Archers Bracelet
Tribe: Tutsi
Country: Rwanda Burundi
Material: Wood and copper
Size: 10"
Among the Tutsi of Rwanda, chiefs and warriors wore this bracelet like device on their left wrist to protect their wrists and arms from the bowstring after it was released. These huge wooden bracelets were worn by as archer's armguards. Copper squares decorate these examples whereas those shown worn by chiefs during the nineteenth century were embellished with complex designs of copper inlay. It was used to prevent injury but perhaps more important it identified the warriors and Tutsi elite in a most obvious manner. | 
