Talk:Aggry beads

Wiki Education assignment: ARH 371_The TransAtlantic_Cross-Cultural Representations
— Assignment last updated by Scrubbybrush (talk) 20:54, 14 February 2024 (UTC)


 * i would like to make these changes to this article:
 * (1)
 * "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."
 * add:
 * 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.
 * (2)
 * "They are often used for medicinal purposes, as it is believed that they have spiritual significance."
 * add:
 * They are a significant aspect of modern pre and postnatal care, as they are highly valued for protection against illness and misfortune.
 * Various other uses and connotations include but are not limited to; representing wealth, marital status, health, representing social and political standing.
 * from this journal: Stine, Linda France, et al. “Blue Beads as African-American Cultural Symbols.” Historical Archaeology, vol. 30, no. 3, 1996, pp. 49–75. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25616476 . Accessed 26 Feb. 2024. Scrubbybrush (talk) 15:51, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

edits to article
i would like to add this:

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 version makes sense when taking into account 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.

and

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.

to this section:

"Their origin is obscure. Depending on different sources, beads labelled such may be made from glass, coral, or stone, and were typically blue. 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." Scrubbybrush (talk) 16:40, 5 April 2024 (UTC)