The Cowrie Shell
The cowrie shell can be found all over Africa as part of the clothes, decorative items and handicrafts. I never really thought much about this simple white shell. It never dawned on me that it is strange to find a shell so widely dispersed and in places not near any ocean. For instance, I saw a lot of them in Southern Ethiopia especially used by the Hamer people. I was surprised when I read in Africa: Autobigiograpy of a Continent that the cowrie shell was used as money for many decades and it was introduced by Europeans as payment for slaves. The shells were harvested in Maldives. They were rare enough on the continent to pass as a monetary device. A slave was worth thousands of these worthless shells. Since reading this book, not a cowrie passes me without raising some hairs on my neck. The irony that the same shells traded for human lives are now part of the handmade items of the continent is amazing especially when you consider that few Africans know they were used for money at one time and fewer still understand that they were part of the slave trade. I purchased a wooden statue in Cameroon which is suppose to provide you with wealth although I really bought it because it has a cowrie shell hanging from its neck. I asked the owner of the store of he understood the connection between the wealth doll and the cowrie shell, but he did not. I explained it to him and then he understood why all of the wealth fetish items in Cameroon have at least one shell. Cameroon has more cowrie shells than any other country I have visited and I suppose I may see more in West Africa as I get closer to the center of the slave trade. In Cameroon, they are in clothes and handicrafts and I see them in people’s hair-dos! They have fertility necklaces with the opening of the cowrie shell facing out… think about it. So next time you see the cowrie shell, think about the past. Maybe it serves as a good reminder. Too bad so few know the connection and significance although if they did then they would probably stop using them. History in Africa seems to get lost very quickly. I suppose there is a lot of history that is best forgotten. Besides, the cowrie shell is decorative and cheap! Billions of shells… millions of lives…
Tags: Africa, cameroon
vagabondrick
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