In Mali, gold earrings called kwottenai are part of a Fulani woman’s whole kit and caboodle that are impractical to miss.
Kwottenai is made of gold and wrapped with red thread and worn through both drilled earlobes.
In the course of time, more gold is added to the earrings jacking up their size and value; the rise in the size and value denotes the individual’s and family’s accumulated wealth.
Each of the earrings can cut ice more than half of a pound and extra help by way of a clip or strap, is sometimes used to ease pressure and possible lacrimation of the earlobe.
Fulani women mostly snap up their kwottenai on two occasions, at her wedding as a gift from her husband or when her mother is dead.
The fake kwottenai is made of painted gold and red clay. Sometimes, wrapped red and gold silk threads are worn by those who can’t afford the unique and costly metal.
