Greetings all,

I'm still adjusting to my new locale and meeting new folx here in the "city of lost wages - Las Vegas". This one sister I met here at my workplace, after finding out I'm from Loosey-ana, became intrigue with meh - my dialect and my mannerisms of course. She said she's met a few people here from my homestate and she noticed how some of them are "slugged up" or got a mouth filled with gold. Personally, I don't wear gold but can attest to how common it is back home - my dad, auntie, brother and sister all have gold teeth. The sister's observation got my mind pondering. I remember stories about how during slavery gold teeth helped to distinguish a "free" Black person from an enslaved one. Once a slave was freed, he/she may get a gold tooth to signify emancipation.

My wife is from Ghana and she told me in Ghana that once a Muslim makes al'hajj, he may get a gold tooth to signify his pilgrimmage. Louisiana, during slave trading days, imported many Africans from the Senegambia area, which even during those times was populated by Islamic African people. Doing my own family genealogy, I found that one of my ancestors could possibly have been Muslim. I saw his name on a tombstone in the family cemetary. His name was Wali and he had a granddaughter named Silla. I estimated Wali was born sometime in the early 19th century. Silla was also the name of an old Soninke city-state in West Africa (thought to have been located within present-day Senegal, not to far from Kayes). The Soninke people, the founding nation of the kingdom of Ghana, have been practicing some form of Islam since circa 1300 A.C.E. Sylla, a variation of Silla, is also a clan name of the Mande people, parent group of the Soninke.

Muslim slaves were "freed" at a greater frequency than non-Muslim slaves due to their "literacy" - adeptness to read and write (even if it was Arabic). Could there possibly be a connection? What do you think?

Blackbird -pouring my libations to my ancestor Wali in remembrance....

Nice post Black Bird their could be a possible link but it is really hard to tell ya know? We got a religious rite on one hand and on other just simply bling bling.

I guess another question could be, did some people during that time actually were them for a status symbol?

If they did then it is a very direct connection, but it would be hard for us to know really, since we did not stay their with them. It is a thought tho

Interesting Brother BlackBird:

I knew that gold teeth in our community are not a new trend. I noticed that legendary boxer Jack Johnson had gold teeth way back in 1909! However I was not aware of an African tradition of this. Based on your history though I wonder if this is African or Arabic? If African Muslims are awarded a gold tooth after their journey to Meca, certainly it would suggest an Arabic influence.

as an older person, desperately trying to keep my teeth in my mouth, i would advise against anyone removing a perfectly good and healthy tooth.

as a trumpet player, i would never let anyone go near my teeth for bling.

this is one tradition i don't think should be carried forward.

Being from the Sip I grew up with family and friends that were slugged up ..and from what my Granddaddy told me a lot of folks got them just for adornment but some folk had slugs as a form of wealth....in case times got tough and his money got funny...he said he didn't trust no bank cause they could lose them greenbacks but if push came to shove he'd always have them golds in his mouth to use in case of financial emergency...and a couple of other folk including his wife(my Gramama) told me the same thing an as a point of reference she was born in 1899 and was told the same by her mama .... too bad they're both gone now there's a lot of things I'd like to ask them about but anyway I guess different folk had different reasons ...

Mississippi Red
"I ain't gon state no color but her front teeth crowned with gold" Robert Johnson Traveling Riverside Blues

Being from the Sip I grew up with family and friends that were slugged up ..and from what my Granddaddy told me a lot of folks got them just for adornment but some folk had slugs as a form of wealth....in case times got tough and his money got funny...he said he didn't trust no bank cause they could lose them greenbacks but if push came to shove he'd always have them golds in his mouth to use in case of financial emergency...and a couple of other folk including his wife(my Gramama) told me the same thing an as a point of reference she was born in 1899 and was told the same by her mama .... too bad they're both gone now there's a lot of things I'd like to ask them about but anyway I guess different folk had different reasons ...

Mississippi Red
"I ain't gon state no color but her front teeth crowned with gold" Robert Johnson Traveling Riverside Blues

Red, now, that's pretty interesting insight... And 'Bird, thanks for bringing this topic to the forum... I've also noticed this practice among other Diasporans from Cuba, Haiti, Guyana, and the other english-speaking Caribbean countries... Additionally, I have seen quite a few Indo Guyanese folks who do this sort of thing... Perhaps, they are jockin' our steelo(smile!)

Peace!
Isaiah

Interesting Brother BlackBird:

I knew that gold teeth in our community are not a new trend. I noticed that legendary boxer Jack Johnson had gold teeth way back in 1909! However I was not aware of an African tradition of this. Based on your history though I wonder if this is African or Arabic? If African Muslims are awarded a gold tooth after their journey to Meca, certainly it would suggest an Arabic influence.

Panafrica,

Bruh, I don't know.... I recall the people of the Senegambia region where gold filigrees are created and adored by a many Wolof, Tukulor, and Peul women alike. In my wife's native land, I marvel at the impressive state swords of the present-day (henes). Thinking back at these present-day testaments, the argument for a African root is about as forminable as an Arabic one. Gold and gold-smithing are nothing new to African people as the ancient Wangara bare witness, as well as, the ancient descriptions of the court of Wagadugu (Ghana). The Fante and other Akan cluster people used intricately designed gold-weights for economic purposes. Definitely, our people were familiar with gold and highly proficient in working in that medium. Speculation of a tradition of gold dental work is nor as far-fetch given the African mastery and intimacy with gold.

Blackbird - disappears back into the ether

Speculation of a tradition of gold dental work is nor as far-fetch given the African mastery and intimacy with gold.

Indeed! Thank You for the info brother BlackBird.

Hey fellas, could it be possible that the arabic tradition of giving out a gold tooth for a reward was influenced and started by africans who converted to islam?

I arrive at this opinion because the arabic culture really had not mastery of denistry, even in the golden age of arabic culture, you will be hard pressed to find any reference to denistry.

Moreoever, the religion of islam itself was heavily influenced by Africa.

:thinking: Good point.

This is interesting. It never occured to me that this could be something traced back in history to slavery and to Africa. I'd never do it though. Dudes like the Big Tymers and Lil Jon ruin the idea for me.

I've learned something new. I grew up in the south and it was very common to see Black people with gold crowns. My father had one but I never heard stories about why they were so popular among Black men and women. Now I'm curious. Thank you Brother Blackbird for bringing this to light and all those who shared.

Peace,
Queenie :spinstar:

Not sure of whether this is an arab/Muslim tradition or not, but it seems like it would be African only because it is continuity of the Ancient Kemet tradition of having gold fingernails and toenails, gold masks, gold hair peices, gold everything , why not gold teeth? YOu can see this at the Nubian exhibit at the MFA in Boston.

Nubia was the land of Gold. It was in such much abundance that the nothern neighbors would beg our ancestors to send them some.......

In Ghana, today, the Ashanti kings bling bling with gold like you would not believe.

I HVE NOTICED IN MY MANY RELOCATIONS THT GOLD TEETH R A SOUTHERN/EAST COAST THING. RARE IS IT SEEN IN THE MIDWEST ALMOST NEVER IN CALI & THE WEST. PDIANE I NEVER KNEW ABOUT THE GOLD FINGER NAILS TO NAILS ECT, THTS VERY INTERESTING.

There's a stigma attached to gold teeth these days. When you run up on someone who blinds you with sparkling gold teeth, do you immediately think...hmmmm, country and like Brother Therious wrote, they must be from the south? Would anyone be embarrassed to be seen in public with someone with gold teeth?

Queenie :spinstar:

Would anyone be embarrassed to be seen in public with someone with gold teeth?

That would depend if it was 14 karat or 24 karat! :laugh:

NNQueen what's wrong with being country....I'm not slugged up but wouldn't be ashamed to be...I've thought about getting one but working in ofay corporate America it would mess up mo interviews than it's worth....so I just get more tats.....It's funny that Black folk hate ..(for the most part) to be called country when at our base we're all country...all our folk are from the most part the South but let somebody call some of these brothers country man it's on....I'll admit it I'm country I'm not even country I'm kuntry I used to run races on gravel roads barefoot....I still call fools spotted apes ....I am Mississippi and proud as proud can be bout it but ...I know some cats that I've met out here in CA consider it a insult to be country even some of the boys I know out here from down South don't want to be called country...for the most part we used to be cool but they've cut me loose because I'm still the South and they are trying to forget the South...I'm still up in the club buck ....shirt off buckjumping while they're telling folk they from Atl and not Alabama....anyway I digress......

Mississippi Red
The clubs I go to sell lika in the bottle....and they called juks.....

NNQueen what's wrong with being country....I'm not slugged up but wouldn't be ashamed to be...I've thought about getting one but working in ofay corporate America it would mess up mo interviews than it's worth....so I just get more tats.....It's funny that Black folk hate ..(for the most part) to be called country when at our base we're all country...all our folk are from the most part the South but let somebody call some of these brothers country man it's on....I'll admit it I'm country I'm not even country I'm kuntry I used to run races on gravel roads barefoot....I still call fools spotted apes ....I am Mississippi and proud as proud can be bout it but ...I know some cats that I've met out here in CA consider it a insult to be country even some of the boys I know out here from down South don't want to be called country...for the most part we used to be cool but they've cut me loose because I'm still the South and they are trying to forget the South...I'm still up in the club buck ....shirt off buckjumping while they're telling folk they from Atl and not Alabama....anyway I digress......

Mississippi Red
The clubs I go to sell lika in the bottle....and they called juks.....

Fa sho, Red. Tell me I ain't feeling ya. I'm as country as I want to be and ain't ashame of gold teeth. My dad, brother, sister, auntie and a few of my first cousin got gold. I've lived in Minneapolis, New York, New Jersey and now out west, in Las Vegas and I'll tell you I love the south the best. I'm Loosey-ana born, bred and raised. The other night at the Voodoo Lounge inside the Rio, I was throwing "boes", getting real buck w/ the "mug" bounce, and doing the "nolia" clap. The only one and one of my co-workers said "you can tell you from the South." I said it's that duddy duddy baby, I'll show how the south do. Gold teeth is no problem, I ain't no dignified negro. I'm Bayou State from my feet to my face. Louisiana the Boot.

Blackbird

Blackbird I feel that for true, I live out in CA now up in the Bay area and a lot of folk I know won't go up in the club with me..I act a flat fool...I get buck and oh my now that that's almost all you hear on the radio is that South..and up in the club they playin Nolia Clap and White T and such...oh I get to gettin it these folk always talkin that "you so country boy you just embarassing us.." all I can say is ..."I don't know what to tell yall dog..Imma do what I do"......and it's funny cuz these are cats from Bama..oh well some folk forget the Souf when they leave but not ya boy like I say I'm not from Mississippi I am Mississippi....., and Louisiana, and Texas and Georgia.....all my folk pretty much stayed in the South that's what we are...some gold teeth having , old school 4 doe riding loud talking , eating and fighting up in the club getting buck in the club dranking playing spades country black folk

MississippiRed

NNQueen what's wrong with being country....I'm not slugged up but wouldn't be ashamed to be...I've thought about getting one but working in ofay corporate America it would mess up mo interviews than it's worth....so I just get more tats.....It's funny that Black folk hate ..(for the most part) to be called country when at our base we're all country...all our folk are from the most part the South but let somebody call some of these brothers country man it's on....I'll admit it I'm country I'm not even country I'm kuntry I used to run races on gravel roads barefoot....I still call fools spotted apes ....I am Mississippi and proud as proud can be bout it but ...I know some cats that I've met out here in CA consider it a insult to be country even some of the boys I know out here from down South don't want to be called country...for the most part we used to be cool but they've cut me loose because I'm still the South and they are trying to forget the South...I'm still up in the club buck ....shirt off buckjumping while they're telling folk they from Atl and not Alabama....anyway I digress......

Mississippi Red
The clubs I go to sell lika in the bottle....and they called juks.....

You make a good point Brother MR. If I offended you by referring to "country" as something bad then I humbly apologize. Even though I was born and raised in the south, and claim to be "country", could this mean that I have an elitist attitude when it comes to people from the south or could this mean that I believe in the stereotypical portrayal of Blacks from the south and picked this up when I moved north? :thinking: I enjoyed reading about your "country" ways and how much love and respect you have for country people. Interestingly I was reminded by a friend the other day how country I am. We were consulting with a person about our hair and I asked him for prices on a wash and cut. He looked at me strangely and my friend laughed and said, "You don't wash your hair you wash clothes. You SHAMPOO your hair. Now she's from Detroit--born and raised--and I thought to myself, she doesn't have a clue! :lol: I guess I need to take a closer inspection of my opinions and reassess my ideas about what it's like to be country.

Peace,
Queenie :spinstar:

I know I is cuntree. LOL at da rest of yall cuntree folks too.

I know I is cuntree. LOL at da rest of yall cuntree folks too.

Man, Black folks funny, aint dee???(Hyeehee!) :skillet:

Peace!

...hmmm, very interesting Blackbird.

photo - Egyptian Woman with Gold Teeth
(http://pro.corbis.com/images/WK040333.jpg?size=67&uid={cc7a9c60-ea09-40b6-8673-aa7361feb055})

Not sure of whether this is an arab/Muslim tradition or not, but it seems like it would be African only because it is continuity of the Ancient Kemet tradition of having gold fingernails and toenails, gold masks, gold hair peices, gold everything , why not gold teeth? YOu can see this at the Nubian exhibit at the MFA in Boston.

Nubia was the land of Gold. It was in such much abundance that the nothern neighbors would beg our ancestors to send them some.......

In Ghana, today, the Ashanti kings bling bling with gold like you would not believe.

How little did we know back in the 80s when Black women sported the gold fingernails.