XVIIIᵉ siècle – XIXᵉ siècle
Lake Kivu zone
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Butembo bracelet trade was a nineteenth-century exchange system based on woven bracelets manufactured in Butembo, west of Lake Kivu. These bracelets circulated through markets along the Lake Kivu littoral and on Ijwi Island, acquiring currency-like characteristics by the second half of the nineteenth century. Their use facilitated long-distance exchanges of cattle, foodstuffs, and other goods across the Kivu and Rwanda region.
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Le récit
Woven bracelets manufactured in Butembo entered a regional commercial system centred on Lake Kivu. Traders carried them from their place of manufacture to markets along the lake shore and to the markets of Ijwi Island. Their circulation connected producers, marketeers, cattle keepers, and food-producing communities across the Kivu zone.
By the second half of the nineteenth century, the bracelets known as butega had begun to acquire the characteristics of a currency. Their monetary role did not replace the exchange of ordinary goods; rather, it made transactions across different ecological and productive zones more practicable. Cattle, foodstuffs, and other commodities could circulate across a wider regional market.
The trade enriched marketeers from Ijwi and bracelet manufacturers in Butembo. It may also have stimulated production throughout the Kivu and Rwanda area by providing a relatively accepted medium for exchange. The system illustrates how locally produced objects could become instruments of regional economic integration without being issued by a centralized state.
XVIIIᵉ siècle – XIXᵉ siècle
Lake Kivu zone
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The Butembo bracelet trade was a nineteenth-century exchange system based on woven bracelets manufactured in Butembo, west of Lake Kivu. These bracelets circulated through markets along the Lake Kivu littoral and on Ijwi Island, acquiring currency-like characteristics by the second half of the nineteenth century. Their use facilitated long-distance exchanges of cattle, foodstuffs, and other goods across the Kivu and Rwanda region.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Woven bracelets manufactured in Butembo entered a regional commercial system centred on Lake Kivu. Traders carried them from their place of manufacture to markets along the lake shore and to the markets of Ijwi Island. Their circulation connected producers, marketeers, cattle keepers, and food-producing communities across the Kivu zone.
By the second half of the nineteenth century, the bracelets known as butega had begun to acquire the characteristics of a currency. Their monetary role did not replace the exchange of ordinary goods; rather, it made transactions across different ecological and productive zones more practicable. Cattle, foodstuffs, and other commodities could circulate across a wider regional market.
The trade enriched marketeers from Ijwi and bracelet manufacturers in Butembo. It may also have stimulated production throughout the Kivu and Rwanda area by providing a relatively accepted medium for exchange. The system illustrates how locally produced objects could become instruments of regional economic integration without being issued by a centralized state.
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