Through pre-existing trade routes to the Indo-Pacific, West Africans could easily import the shells via other parts of Africa and had them transported across the Sahara. Once in West Africa, the shells served as the basis of the region’s economies.
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''Whoever is patient with a cowrie shell will one day have thousands of them'' - Hausa Proverb
Drawing on the Book “ The Shell Money of the Slave Trade,” cowries were recognized as an important means of payment and a symbol of wealth/power by native Africans up until the 20th century. In fact, they’re believed to be the first pan-regional currency in West Africa. Chinua Achebe, a widely celebrated Nigerian novelist, references the monetary value of cowries in his Award-winning book Things Fall Apart (1958) as a testament to their deep roots in African culture.
Cowrie shells were more than money. They also represented power in trade. Europeans in the 16th century were able to use cowries to enter the valuable African trade markets, where they used shells to buy goods, including people. In his memoir, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745-1797), a famed writer and abolitionist, recalled how one enslaver sold him to another for 172 “little white shells” while still in Africa.
Fun fact: The Ghanaian word “cedi” is Fanti language translation of “cowries”-and it also happens to be the name of the country’s unit of currency.
Shell money aside, cowrie shells were also seen as a symbol of fertility and prosperity. An article published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal notes that the “particular qualities of the shell imbued it with culturally specific value. It is suggested that cowries, as part of divination sets, were active in divination because of their white colour and their origin in the (maritime) ancestral realm that anchored divination in notions of ancestry, fertility and healing.” In some contexts, the voluptuous shape of the cowrie was associated with feminine form - i.e., the curved back symbolized a pregnant woman. One ethnographic author even suggests that the jagged side of a cowrie represented an eye or the vulva of a woman.
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Benin Bronze plaque; 16th-17th century.
To keep cowries on hand, the shells often underwent modifications, including slicing off the rounded side of the shell or piercing them. This allowed for stringing them together and weaving into hair or onto clothing. While done for practical reasons, this led cowries to enter the world of personal adornment. With this, their role expanded to symbols of status, fertility, and beauty while further appearing on ceremonial garb.
Cowrie Shells in the Americas
Indo-Pacific cowries arrived in the Americas through several carriers, but ultimately all traveled on slave ships. In trading cowries to West Africa, foreign merchants supplied both types even though the market preferred M. moneta. As such, they often had leftover M. annulus which remained onboard as cargo and ballast when the ships continued their trans-Atlantic journeys. Once in the Americas, some captains elected to dump or sell off the remaining cowries rather than transport them back across the Atlantic.
Cowries additionally arrived in the Americas on the bodies of kidnapped Africans. While common practice involved stripping captives in Africa, primary accounts report individuals retained beads and shells in their hair and as necklaces. Once in the Americas, cowries largely remained within Black communities though they did face geographical restrictions.
In America, cowries appear in spirit bundles, as parts of jewelry, and on clothing, hinting at their use as amulets.
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Although Virginia’s current archaeological cowrie count falls above 353, this remains too few to support the traditional role as currency. Instead, the shells continued in roles of adornment and ritual with added symbolism of cultural loss, memory, and survival. Outside random finds in areas associated with enslavement, cowries recovered in the Americas have derived from burials, spirit caches, and sub-floor pits.
Regarding the arrival of cowries on the plantation, this likely happened through the movement and exchange of people and goods. To provide the labor required to meet their goals, enslavers moved those they enslaved between different plantations as needed and expanded their workforce through the enslavement of more people or hiring of persons enslaved by others. This could account for the arrival of cowries at Ferry Farm. Alternatively, Ferry Farm’s proximity to the (port) city of Fredericksburg meant the enslaved community had access to a regional economy and trans-Atlantic vessels.
Cowrie Shells in Religious Rituals and Art
Cowrie shells are still used today in Yoruba divination rituals. In one Yoruba tradition called merindinlogun, which literally means “four taken from 20,” a diviner communicates with the 16 original orishas (ancestor spirits) by casting 16 cowrie shells on a carved wooden tray as he poses a question about the future.
Cowrie shells have always been highly valued by many African cultures, and have had multiple uses throughout history. They are made into jewelry and hair ornaments, sewn onto prestigious garments, used in religious rituals and as protective amulets, and up until the late 19th century they were even used as money.
This Egungun was made by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. Yoruba men belonging to the Egungun Society wear and perform the Egungun at funerals and annual festivals. Egungun are constructed by sewing together colorful panels of different kinds of fabrics, which are then sewn on to a wooden form for support, like the circular one here. Look closely at the small, oval-shaped white objects that adorn the top and front panel of the Egungun. These small white shells are known as cowries.
Egungun made by the Yoruba people of Nigeria
Atlanta artist Fahamu Pecou used cowrie shells in this work. Pecou’s Egungun honors young Black men who have died by violence in recent decades, and like the traditional Yoruba version, this Egungun gives physical form to their spirits. The headpiece of the New World Egungun takes the form of a hoodie, which has become a symbol of the young Black men slain by police in recent years. Like other Egunguns, Fahamu Pecou's 21st Century Egungun was activated through procession, music, and dance. In 2016, Dr. Where do you see cowrie shells on this Egungun? In the elaborate headpiece on the New World Egungun, Pecou reminds us of the historical African associations of cowrie shells with wealth, prosperity, and even protection, but he also makes connections to contemporary American culture as well.
New World Egungun by Fahamu Pecou
Cowrie Shells in Modern Culture
What Is The Meaning Of Cowrie Shells In African Jewelry? - African Roots And Routes
In recent years, cowries have taken root in pop culture-with people adorning the shells on instruments, attires, and hairstyles. An article appearing in Vogue points out the trendy nature of the Cowry and how it continues to ‘pop-up’ in modern fashion.
One of the most common ways of rocking cowrie shells is by weaving them into African braided hairstyle or in traditional African-inspired headpieces. For inspiration, you can look up how some celebrities such as Beyonce, Alicia Keys, and Solange Knowles managed to pull off the cowrie-look.
LaFalaise Dionn
The undeniable Queen of cowrie is Ivorian designer, LaFalaise Dionn. Beyoncé has used LaFalaise's beautiful cowrie pieces on more than one occasion in her videos. The first appearance was in her moving Spirit video for The Lion King.
Simon-Hartman London
Another good example is the “ Cowrie Shell REBELLION belt” and accompanying traditional African braided crown by Simon-Hartman-which was worn by Beyoncé in her Black is King visual album.
Fellow proponent of Black culture, Solange Knowles rocked her urban take on cowries. The singer, who is known for her distinct and African-inspired style choices, sported an iconic braided hairstyle accessorized with beads and cowrie shells in her music video for “Don’t Touch My Hair.” The song is part of her album “A Seat at the Table”-in which she discusses the lives of Black people in the U.S (according to The New Yorker).
Solange Knowles with cowrie shells in her hair
Let's Celebrate Black Culture!
The underlying point is that Black culture is beautiful and it should be celebrated. Wearing cowries is more than a fashion trend. It has far-reaching implications that hold cultural meaning. This is the essence of the U.K. Black History month-and it’s the foundation of what Simon-Hartman symbolizes as a brand.
| Use of Cowrie Shells | Cultural Significance |
|---|---|
| Currency | Symbol of wealth and power |
| Adornment | Symbol of status, fertility, and beauty |
| Rituals | Divination, communication with ancestor spirits |
| Art | Representation of historical and contemporary themes |
