JEWELRY 

Today the Imuhar (Tuareg) are one of few African communities, whose material and immaterial cultural heritages are situated very well in the global market eg. their music, their poetry, and of course their silver jewelry.

In the following, I intend to show how jewelry developed from being connected to magic and religion to a good marketed on a global scale. I will further discuss the networks of trade in which marketing of the jewelry takes place and the meaning of the jewelry for the Imuhar society.

           
Traditional Jewelry                                   Modern Jewelry

MANUFACTURER

MANUFACTURING

The production of jewelry is carried out sitting on the ground. A charcoal fire is kindled with bellows and the red-hot metal is forged on a small anvil.

Method of casting: A model is made from wax that is then enveloped in clay. After that the wax is carefully removed with heat.  The form is hardened by baking the clay. Molten metal is then filled into the mould. After cooling off the clay is and after cooling the clay is chipped.

Metal beat technique: Hollow patterns are manufactured from different sheet metals eg. for stepped pyramid forms of metal amulets.

Hallmarks, carved decorations, engravings: The surfaces of metal are frequently covered with geometric patterns. Those are usually carved into the metal without any beforehand sketching.

MATERIAL
 

(Nobel-)Metals
In the past, coins like Maria Theresa thalers were mainly used as a raw material. Other coins with less silver fine weight or purchased silver bars with varying quality are used as well. In tourist areas in Morocco and Tunisia, “Tuareg” jewelry with a high percentage of nickel or steel is sold. 

Leather
Various jewelry pendants are attached to goat leather straps. Leather amulets are partially decorated with dyed goat leather

Glass beads
Black glass beads are commonly used for embellishing necklaces.

Ebony
Nowadays, the extremely hard ebony is often used for adorning pendants or rings. However, in the “Tuareg" area there are no natural deposits of ebony.

Semi-precious stones
Purchased semi-precious stones are increasingly inwrought in pendants.

Traditional Silver jewelry

Imuhar women traditionally wear jewelry like earrings, hair accessories, necklaces, breast amulets, bracelets and rings
Imuhar men most commonly wear rings, upper arm bracelets, breast amulets and amulets on the Chech (turban).

Traditional Protection Amulets

Especially amulets are used to ward off evil, to protect family and livestock, and to cure diseases. They are traditionally worn by both genders and are part of everyday wear. The amulets give clues about the way of thinking of the ones who wear them, about their fears and desires. They are an expression of a traditional way of life.
Religious sayings are carved into leather amulets. These are designed by religious specialists, Ineslemen, for one person in particular. Therefore, these protective amulets can be as expensive as a camel. The immaterial value of leather amulets is significantly higher than the material one.
Productive amulets can traditionally be made out of metal (silver), which are produced by the Enadan, usually without religious sayings on the inside. The metal and the ornaments are providing protection. Silver is traditionally considered as pure and lucky. Gold on the other hand is considered as impure and is associated with waste, which the prophet Mohammed stood against.

Change

Despite huge distances between the scattered residential areas of the Imuhar their jewelry has basic similarities. These resemblances are not caused by isolation or missing cultural contact, but by a tendency towards assimilation and integration of influences like from the Moorish or the Berbers.
But colonial and postcolonial changes and global impacts have permanently influenced the craft of jewelry as well as the society of the Imuhar. Originally, only Imuhar themselves bought jewelry as colonists and later tourists and aid workers solely showed interest in the traditional silver jewelry.
Numerous exhibitions about Tuareg and their crafts and art made the jewelry popular in Europe and America. At first the jewelry was sold exclusively locally in the Enadan’s forges or the small jewelry shops in hotels. Soon the sale of jewelry was expanded to various sights in the desert.

In the past jewelry was merely sold by Enadan themselves but gradually other Imuhar, mainly young men, entered the lucrative business of silver jewelry sales.
Due to tourism the salesmen gained access to the global marked. Most notably (female) tourists have been bringing salesmen to Europe and America where the hosts organise sales, mostly free of charge. 

Modern Sale

Nowadays many different ways of distribution and marketing have arisen outside of the Sahara: Market stalls, most notably on various Africa themed festivals are highly popular. There contacts to local jewelry stores or world shops are being made, which are subsequently visited.
Private sale parties are also highly popular. Hosts invite friends to a party where Imuhar jewelry is presented and sold.
Most recently, jewelry is sold online, mostly through websites organized by Europeans or Americans. Furthermore, merchants in Niger, Mali or Algeria are currently trying to establish direct sales through online stores.

Modern Silver Jewelry for the global Market

But not only the ways of distribution, sellers and buyers but also the jewelry itself changed.
Due to increasing tourism, the Enadan began to adapt their products to the preferences of Europeans and Americans. The traditionally square magic silver amulets, for example, have been transformed into various fantasy pendants.

Imuhar usually preferred heavy silver jewelry, whereas the modern models for the global market weigh significantly less. Modern versions of the jewelry are rarely pure silver anymore. Especially in tourist areas in North Africa like Tunisia or Morocco, locals pretend to be Tuareg and sell cheap jewelry made our of sheet metal or nickel. 

Tuareg Cross

So called Tuareg crosses serve as an excellent example for the change of meaning.
It can be assumed that the pendant, known today as Zinder cross, was originally used as a means of payment and was worn in different amounts around one’s neck. 

 Zinder-cross

In the colonial era ascribing of pendants to certain religions began. Tourists and aid workers showed great interest in silver pendants and their meanings. Therefore craftsmen developed new models and assigned them to a region. A wide range of so-called "Tuareg crosses", at least 21 variations, were created, including the so-called Agadez cross or the Southern Cross. There is no evidence in historical sources that the crosses originally bore regional reference. Today, Crosses of all sizes and of different shapes are produced, mostly sheer fantasy forms. For example, a new variant is a beer opener designed like a Tuareg cross.

 Fantasy Deco-Crosses

Modern Jewelry of the Imuhar

Nowadays, the silver jewelry almost disappeared from everyday life of the Imuhar. Contemporary taste in jewelry leans towards gold in the entire Sahara. Rings, necklaces, bracelets, and especially big earrings are mostly made of gold. Therefore Tuareg try to sell their old silver jewelry and purchase gold jewelry instead. Heavy gold jewelry is currently considered to be fashionable among Imuhar women and men. The magical, spiritual or symbolic meaning of silver jewelry is no longer relevant.

 Gold earrings, Nomad Woman, Algeria
 

   

Gold Jewelry of Urban Women at a wedding, Niger

Economic importance of the jewelry trade

However, economic aspects of the silver jewelry trade must be taken into consideration. Especially due to direct sales in Europe and America by the Imuhar not only the salesmen and manufacturers benefit, but also several families. The seller thus feeds his immediate family, like his wife, children, siblings, parents, uncles, aunts and his wife's family. Furthermore, the seller often financially supports close friends and their family. The craftsmen distribute the profits in an identical manner.

Sellers frequently take goods of other traders on commission with him to Europe, so that their family benefit as well. Hence a single salesman’s jewelry sale supports a large number of Imuhar in the Sahara. The sale of jewelry offers significantly more stability and therefore financial security for many Imuhar families than the work in tourism.

 

The magical religious meanings of silver jewelry may have declined significantly; however, the economic importance has grown enormously for large parts of the Imuhar population.