Cowrie Shells

For those of you that are scratching your head these are cowrie shells:

So I bought a bunch of these back in 2009 when I was getting senegalese twists in my hair. The stylist sewed them to the twists and a few months later I cut them out with the weave. Now I just happened to have found a large bag of these. I tried to put them on my dreads after my failed string attempt. I was only able to put them on one dread.

So should I sew the rest in or just wait for my dreads to grow?

updated by @mary: 01/22/20 09:33:16AM

1st let me explain the history of cowrie shells in dreads this dates back to the evil ol slavery days, when africans were kidnapped out of africa and sold into slavery many had cowrie shells stuck in the dreads

but the way they got the shells there was by working hard in the surf collecting clams fishing washing clothes etc theyd be bent over working and the shells would just attach themselves to a dread

when these were taken to auction and sold into slavery the numbeer of shells stuck in the dreads indicated a harder worker so werre sold for higher prices

ofcourse then usualy the dreads were cut off ayway

i only offer the history to show how they traditionaly were attached they wre attached with nothing but the shell itself the teeth like opening would grip the dread

ofcourse some hacve holes in them so can be threade thriugh

but they were never sewn on they happened to just attach themselves when a wave brought them in contact in just the right place that the opening matched the dread size perfectly

so just take a shell and try to attacgh it to diferent dreads in diferent spots till it found a home

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

wow. you learn something new everyday:)

soaring eagle said:

1st let me explain the history of cowrie shells in dreads this dates back to the evil ol slavery days, when africans were kidnapped out of africa and sold into slavery many had cowrie shells stuck in the dreads

but the way they got the shells there was by working hard in the surf collecting clams fishing washing clothes etc theyd be bent over working and the shells would just attach themselves to a dread

when these were taken to auction and sold into slavery the numbeer of shells stuck in the dreads indicated a harder worker so werre sold for higher prices

ofcourse then usualy the dreads were cut off ayway

i only offer the history to show how they traditionaly were attached they wre attached with nothing but the shell itself the teeth like opening would grip the dread

ofcourse some hacve holes in them so can be threade thriugh

but they were never sewn on they happened to just attach themselves when a wave brought them in contact in just the right place that the opening matched the dread size perfectly

so just take a shell and try to attacgh it to diferent dreads in diferent spots till it found a home

learned that looking up info on shells in dreads for another question like this last year

Heather said:

wow. you learn something new everyday:)

soaring eagle said:

1st let me explain the history of cowrie shells in dreads this dates back to the evil ol slavery days, when africans were kidnapped out of africa and sold into slavery many had cowrie shells stuck in the dreads

but the way they got the shells there was by working hard in the surf collecting clams fishing washing clothes etc theyd be bent over working and the shells would just attach themselves to a dread

when these were taken to auction and sold into slavery the numbeer of shells stuck in the dreads indicated a harder worker so werre sold for higher prices

ofcourse then usualy the dreads were cut off ayway

i only offer the history to show how they traditionaly were attached they wre attached with nothing but the shell itself the teeth like opening would grip the dread

ofcourse some hacve holes in them so can be threade thriugh

but they were never sewn on they happened to just attach themselves when a wave brought them in contact in just the right place that the opening matched the dread size perfectly

so just take a shell and try to attacgh it to diferent dreads in diferent spots till it found a home

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Wow I had learned that the shells were used as a form of currency and that attaching a certain amount of them to one lock of hair meant something totally different.

But you are right, three are enough. Besides I don't want to be click clacking everywhere!

i believe both things are true actualy

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

i've heard about that,, as much as i think it's wrong, i always thought history was interesting, and i thought that was really interesting, i forgot all about that until you said something.. crazy

soaring eagle said:

1st let me explain the history of cowrie shells in dreads this dates back to the evil ol slavery days, when africans were kidnapped out of africa and sold into slavery many had cowrie shells stuck in the dreads

but the way they got the shells there was by working hard in the surf collecting clams fishing washing clothes etc theyd be bent over working and the shells would just attach themselves to a dread

when these were taken to auction and sold into slavery the numbeer of shells stuck in the dreads indicated a harder worker so werre sold for higher prices

ofcourse then usualy the dreads were cut off ayway

i only offer the history to show how they traditionaly were attached they wre attached with nothing but the shell itself the teeth like opening would grip the dread

ofcourse some hacve holes in them so can be threade thriugh

but they were never sewn on they happened to just attach themselves when a wave brought them in contact in just the right place that the opening matched the dread size perfectly

so just take a shell and try to attacgh it to diferent dreads in diferent spots till it found a home