Beads, brass wire and ivory

Driberg wrote that the Lango, men and women alike, were “inordinately fond of ornaments”. What a person wore depended mostly on what they could afford, and the two sides did not have to match: if there was only enough wire for one arm, it was worn on one arm.

• Beads and charms. Bead necklaces were worn by everyone. Others were made of string, giraffe hair, or little discs chipped from river-mussel shell and ostrich egg, which were heirlooms or came from the north. Charms for love, health and luck in hunting hung on them.
• Brass and iron wire. Coils were worn on the arms and legs and as high collars round the neck. Women valued brass wire even more than beads.
• Ears, brow and waist. The rim of the ear was pierced in many places and carried rings, some set with a blue bead. A band of beads often crossed the forehead, and a small horn could be worn at the brow. Strings of small beads or cowries went round the waist.
• Bells were tied below the knee and at the ankles for ceremonies.
• Twins. Women who had borne twins, and the twins themselves until they were grown, wore necklets and wristlets of cowrie shells.

The only mark of high rank was ivory: a bracelet on the left wrist, or an ivory ornament called ogwil hung on the chest, worn by chiefs and men descended from chiefs. Bodies were anointed with plant oils and, among women, curdled milk.

Source: J. H. Driberg, The Lango: A Nilotic Tribe of Uganda (London, 1923), pp. 61–65; public domain. It describes life about a hundred years ago as a colonial administrator saw it, so customs have changed and some may be told differently today. Elders and families are invited to correct it and add what they know.