“I’ M DETERMINED TO CHANGE THE RIDICULOUS NARRATIVES ABOUT COWRIES”– COWRY GOD
Many consider her passion and craft strange and would rather keep their distance. But for Oyo state-born OreofeOguntola, the cowry shells are much more than ornamental objects or playthings. In them lies her passion and profession; the raison d’etre of Cowry Craft.
In this must-read interview, the Cowry god, as she is fondly called, speaks on why people must start looking at cowries in a different light.
WIT: Please tell us about yourself.
O.O: My name is Oreofe Oguntola, I come from Ibadan in Oyo State, Nigeria. I am a cowry artist, actress and writer.
WIT: Tell us about how you discovered your love for cowries
O.O: Growing up and seeing most of the traditional stuff that cowries were attached to, I had an aversion for them like most young Nigerians do. However, as a theatre practitioner, when I started using them for props and costuming, my aversion was gradually replaced by love; and when it began to bring me more money than every other craft I had laid hands on, the love grew quickly.
WIT: Could you please share with us what you know of the history of the cowry shell in Africa?
O.O: Cowry craft is as old as the universe itself. In fact, like other sea foods, cowries served as food for early humans. Cowries are usually killed and eaten the same way snails are. After the flesh of this sea snails are eaten, the shells serve many different purposes for different people. Children collect the shells to play while adults collect the shells to adorn their hair. Beadmakers, on the other hand, add the shells to adornments. The water lineage families collect the shells for protection because of their belief in its efficacy. The early artists collect the shells to beautify artifacts and make a statement with their craft. The early tailors adorn the clothes, staff and crown of royals with cowries. Native doctors collect live cowries alongside some roots to make concoction for pregnant women experiencing prolonged labor.
Because of the blemish-free color of the shell, native doctors also use them as a recipe to purify the land when there is an outbreak of a disease. Because they believed in it, it worked for them. Furthermore, because of the great advantage it had, early livestock farmers reared cowries alongside other creatures such as fish, hen, and snails, to sell.
As the years went by, the value of cowry shells rose so much that it was deemed fit to be used as a medium of exchange. To possess of bag of cowry shells, therefore, meant to be wealthy and respected. And that was how cowry craft was birthed. Although it was one of the most important things to the human existence, yet it didn’t stand alone, it tapped from other craft to gain balance.
Cowry craft as adornment requires the knowledge of beadmaking and wire-works. The knowledge of wire-works requires understanding the usefulness and complexity of different gauges of wire. Beadmaking requires the understanding of colors, designing and threading, etc. Cowry craft as cloth art requires the in-depth knowledge of fashion designing, weaving and clothing. Cowry craft as an artwork requires the profound knowledge of fine art and history. Cowry craft as body art requires the knowledge of tattoos, white chalk, African designs, lali and tribal marks. Cowry craft as a plate of food requires great culinary skills as you will be mixing crayfish, stock fish, snails, cowries, ponmon, panla and other lives to make a fulfilled dish. Cowry craft for farming requires the knowledge of livestock, attic and understanding the nutrients in the algae that cowries eat under the sea. Cowry craft as a means of exchange requires the knowledge of accounting, money measuring and knowing the worth of every kilogram a bag of cowry weighs.
Cowry craft is broad, wide and wild. Many crafts are traced to lineages, e.g, Ayan for drummers and the Kulodos to water lineages such as the Ilaje people. One can also learn and be a master of the skill.
Like many other African craft and tribes, kulodo and cowry craft perished during the colonization era when names were changed and the kulodo name went into extinction. When computer was introduced, cowry craft became viewed as being local; and when coins and paper money was introduced, cowry craft was called fetish.
For centuries, Africa lost her identity and her children suffered. Her children soon gained physical independence but the mental slavery lingered and it rubbished the physical liberation. 62 years after Nigeria, the giant of Africa gained independence, she still hasn’t found herself because as at 20223, cowry craft is still called fetish; egungun festival is still not respected as much as Christmas is; Esu is still called Satan; religious intolerance is still the order of the day; humanism has no home in the home of many; insecurity is still the national pledge; and thou shall kill that God may live is still the 11th commandment.
WIT: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced using cowries in your business as a female entrepreneur.
O.O: First I don’t use cowries in my business; cowries is my business. I only have to add beads or other things to it to make a fulfilled work, and that is why I am called the Cowry God by many.
The challenges I have faced are quite heartbreaking but they have helped me grow stronger because I enjoy challenges; where I get a “no” is where my “yes” lies. From encountering stiff opposition from my solid Christian family that doesn’t find shaving hair and wearing cowries sensible, to dealing with market women who wouldn’t sell goods to me because I was covered with cowries, and passengers deciding to alight from public vehicles because I boarded same, it’s been a tough journey. I go numb at times because there are no mentors to turn to for advice. The cowry craft industry is not like music and theatre where you already have a role model; cowry craft has no market in Nigeria yet, so I have to pave way for myself and rely on ideas and instincts to get some things right.
Also, it can get very lonely sometimes because many close pals have refused to associate themselves with me. “If you were using plastic cowries, it would have been better, not the original ones”, a lover once said to me as he walked out of my life. I have encountered more challenges than I thought I would ever face in life. However, as a female entrepreneur in Nigeria, the challenges are mostly about getting sponsors and investors. So far, it has been good, but there are days laughter itself does not laugh.
WIT: What is the most special place you’ve traveled to and why is it special?
O.O: The most special place I have traveled to is my head. I am always in my head. In my head lies the designs of the works I want to do, in it lies the right answers to give unlearned fellows who argue that I mean harm because of the cowries I wear. In my head lies my best friend, that’s me. The best place I have been is my head.
WIT: What is your advice to women looking to venture into this same business.
O.O: Cowry craft, like every other craft, requires patience and a certain level of spirituality. You need to be in touch with yourself first, or else you might drown. It is also important that you build some self-confidence, and be ready to do every type of job to fulfill a work as a cowry artist. To make an artwork, I once had to watch a carpenter in my area for a week, I once had to learn water coloring from kids, I once had to be at the sea for a full month, watching the movement of the sea and what humans interpret it as. You just must be ready to let go of yourself, and at the same time, be in charge. With that, you are good to go.
WIT: What is next for you and your company?
O.O:Moving forward, I am pushing into the part of the education system of Nigeria that colonization never took from us, E.g, a dire and pottery. I want to see that they are taught in schools as indigenous vocational studies. I have started this movement with my craft already. I trained students of Samuel Ajayi Crowther and Iseyin District Grammar School, thus making me the first person to teach cowry craft as indigenous vocational studies across African schools. I have also started a program which I title Cowry Riddles; the program is a competition. I put out five riddles about cowries and whoever gets them correctly wins a cowry artwork, a full cowry adornment and cloth art, which is a million-naira worth. Unfortunately, no one has won my prize, a huge sign that people don’t know their history. So, I began to write about it so that people can understand not just cowry riddles but African riddles in general. For instance, many don’t know that cowries are sea snails; I have had people who think cowries are plucked from trees in the marine world. There are many ridiculous perspectives that I have had to change; I tell them that a version of everything that exists on land does in water too: Humans-Mermaids, Horse-Sea horses, Tortoise-Turtle, Snails- Cowries. I won’t say much now; my book will be out soon.
Thank you.
