Aggry beads (also spelled aggri beads or aggrey beads) are a type of decorated glass bead from Ghana, used by West Africans as ornaments in necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry.[1]
Aggry beads are also called Koli, Cori, Kor, Segi, Accori, or Ekeur.[2] they were also referred to by the indigenous people by several other names like Buta, or Kor-pa as it was called in the Fante (or Fanti) dialect of Ghana.[3]
They are often used for medicinal purposes, as it is believed that they have spiritual significance.[1] They are a significant aspect of modern pre and postnatal care, as they are highly valued for protection against illness and misfortune. [4]
Various other uses and connotations include but are not limited to; representing wealth, marital status, health, representing social and political standing. [4]
Beads were used for exchange and as a means of payment during trade in Africa. Europeans first collected aggry beads from the West Coast of Africa in the fifteenth century.[1] These beads have been found in the residences and sites of enslaved Africans and African Americans in the United States south. While it is known that they come primarily from west and central Africa, but it is difficult to be more specific because of the separation of families and ethnic groups by those who enslaved them, causing various traditions to be lost or actually combined with other traditions to form a new practice.[4]
Their origin is obscure. Depending on different sources, beads labelled such may be made from glass, coral, or stone, and were typically blue.[2][5] It is possible that the original Aggry beads came from the Phoenicians, who used it as a means of trading along the coasts of Europa, Asia and Africa.[6]
One of their origin stories from the Yoruba people is that these sacred beads grew out of the ground or that they were pieces of coral along the coast. This recount exists within the context of the worship of Olokun, the god of wealth and the primordial ocean Okun. Further tied together is the link between the ocean and fertility by Yoruba beliefs that Olokun makes all of the yoruba women fertile with his spirit in the water.[7] Another link can be found between the use of these beads and the idea of fertility. In Badagry, Kori is the name of a goddess who wanted children so much that she conferred with Ifa and because of this, she became fertile enough to have a city of her own children. Today, Yoruba women (specifically Koris devotees) wear Kori beads as a representations of fertility. The beads serve as signs indicating her love for children.[7]
Sometimes millefiori beads are called "Aggrey", but this may be incorrect.
References
edit- ^ a b c Quiggin, A. Hingston (1949). A Survey Of Primitive Money. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. pp. 36–44.
- ^ a b Francis, Jr., Peter. "The Aggrey Bead and it's Namesakes". The Bead Site. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ Fage, John Donnelly (1981). "More about Aggrey and Akori beads". Publications de la Société française d'histoire des outre-mers. 5 (1): 205–211.
- ^ a b c Stine, Linda France; Cabak, Melanie A.; Groover, Mark D. (1996). "Blue Beads as African-American Cultural Symbols". Historical Archaeology. 30 (3): 49–75. ISSN 0440-9213.
- ^ Wiener, Leo (1922). "Aggry Beads". Africa and the Discovery of America. Vol. 2. Philadelphia, PA: Innes & Sons. pp. 237–248.
- ^ Rawlinson, George (1889). Phoenicia. London: T. Fisher Unwin. p. 283.
- ^ a b Euba, O. (1981). "Of Blue Beads and Red: The Role of Ife in the West African Trade in Kori Beads". Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. 11 (1/2): 109–127. ISSN 0018-2540.
External links
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