Waiwai necklace. Local name: Quali. Purchased from the Amerindian shop in Georgetown. These are 'typical' WaiWai necklaces made from the seeds of a fruit known as calaquo. The coloured patterns are made using dyed seeds. The dye is acquired from the bark of a tree known as sasha. The ornaments were made by women and are worn by both sexes. Made in Cashew Island, New River Area, Southern Guyana.
A necklace with a string and a pendant - a disc made of small flat circular seeds sewn together. The string or chain is made of a repeating pattern of loops of seeds - one loop of brown seeds, then a single strand of blue and brown bands of seeds, then a blue loop, then a single strand of blue and brown bands of seeds, and so on. Attached firmly to the string is a disc: on both sides of the disc there is a blue circular but cruciform design on a brown background. At the bottom of the disc are six short hanging strand of seeds, blue at the top and the bottom, with brown seeds in the middle of each strand. On each side of the disc are three more short hanging strand of seeds, brown at the top and the bottom, with blue seeds in the middle of each strand.
