Historically, cowrie shells were used as protective charms, adornment, and for spiritual purposes. And beginning in the eighth century, cowries were even used as currency in West Africa.
By the eighteenth century, cowries were used as currency throughout the world! There was a reason why these shells were so popular.
Cowries were perfect currency because they were difficult to forge and transported easily. While they weren’t the only currency – silver coins, gold dust, and bartering were still popular – they were used throughout Africa.
Europe, however, was intent on destroying them.
When they first arrived in Africa, greedy Europeans traded with cowries to look like they had “good intentions.” But once colonization and enslavement were in effect, whites made their true feelings for cowries known.
In 1907 French colonizers banned “shell money” from West African countries they occupied! But they were met with resistance.
Elders throughout West Africa refused to use French currency, leading their communities to do the same all the way through the 1940s!
While cowries aren’t used as currency today, they’re celebrated throughout West Africa. They’re proof that resisting toxic Western capitalism is possible, AND that whether we’re using shell or paper money, Black currency matters!
Like the West African Elders who resisted using French currency, we don’t have to conform to white economic ideas. WE define wealth!