Community Spirit

WHENEVER THERE IS a common bond, humans feel a sense of community. The same interests, beliefs or history can be a binding force. But how can tiny little beads link people and communities?

“Cast your mind back to the time when there was no place to put things,” said Peter Francis (1945-2002)*. “No pockets or purses; no saddlebags or shelves. How did you keep something? You cut a hole into it and strung it up to wear around your neck, ankle or wrist or to sew it onto clothes. Thus was born the humble bead.”

You can still see this today, sometimes at holiday resorts. Patrons purchase strings of beads, which they wear around the resort (after all, there are no pockets in a bikini!). The beads can then be exchanged for drinks at the poolside bar and become the currency while in the resort.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEADS

Beads are such useful little things…they can even show us exploration and trading routes of ancient times. By tracing beads back to the source of the material, we can see how far they