Niger: 'All Desert People Wear Silver'

10 March 2014

Niger Republic — The silver Cross is popular among the Tuareg, and a ring of talented smiths has sprung up around it.

If you are with the Tuareg of Niger Republic, you will soon begin to notice their passion for things that glow and glitter, and this is linked to a fascination with silver or nickel. Angela Fisher writing in Africa Adorned states 'All desert people who can afford to do so wear silver,' the pure metal blessed by the Prophet, "in preference to gold, the metal of the devil, which is feared and believed to bring bad luck." Then you also see a marked fondness among the group for their silver Crosses. They wear them proudly and keep them clean all the time. These crosses are available for sale all over the country too.

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