Fashion has always been an essential part of our culture and this significantly reflects in our dressing, clothing fabrics and the accessories we wear. Yoruba beads have essentially been a part of this fashion as these beads adorn our necks, wrists, waists and ankles, it doesn’t come as much of a shock when said that beads were traded for humans during the trans-Atlantic slave era. Not only for fashion, many of these beads have their importance rooted in our socio-cultural and traditional beliefs, without much ado we will see more about Traditional neck beads (Necklace). Yoruba neck beads/necklace popularly called ILEKE are usually pieces of wood, metal and glasses which are usually tied together using a tiny but strong rope and are worn on our necks. They come in different colours and forms, this colour and form tells us the story behind such beads; if it’s associated to any title or not, their importance, its function and a whole lot of other things. There are many types of necklace in Yoruba land with each having its function.
Some common necklaces include;
- Coral Necklace (Iyun): this type of necklace is made from coral that is gotten from depths of seas and rivers; it has this reddish colour characteristic which gives its identity away once seen. It is very common among the Yorubas especially the royalty which include the Kings and the chiefs.
- Glass Necklace (Akun): this are usually necklaces fabricated from glass, it was common in the pre-colonization era but somewhat rare (although still in production) these days due to the technical method of production.
- Ogbidi Ifa’s necklace: these are necklaces worn by the Ifa priests in the Yoruba land and has much attributed to it. This type of necklace is preferred in white and green by Ifa worshippers and also their Osun worshippers’ counterpart preferred theirs in White.
Some others are Eyin erin, Opoto, Ikan and also there are other types of necklaces worn in the Yoruba land nowadays with the advent of civilization; however, many of these necklaces are modifications of the ones earlier described.
Importance of necklace is mostly about looking aesthetically pleasing although they are not limited to this. Here are some uses of Necklaces;
- Used for numerous occasions like marriages, funerals etc.
- Promoting our beautiful Yoruba culture and heritage
- For spiritual purposes and divination
- To show your wealth & affluence as an individual
- For kings and chiefs; showing their societal status
- Some persons believed that necklaces can be somehow used as birth control method, prevention of still birth and also prevention of unwanted pregnancy.
- Protection against spiritual forces has also been described amongst the uses of necklace.
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