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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
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| Title: | Of Small Things Remembered: Beads, Cowries, and Cultural Translations of the Atlantic Experience in Yorabuland |
| Author: | Ogundiran, Akinwumi |
| Year: | 2002 |
| Periodical: | International Journal of African Historical Studies |
| Volume: | 35 |
| Issue: | 2-3 |
| Pages: | 427-457 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Nigeria |
| Subjects: | Yoruba cowrie currency history 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1899 History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Economics and Trade |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/3097620 |
| Abstract: | This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of the cultural history of the Atlantic experience in the Bight of Benin, particularly Yorubaland (Nigeria), and the collective memories of Atlantic commerce and the way it transformed society. This is done by an examination of the iconic, indexical, and symbolic meaning and social valuation of imported trade goods, notably beads and cowries. Beads were established by the 9th to 11th century as an index for high-status positions in Yorubaland. The importance of beads to the production and reproduction of the Yoruba sociopolitical structure made necessary the local and regional control of these objects. Cowries, especially the moneta species, were present in very small quantities before 1500, but they seem not to have formed part of the official paraphernalia of the political elite. Nevertheless, they were used in contexts linked to ritual activities and their distribution was possibly controlled along the Niger Bend/rainforest trading routes. This pattern would change under the influence of the Atlantic trade by the end of the 16th century, when cowries became the standard of economic exchange as well as a symbol of power and wealth. The article examines why and how cowries were stripped of their external meanings and reconstituted within the framework of Yoruba traditions, what types and forms of knowledge, beliefs and ideas cowries engendered, and how cowries were used to shape new forms of social, political and economic relationships. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |
