African Beadwork - Rich in Tradition
African beadwork is rich in tradition and meaning. This craft began
hundred of years ago in Africa when beads were introduced as a means
of trade. Native jewelry beadwork is used for bodily adornment, to
express personal information, and is abundant in symbolism. Some
examples, of African handcrafted beadwork, are beaded bands worn
across the chest, ornamental necklaces, neck rings and beaded aprons
and dolls.
In Cameroon, a handcrafted beadwork doll is rich in symbolism. When
a Fali man becomes engaged, he constructs a doll of wood and
decorates it with hair, handcrafted beadwork and other objects. This
doll is then given to his fiancé to be carried on her back in a baby
carrier. The doll symbolizes the marriage commitment and the hopes
of a child. The man creates the African beadwork doll in the gender
he desires for his first child. His betrothed carries the doll on
her back until the anticipated child arrives.
The Zulu, the largest tribe in Southern Africa, design handcrafted
beadwork from small brightly colored beads. These beads were
introduced into the area through Portuguese trading posts along the
Indian Ocean. So valued were glass beads, as an item of exchange,
that Dingiswayo, the first to forge the Zulu people into one
cohesive tribe in the early nineteenth century, claimed their trade
as his personal privilege.
The introduction of glass beads into Southern Africa has had an
impact on their traditional clothing. Zulu beadwork is not only
beautiful and intricate, it is also used to convey personal
information. By wearing particular items of native beadwork
clothing, such as skirted aprons, hats and cloaks, others can
determine a Zulu's marital status.
Unmarried women are clothed in leather skirts or girdles and married
women wear beaded aprons over their skirts. Married women also wear
a traditional hat with bands of Zulu beadwork incorporated into the
crown and base. Men and unmarried women are often viewed wearing
beaded bands across their chests. For adornment, beautifully crafted
neck rings are made by using long tubes of cotton or tightly coiled
lengths of grass to support this native beadwork.
In Zulu beadwork, colored beads have been assigned certain
attributes or meanings. For example, blue conveys loneliness, green
stands for grass, and white portrays purity. Because colored beads
have such specific meaning, they are used to carry messages among
the Zulu women and young teenagers. These messages are known as love
letters, or "ucu". By wearing certain colored African beadwork,
beautiful silent messages are conveyed regarding the state of a
romance. Wearing blue beads mean "I will wait for you." White beads
stand for a heart that is pure with the message, "my heart is clean
and I am waiting for you." And green beads convey, "I will wait for
you until I'm as thin as a blade of grass."
Westernization and tourism have had a negative impact on African
beadwork. Many young African men and woman favor western fashions to
their native clothing. Tourism has changed the way native beadwork
is made by substituting glass and porcelain beads for lighter
plastic ones. Plastic beads are not only more comfortable to wear,
but their use in beadwork designs make the beadwork cheaper to
create. This increases the artist's profit margin when their pieces
are sold to tourists. As long as there is a decrease in the desire
for handcrafted beaded items then traditional African beadwork may
be lost to future generations.
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