Glass Beads Supplies

Have you ever heard of slave trade? It is a deal between two parties wherein one party will trade their treasures in exchange of slaves. It may sound so brutal these days and anything such as these occurrences can cause rallies in the streets.

However, in the past, this is just a usual thing. This is a common negotiation between European explorers and native Africans. These natives trade African slave people to European explorers in exchange of slave beads.

Slave beads, or also known as Trade beads, are decorative glass beads mainly used for trading goods and people. These glass beads are made in fine quality and variety of colors, shapes and designs. Natives from Africa and even in other continents are fond of these types of beaded jewelries as adornment to their bodies.

Sometimes, beauty is measured in the quantity of jewelries present in the body. Some tribes consider one woman the most beautiful if she has the most jewelry in the body, not to mention some body paint and other adornments. Hence, many natives would rather exchange their people to these jewelries.

Moreover, these beads are used as financial resource. They use these beads for buying food and other services from another person through these so-called money.

The name “Trade beads” is derived from its function as a good trade and its title “Slave beads” comes from the the concept of trading slaves in exchange of these beads. These ornamental glass beads are very rampant in the past. Not only are these available for the European explorers but even voyagers from United States and Canada produced these trade beads.

We can easily acquire these attractive glass beads anytime for as many as we want these days. However, people before even exchange their own kind just for a few of these.

Aren’t we lucky to live in this generation?